You all know someone who radiates with self-confidence. Think about one person of these people that you know in the workplace or in your life ... What is it that their self-confidence helps them to achieve? Are they more willing to take on responsibilities, at ease around their superiors, and able to admit they have made a mistake?

Motivation is built on three basic elements:

1. Motivation starts with…

· A need

· Vision

· Dream or desire … to achieve the seemly impossible.

2. Developing and maintaining a love-to-learn, meaning, seeking new opportunity.

3. Developing and maintaining a desire to overcome barriers.

Discussion:

Do you believe in yourself, do you have the confidence to make a difference? Do you know that you will succeed no matter what?

What motivates you and gets you going in life and in your career? Do you know how to tap into the motivations of other people?

One of the most researched fields in the business world today is motivation. If we understand how and why people are motivated, we can encourage them to do their best and be the best they can be. The more people are motivated, the more confidence they will have and they will be even more motivated.

When people are motivated and confident at work and home there are many positive factors that result in the workplace:

· Improved job satisfaction

· Increased effort

· Improved working environment

· Drive is created

· Full potential is developed

· Everyone is certain of the role they are to fulfill

Self – motivation

The capability for self-motivation is considered to be an important aspect in emotional intelligence and today it has a very high level of influence in personal achievement and career development. For successful motivation and self- motivation the following is most important:

Setting goals
Long-term goals are addition to short term goals and specific activities
It is good to set new and challenging obligations in learning and progress every year.
Make work different and interesting.
Develop new capabilities, skills and other potentials continuously.
Reward yourself for personal and professional achievements.

Being motivated to meet our goals means we are able to:

Improve our self-confidence.
Enhance our self-discipline.
Set examples for ourselves of what we can achieve.
Challenge ourselves to stretch beyond our perceived limits.
Reward ourselves for reaching our goals.
Enjoy the recognition or perks associated with reaching our goals.

For self –motivation you need self- confidence. When someone is confident, they:

· Focus on their strengths while managing weaknesses.

· Aren’t afraid to take risks.

· Enjoy challenging themselves and setting high goals.

· Seek out self-improvement opportunities.

· Aren’t afraid to admit when they make a mistake.

· Aren’t afraid to acknowledge when they don’t know something.

· Make good team leaders or mentors.

· Can relate to customers/clients/members at any level of the organization.

· Are honest about their shortcomings.

Motivating others

In order to motivate others, you need to understand what will drive them to take appropriate action. That requires that you take the time to understand what is important to the people you want to motivate. Then you must use the knowledge to create motivating systems in the workplace, or to take on mentorship responsibility (weather it is at work or in life). In some cases you might not be able to motivate every person on your team the same way. You may need to get creative and think in non-traditional terms as to how to get people revved up about what they need to accomplish.

Discussion: Have you motivated someone at your work or in life? How did you do it? Tell us some interesting facts about the process of motivation.

When you are responsible for motivating others, your own personal motivation matters in two ways. First you need to be motivated to continue applying techniques until you have found what works best for the individuals in your team. And second, though just as important as the first one, you need to make sure that your motivation is grounded in the right intentions. If you simply try to force others to achieve what you want them to do without considering their own needs and values, you will end up with temporary motivation – if they are motivated at all. Eventually you will face poor attitudes.

Motivation at work

Mangers want to motivate employees so they will achieve better results in work, to be loyal, dedicated to the organization and to the stability of the work place.

The capability of a manager to motivate, influence, direct and communicate with employees will determine his/hers effectiveness. But, managers cannot lead if employees are not motivated to follow them.

Motivation is not the only factor that has influence over performance. Here is also the factor of the capabilities of the individual and the way of how the individual understand the role (habit and behavior needed for achievement of high results in work and with that higher satisfaction from work). All these factors are mutually connected.

Motivation starts with the needs that exist in all of us. Each of us is internally motivated to some level. Motivation is a moving force that supports people in achieving goals and satisfying needs.

When you satisfy one need, other appears. Motivation cannot be directly measured or monitored it can come from the behavior of individuals.

The first step in helping others to become motivated is to recognize their de-motivation. It will help them to choose most adequate style of leadership and it will provide pleasant work environment, which will encourage effective performance and increase dedication and cooperation.

