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How Motivation and Emotion
Can Work Together

If we allow our level of drive to be influenced too much by our feelings, it can be very difficult to maintain the commitment we need in our lives to reach our goals. One key to being motivated is consistency, and for many of us, our emotions can be anything but consistent.

It is very easy to be motivated when you are feeling on top of the world, but let one little fly venture into the ointment of your great mood, and you may notice your motivation plunge with your frame of mind.

It can be difficult to separate motivation and emotion, but to stay motivated, it is important not to let your determination be influenced by the natural mood changes we all experience. We can stay motivated and reach our goals by taking one small step at a time, consistently. To only take action when we feel like doing so is unlikely to get us very far, and makes it almost impossible to get, and stay, motivated.

Continuous positive action creates momentum and results. If we can create some distance between our feelings, and the decisions that we have consciously taken about following a certain path, it can be easier to maintain our commitment to our goals, regardless of the ups and downs we may experience emotionally. Try to observe your feelings from the perspective of your higher self. Notice your emotions and honor them. Let yourself feel whatever it is that you are feeling, but don’t be controlled by these emotions. Allowing your feelings to dictate your level of motivation is handing over the reins of your progress to a very erratic driver!

While letting our motivation be affected by our emotions too much is unhelpful, if we look at the opposite side of the equation, it can be much more positive. By keeping our focus on our goals, we begin to notice that we feel really good more and more often as a result of our actions and progress. The combination of motivation and emotion can be positive when the motivation comes first. Even a small, but regular sense of achievement can have a very positive effect on our moods.

While emotions are a very important and inescapable part of life, they can perhaps be compared to money in a sense. They can make a good servant, but a poor master. If we allow ourselves to be controlled by our feelings, we can expect to live life on a roller-coaster. It is also likely that if we are ruled by our emotions, we will make some poor decisions in our lives. Following your heart is not the same as being led by your feelings. Emotions are fickle, and what we may be aware that we feel is often a result of deeper, underlying causes and feelings. What we perceive as a deep desire to take a certain action may in fact be motivated by fear of the alternative.

To create a successful working partnership between motivation and emotion, take control of creating your own motivation. Stay on a steady course, and permit the waves of emotion to wash over you without allowing yourself to be swept away. If you let your emotions follow the path you choose and not vice versa, you will find you can be more productive and a whole lot happier!

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