Motivation and Purpose

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File: 1429992791604.jpg (957.36 KB, 3627x3266, 3627:3266, maslows-hierarchy.jpg)

Motivation and Purpose Anonymous 04/25/15 (Sat) 20:13:11 No.2495

How can one be motivated without goals?

Motivation can be defined as follows:

"the act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something"/"a force or influence that causes someone to do something" - Merriam Webster

"Internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested and committed to a job, role or subject, or to make an effort to attain a goal." - Business Dictionary

"the act or an instance of motivating, or providing with a reason to act in a certain way"/"the state or condition of being motivated or having a strong reason to act or accomplish something" - Dictionary.com

"The reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way" - Oxford Dictionary.

The aspect that all of those definitions have in common is the presence of a goal or topic of interest.

Most quotes and motivational images seem to reinforce the idea that "you can do it", that you "can't quit", or that you will "find a way". The problem is arises when one does not know what "it" is. If you are not in the middle of a process there can be no "quitting" or "continuing". When you don't have a destination there cannot be "a way".

And what is a goal? Those same sources define it as "that which one is trying to achieve", it is a reason to do something. And reasons are the bases or motives for actions.

The fundamental question is how to define a goal when one does not have any. This is usually solved with a series of questions, the answers of which one is supposed to reflect upon: "What do you want to achieve?", "where would you like to be in x years?", "what would you enjoy that it happened to you?", all of these being based on personal desires or wants. Some are capable of setting a goal that is seen as "noble", such as inventing an affordable artificial heart, or solving a specific social issue, but this generally isn't defined as a goal because of a rational decision, but because the individual feels bad about the current situation, and ultimately they don't want to feel bad. I'm deviating from the point.

Now that I have stated my views (which are mostly backed by facts) about motivation and goal-setting, I would like yo ask you something.

How can I define a medium or long-term goal?

I do not enjoy any activity, I do not feel a desire to do anything, I do not see an important point in any action. My only real goal is survival, and even that is quickly loosing its appeal. Maslow's hierarchy of needs supposedly states that an unmet need motivates the individual to take action that will fulfill it. Well, currently I'm sitting on the "Safety" level and see no reason to try going up.

Can any of you think of something?

I'll be posting this on /mental/ too because I want as many different opinions as possible

Anonymous 04/25/15 (Sat) 21:37:38 No.2497

>>2495

If you need to start doing something you have two options:

Get motivated:==increase your desire to take action.==

Use willpower:==force yourself to take action.==

The latter option blows the first one out of the water. Motivation in general as a tactic is fairly unreliable, it's a strategy inherently dependent on how you feel, which is why it will work wonderfully sometimes and fail miserably other times. It's easy to hype yourself up the night before but when the next day comes rolling over and the excitement of your initiative fades away and you realise you have to wake up now, at 6 am, most people would just turn off their alarm clock and go back to sleep, forever waiting for a perfect moment that will never come, constantly convincing themselves that they'll start some time in the future.

You don't need to be motivated to take action and funnily enough, forcing yourself to take the first step will in turn motivate you to take that second and third step and so on. If you want to take action and start doing something, start small and gradually increase the effort until you form a habit and once you form a habit, you won't need motivation or willpower to do the task you want to do. (If you want I could go in detail on this point)

Relax your ideas of what "goals" mean, contrary to what you may believe, a goal does not have to be big, it could be something as simple as waking up earlier, learning to draw or getting your mental state balanced.

Right now you may not have goals so make a few small ones, specifically something that would keep your life moving smoothly and help you get out of your slump. For instance, making a goal of starting to exercise, not because you want to but because it would be good for you or making a goal of journalling, not because you want to but because it's good for you. ==If you don't already, do start journalling and use it to vent and analyse your mindsets and thoughts, it's a cheap and effective method of self help==

For now, set goals that would get you out of your current mindset of not enjoying things and once you get out, everything will become much clearer to you.

Anonymous 06/29/15 (Mon) 23:03:17 No.3322

>>2495

Perhaps keeping your mental health could be a motivation.

The goal you stated, surviving, is absolutely fine and enough in itself. Humans need company to stay healthy, though, housing, food, intellectually stimulating environments certainly concern you, and unless you were born into a very wealthy family, you will have to fit into society and work to attain these.

Don't worry, it's all pointless, and most people seem to avoid that conclusion and forge completely arbitrary priorities and belief systems, but you're not alone.

Anonymous 06/30/15 (Tue) 08:35:50 No.3326

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I'm very much like you, OP. I always viewed the race most people run as pointless and distant. Whether I feel joy or sorrow, live or die, doesn't make that much of a difference. Therefore, I had to fabricate a goal outside of myself.

What I've been trying to do lately to escape this passiveness has been studying a bit of philosophy along with ancient religions, and I can say I've half-assedly elaborated some sort of weltanschauung that gave me direction and a value system.

My advice is to ponder questions such as what is the soul, why do we experience reality, whether free will exists and so on.

Anonymous 07/02/15 (Thu) 08:56:03 No.3344

>>3326

>My advice is to ponder questions such as what is the soul, why do we experience reality, whether free will exists and so on.

Not OP, but what if i don't know myself that well and have no goals or dreams?

I do have some small things that i want to do, but i feel like i should know myself. Like what are my good and bad sides, what kinda person i am, why i feel apathetic most of the time and so on.

It feels like i'm stuck or that my brain is stuck and can't do anything other than play games and watch anime.

I don't even know why i feel this way or what i can do, not sure why i'm even writing this right now it feels mechanical.

Anonymous 07/03/15 (Fri) 12:31:31 No.3349

File: 1435926691881.jpg (1.5 MB, 1680x1050, 8:5, 1426678730003.jpg)

>>3344

>It feels like i'm stuck or that my brain is stuck and can't do anything other than play games and watch anime.

I know that feel very well. You have no direction, purpose or control over yourself. You simply lack a reason to achieve. If the point of living is to feel good, and you have everything you need right in your room, why venture out into the world? Why get a job, build a family, buy a house, make something, when it's so much easier to sit in your room and hog the computer?

What I'm getting at is that you, as I did, might need a deeper purpose. Something that goes beyond the suicidal utilitarianism that's so popular these days, and seems to be the only philosophical position that holds.

I guess that's why you feel apathetic. As for

>I do have some small things that i want to do, but i feel like i should know myself. Like what are my good and bad sides, what kinda person i am

You will never know that as long as you keep doing the same things over and over. If you're serious about that you will force yourself to make new experiences, from which you will derive a sense of who you are and what you can offer to the world.

It will be painful at times, but don't back down. Learn to be fully conscious and in control at all times, at some point pain will simply slide over you and you will stop bein a slave to your feelings. Train attention and focus through meditation, trust me, it's a great thing to do.

I'm currently reading Ride the Tiger, it might help you.

http://www.cakravartin.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/Julius-Evola-Ride-the-Tiger-Survival-Manual-for-the-Aristocrats-of-the-Soul.pdf

Also check out >>2541 and >>3129

Anonymous 07/03/15 (Fri) 15:43:03 No.3350

>>3349

I'll check those out.

Anonymous 07/04/15 (Sat) 17:40:41 No.3362

YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.

>>3350

Came across this video, disregard that the topic is seduction, it actually gives lots of good advice on how to build your life. Check out the part after 14:00 fir instance.

Anonymous 07/10/15 (Fri) 21:06:30 No.3419

I'm motivated to be self-disciplined. I want to be strong. I see strength and power as inherently good as it allows you get the things you want. You can even use power to explore and get meaning for your life.