Theories of motivation

Maslow Pyramid

One of the first theories of motivation is the Maslow Theory: Hierarchy of needs. Abraham Maslow recognized the human needs on different levels and the start point of his theory is that most people are motivated through the desire to satisfy certain groups of needs. The theory is based on the assumption that individuals are in a constant condition of motivation, and they never achieve the condition of satisfaction for a short period of time. He divided the human needs in 5 groups/levels.

Physiological needs are at the lowest level on the hierarchy, and they include necessities such as air, food and water. These tend to be satisfied for most people, but they become predominant when unmet. During emergencies, safety needs such as health and security rise to the forefront (personal security, financial security, health and well being and safety against accidents). Once these two levels are met, belongingness needs such as obtaining live and intimate relationships or close friendships, become important. The next level, esteem needs include the need for recognition from others, confidence, achievement and self-esteem.

The highest level is self –actualization, or self –fulfillment. Behavior in this case is not driven or motivated by deficiencies but by the desire for personal growth and development, the need to become all the things that a person is capable of becoming.

This theory is criticized because of the following:

The theory states that people want to satisfy higher level of need satisfaction after they satisfy the needs of a lower level. Still there are individuals that have a strong desire to satisfy higher level before the satisfy needs from a lower level.
Individuals can have different order of the levels. For some people respect is more important than love. Some needs may not exist in some people. What is crucial for someone can be meaningless to others.

Theory X and Theory Y (Douglas McGregor)

Theory X – The assumption that employees dislike work, are lazy, dislike responsibility, and must be coerced to perform.

Theory Y – The assumption that employees like work, are creative, seek responsibility and can exercise self-direction.

Two-Factor Theory (Frederick Herzberg)

According to two-factor theory, intrinsic factors are related to job satisfaction, while extrinsic factors are associated with dissatisfaction.

· Intrinsic factors are those that motivate people to work well and create satisfaction like> achievement, acknowledgment, the work itself, promotion etc.

· Hygiene factors are the extrinsic factors like company policy and administration, supervision, relations with managers and colleagues and salary. When these factors are adequate people will not be dissatisfied.

ERG Theory (Clayton Alderfer)

There are three groups of core needs:

Existence: provision of basic material requirements.
Relatedness: desire for relationships.
Growth: desire for personal development.

Concepts:

More than one need can be operative at the same time.
If a higher-level need cannot be fulfilled, the desire to satisfy a lower-level need increases.

David McClelland’s Theory of Needs

Need for achievement – the drive to excel, to achieve in relation to a set of standards, to strive to succeed.
Need for affiliation – the desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships.
Need for power – the need to make others behave in a way that they would not have behaved otherwise.

Goal-Setting Theory (Edwin Locke)

The theory that states that specific and difficult goals, with feedback, lead to higher performance, where self – efficacy is the individual’s belief that he or she is capable of performing a task.

Reinforcement Theory

This theory states that behavior is a function of its consequences. Key concepts of this theory are:

Behavior is environmentally caused.
Behavior can be modified (reinforced) by providing (controlling) consequences.
Reinforced behavior tends to be repeated.

Equity Theory

Propositions relating to inequitable pay:

· Over rewarded employees produce more than equitably rewarded employees.

· Over rewarded employees produce less, but do higher quality of work.

· Under rewarded hourly employees produce lower quality work.

· Under rewarded employees produce larger quantities of lower-quality piece work than equitably rewarded employees

There are two kinds of justice in this theory:

Distributive justice – perceived fairness of the amount and allocation of rewards among individuals.
Procedural justice – perceived fairness of the process used to determine the distribution of rewards.

SELF – MOTIVATION TEST – How motivated are you?

For each statement, tick the box: “not at all”, “rarely”, “sometimes”, “often” and “very often”.

Statements	Not at all	Rarely	Sometimes	Often	Very often
1. I'm unsure of my ability to achieve the goals I set for myself
2. When working on my goals, I put in maximum effort and work even harder if I've suffered a setback
3. I regularly set goals and objectives to achieve my vision for my life
4. I think positively about setting goals and making sure my needs are met.
5. I use rewards (and consequences) to keep myself focused. For example, if I finish my report on time, I allow myself to take a coffee break.
6. I believe that if I work hard and apply my abilities and talents, I will be successful
7. I worry about deadlines and getting things done, which causes stress and anxiety.
8. When an unexpected event threatens or jeopardizes my goal, I can tend to walk away, set a different goal, and move in a new direction.
9. When I come up with a really good idea, I am surprised by my creativity. I figure it is my lucky day, and caution myself not to get used to the feeling.
10. I tend to do the minimum amount of work necessary to keep my boss and my team satisfied
11. I tend to worry about why I won't reach my goals, and I often focus on why something probably won't work.
12. I create a vivid and powerful vision of my future success before embarking on a new goal.

