Managing Your Success

These are some basic suggestions about how to stay motivated. Make sure to check out the other motivation resources offered.

1. Use incentives effectively. Beware of the overjustification effect (where being rewarded for doing something actually diminishes intrinsic motivation to perform that action). Being rewarded for things that you already enjoy doing may actually reduce your desire to participate in those activities! Extrinsic incentives increase motivation to engage in an activity that is otherwise unappealing, but overdependence upon such rewards might actually end up decreasing motivation in some cases. Use extrinsic rewards sparingly or at the onset, but develop intrinsic motivators.

2. ‘Stretch’ to keep interest. Challenge yourself. Create tasks that are stimulating and thought-provoking to maintain interest. Break tasks into manageable chunks and work with incremental challenges earn ‘mini-successes’.

3. Visualize realistically. Don’t just visualize achieving goals; visualizing all the steps, challenges, effort and sacrifice that goes into making those goals a reality. Visualizations shouldn’t be idealized fantasies.

4. Take charge. Leadership necessitates action, so contribute in a larger way than usual. If you already tend to lead, get creative in delegation and new and different ways to work with others.

5. Live in the growth mindset. Don’t only focus on the outcome. Recognize and reward effort along the way. It isn’t only success or failure; learning through the process helps you adjust and reformulate plans and goals.

Learn more about Growth Mindset that can help you boost your motivation.