How can we use neuroscience to find motivation?Flowers bloom in nature by themselves. A phenomenon o

How can we use neuroscience to find motivation?Flowers bloom in nature by themselves. A phenomenon occurs, without needing to know itself. It is when we struggle to direct our energy, that we look for tools, and here are listed from the field of psychology and neuroscience, some elements that have been identified as the makers of motivation.We observe flowers to emerge after branches and leaves, eventually becoming a process of flourishing and growth for the species. Similarly, the system boundary of our object in focus, motivation, extends before and after the object itself in space and time. Fear and reward have been identified immensely powerful drivers, in the physiological approach of twentieth century science, propounded by the likes of Pavlov. It is a state of fear or positive anxiety before, and an anticipation of reward after, that brackets the playing out of the state of motivation.Pointers from the field of psychology to help develop motivation:Recognize, and overcome fear: A lack of motivation is a state of inertia, often in fear of a task which is assumed to be daunting. The key to overcome fear is to look at it and not away. This is where distractions creep in, making one to look away, sapping our energy and motivation. A first step is to be mindful and recognize that it is procrastination which is being executed. Then we can look at the broader contents of the daunting task, breaking it into chunks. An elephant cannot pass through a hole, but surely its slices can. Fear lives in darkness, of what is not seen and not planned. Taking an overview by parts and then attempting them brings again a confidence and hence motivation.Align reward to your purpose: A toothache reminds us of the location of our teeth. When everything is AOK we are only our mind and presence. When the job at hand appears not what we want to do, we point to it, naming it as problems of motivation and focus. Even monetary rewards have failed to motivate participants in studies. Then how to overcome lack of motivation for what we do not want to do?By nature of the thinking formed by our brains, we are a purpose seeking species. Aligning rewards of the activity to a larger purpose returns the missing motivation. Breaking stones becomes a motivating task when it is seen that eventually building a house is our purpose.Let us look at some pointers supported by neuroscience:Clear the obstacles: James Clear, the writer of the book Atomic Habits, mentions this as a first step to ease the mind into a flow of motivated activity. Suppose we wish to develop the habit of reading books. It is only an obstacle if we must plan, go out, select, and then read a book. If books are ergonomically accessible and visually present in our environment, then it is easier to onboard ourselves into the habit. This lowers the barrier to our objective and eliminates the necessity for a high threshold of motivation. Like water and electricity, by nature our energy tends to flow through the shortest path. Whichever intended receptacle of our energy is closer, attracts our action the easiest.Reframe as many times as necessary: We tend to be fixated and blocked by defined words and written sentences. In reality, the set of words used to describe a goal are never set in stone. Descriptors can be positive or negative, broad or narrow, commanding or freeing, or anything on the spectrum in between. Mental barriers to thinking can be overcome by setting a solution-neutral problem statement (or SNPS in problem solving terminology). Say a goal is set as doing ‘20 push-ups a day’. It may not materialize due to lack of motivation, this can be eased by setting it as let’s say ‘10 assisted push-ups and 10 Chaturanga push-ups’. Was our goal here really exactly those 20 push ups? Does it sound better to our mind once reframed tastefully?Eat the frog: Or bite into it and see from there. Taking the first step they say is the hardest. A neuron only fires once enough voltage is developed to pass on the current to the dendrite of a next neuron. This is the action potential or a voltage-gate. Analogically from physics, static friction is higher than kinetic friction for the same load on a surface. In nature we observe a higher threshold of energy is required to begin from a stop, in comparison to once the ball has started rolling. Eating the frog refers to tackling the most tedious activity of the day the first thing in the morning. This is the time the brain is rested and ready for a higher input. Only once we take a first bite into the work towards the goal, can we see possible next steps, which would not have appeared to us before.Desire and dopamine on demand: The neuroscience of human movement describes that all we can really only ‘do’ is to move. The brain regions were first developed in our primitive ancestors to only coordinate motion. Upon these regions have developed a permutation and combination of connections of neurons to enable us for speech and thought. Hence our thinking has a deep connection to the motion of our body. We borrow the mental models of ‘journey’ and ‘destination’ in our projects and endeavors. According to neuroscience it is the desire for journey which releases dopamine. This anticipation drives motivation. Running and walking are simple effective motions which freshen and motivate our mind by the release of dopamine.Breaks and rhythm: For mountains to appear on a landscape, there will have to appear valleys. Day follows night, and all music is not constant but rhythmic intervals of sound. It has been found best for the productivity of our brain, a short break after a period of focus. Constant slogging depletes our energy and motivation. A break can be a reward for slogging through a focus session. If a big task appears daunting, we can attempt it in parts with breaks in between. The Pomodoro technique makes use of this aspect. The nearing end of the winding of the timer makes us to wrap-up in time.Now that we have looked at some elements which make motivation, we can inculcate in ourselves the ones which resonate, and nurture the flower of motivation to bloom.By Pushpendra Singh (Medium). Image credit: ArtsyBeeKids, pixabay.com -- source link

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