Results

To get your result you need to summarize the grades that you wrote by each statement according to the table below:

Statement	Results					Your points
	Not at all	Rarely	Sometimes	Often	Very often
1.	5	4	3	2	1
2.	1	2	3	4	5
3.	1	2	3	4	5
4.	1	2	3	4	5
5.	1	2	3	4	5
6.	1	2	3	4	5
7.	5	4	3	2	1
8.	5	4	3	2	1
9.	1	2	3	4	5
10.	5	4	3	2	1
11.	5	4	3	2	1
12.	1	2	3	4	5
Sum
Total

According to the sum, you can read your result bellow:

44-60

Wonderful! You get things done, and you don't let anything stand in your way. You make a conscious effort to stay self-motivated, and you spend significant time and effort on setting goals and acting to achieve those goals. You attract and inspire others with your success. Treasure this – and be aware that not everyone is as self-motivated as you are!

28-43

You're doing OK on self-motivation. You're certainly not failing – however, you could achieve much more. To achieve what you want, try to increase the motivation factors in all areas of your life. Read the relevant sections below, and work on them to strengthen your self-motivation.

12-27

You allow your personal doubts and fears to keep you from succeeding. You've probably had a few incomplete goals in the past, so you may have convinced yourself that you aren't self-motivated – and then you've made that come true. Break this harmful pattern now, and start believing in yourself again. The tools and tips below will help you get back your motivation.

Factors in Self-Motivation

Self-motivation is complex. It's linked to your level of initiative in setting challenging goals for yourself; your belief that you have the skills and abilities needed to achieve those goals; and your expectation that if you put in enough hard work, you will succeed (or at least be in the running, if it's a competitive situation).

Four factors are necessary to build the strongest levels of self-motivation:

Self-confidence and self-efficacy.
Positive thinking and positive thinking about the future.
Focus and strong goals.
A motivating environment.

By working on all of these together, you should quickly improve your self-motivation. Let's look at each of these factors individually.

1. Self-Confidence and Self-Efficacy (Statements 1, 2, 6, 8)

Your score is 17 out of 20

Part of being self-motivated is having good levels of self-assurance, self-confidence, and self-efficacy. More on these below!

Being highly self-assured means you will set challenging goals for yourself, and it's also a resiliency factor for when you encounter setbacks. If you don't believe in yourself you'll be much more likely to think, "I knew I couldn't do this" instead of, "This one failure isn't going to stop me!"

Albert Bandura, a psychologist from Stanford University, defined self-efficacy as a belief in our own ability to succeed, and our ability to achieve the goals we set for ourselves. This belief has a huge impact on your approach to goal setting and your behavioral choices as you work toward those goals. According to Bandura's research, high self-efficacy results in an ability to view difficult goals as a challenge, whereas people with low self-efficacy would likely view the same goals as being beyond their abilities, and might not even attempt to achieve them. It also contributes to how much effort a person puts into a goal in the first place, and how much he or she perseveres despite setbacks.

By developing a general level of self-confidence in yourself, you will not only believe you can succeed, but you'll also recognize and enjoy the successes you've already had. That, in turn, will inspire you to build on those successes. The momentum created by self-confidence is hard to beat. Take these steps:

· Think about the achievements in your life.

· Examine your strengths to understand what you can build on.

· Determine what other people see as your strengths and key capabilities.

· Set achievable goals for yourself, work to achieve them, and enjoy that achievement.

· Seek out mentors and other people who model the competencies, skills, and attributes you desire.

As you begin to recognize how much you've already achieved – and understand how much potential you have – you will have the confidence to set goals and achieve the things you desire. The more you look for reasons to believe in yourself, the easier it will be to find ways to motivate yourself.

2. Positive Thinking, and Positive Thinking about the Future (Statements 4, 9, 11, 12)

Your score is 15 out of 20

"Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today."

Positive thinking is closely related to self-confidence as a factor in self-motivation. It's important to look at things positively, especially when things aren't going as planned and you're ready to give up. If you think that things are going to go wrong or that you won't succeed, this may influence things in such a way that your predictions will come true. This is particularly the case if you need to work hard to achieve success, or if you need to persuade others to support you in order to succeed. Your thoughts can have a major influence on whether you succeed or fail, so make sure those thoughts are "on your side."

Positive thinking also helps you think about an attractive future that you want to realize. When you expect positive results, your choices will be more positive, and you'll be less likely to leave outcomes to fate or chance. Having a vivid picture of success, combined with positive thinking, helps you bridge the gap between wanting something and going out to get it. To apply "the power of positive thinking", do the following:

· Become aware of your thoughts. Write down these down throughout the day.

· Challenge your negative thoughts, and replace them with positive ones.

· Create a strong and vivid picture of what it will be like to achieve your goals.

· Develop affirmations or statements that you can repeat to yourself throughout the day. These statements should remind you of what you want to achieve, and why you will achieve it.

· Practice positive thinking until you automatically think about yourself and the world in a positive way, every day.

3. Focus and Strong Goals (Statements 3, 7)

Your score is 7 out of 10

As we've said above, a key part of building self-motivation is to start setting strong goals. These give you focus, a clear sense of direction, and the self-confidence that comes from recognizing your own achievement.

First, determine your direction through effective goal setting.

When you set a goal, you make a promise to yourself. Part of the strength of this is that it gives you a clear direction. Part is that you've made this promise to yourself, and you'll want to keep this promise. And part is that it's a challenge, and it's fun to try to meet that challenge! But don't set just any goal. According to Locke's goal-setting theory, your goal should have the following characteristics:

Clarity - Effective goals are clear, measurable, specific, and based on behavior, not outcomes.
Challenge - Goals should be difficult enough to be interesting, but not so difficult that you can't reach them.
Commitment - Goals should be attainable, and should be relevant – that is, they should contribute in a significant way to the major objectives you're trying to achieve.
Regularity of Feedback - Monitor your progress towards your goals regularly to maintain your sense of momentum and enthusiasm, and enjoy your progress towards those goals.
Sufficient Respect For Complexity - If the goal involves complex work, make sure that you don't over-commit yourself. Complex work can take an unpredictably long time to complete (particularly if you have to learn how to do the task "on the job").

When you have a variety of goals, be sure to schedule your time and resources effectively. You can achieve the "focus" part of self-motivation by prioritizing and establishing a schedule that will help you succeed. It doesn't make sense to work until you're exhausted or give up one goal to achieve another. Using tools like the Urgent/Important Matrix and the Action Priority Matrix , you can quickly and easily see how each goal activity fits into the bigger picture of your overall objectives. If you fully understand your priorities, you probably won't feel as pressured to do everything at once. This can reduce stress and help you to concentrate on the most important strategies.

4. Motivating Environment (Statements 5, 10)

Your score is 6 out of 10

The final thing for you to focus on is surrounding yourself with people and resources that will remind you of your goals, and help you with your internal motivation. These are external factors – they'll help you get motivated from the outside, which is different from the internal motivation we've discussed so far. However, the more factors you have working for you, the better. You can't just rely on these "environmental" or outside elements alone to motivate you, but you can use them for extra support. Try the following:

Look for team work opportunities. Working in a team makes you accountable to others.
Ask your boss for specific targets and objectives to help you measure your success.
Ask for interesting assignments.
Set up some goals that you can easily achieve. Quick wins are great for getting you motivated.
Buddy up with people who you trust to be supportive, and ask them to help keep you accountable.
Try not to work by yourself too much. Balance the amount of time you work from home with time spent working with others.

When you start your self-motivation program, you may tend to rely heavily on these external factors. As you get more comfortable and confident with your self-motivation, you'll probably use them only as needed, and for a little extra help.

Key Points

Self-motivation doesn't come naturally to everyone. And even those who are highly self-motivated need some extra help every now and then.

Build your self-motivation by practicing goal-setting skills, and combining those with positive thinking, the creation of powerful visions of success, and the building of high levels of self-efficacy and self-confidence.

Your attitude and beliefs about your likelihood of success can predict whether or not you actually succeed. Set goals, and work hard to achieve them. Examine ways to improve your self-motivation, and regularly reassess your motivation levels. If you actively keep your internal motivation high, you can significantly increase the likelihood of achieving your hopes, dreams, and visions of the future.

Vesna Aleksovska

Chairman / Assistant Manager/ Project Coordinator / Trainer
Association of citizens for rare diseases "Life With Challenges" / EMBRA Corporation
Macedonia

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