My husband is a keen Wim Hof fan. For those who are not familiar with Wim, Wikipedia lists him as the Iceman, a Dutch extreme athlete noted for his ability to withstand freezing temperatures. Wim has set Guinness World Records for swimming under ice, prolonged full-body contact with ice, and he still holds the record for a barefoot half-marathon on ice and snow. My hubby is intrigued with this superhuman, listens to Wim’s podcasts, practices the Wim Hof breathing method, made our entire family do the push-up challenge and even spent 30 minutes, shirtless in the snow on Christmas eve. When questioned, he may possibly deny all of this, but I have the footage to proof it! 😊
While I prefer less extreme challenges, mankind has always been intrigued with the outliers. Those people who seem to be pushing the limits, living fully, motivated 24/7 – the Energizer Bunnies of society.
Victor Frankl is one of those who enthuse me. He wrote the profoundly inspiring and moving book, Man’s search for meaning shortly after being freed from an Auschwitz concentration camp. Frankl coined man’s pursuit of significance as “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’.” If we discover and chase after that which we personally find meaningful, we can overcome almost any obstacle in our quest thereof.
The new year is a good time to revisit, reflect and retell lessons learned in 2020. But it also provides a clean slate, a white board for us to make resolutions to experience personal growth in 2021. How do we ensure that our resolutions are more than just noble ideas? What prompts our 2021 declarations to go beyond the first week of January?
There are two basic types of motivation. Extrinsic and intrinsic/ self-motivation. Extrinsic motivation is reward-driven behavior and involves doing something to either earn a reward or avoid punishment. It is a type of operant conditioning, where behavior is learnt by linking it with certain consequences. If I do my job, I get paid a salary.
Frankl’s search for meaning is key to intrinsic motivation and personal fulfillment. Intrinsic motivation is about inspiration rather than obligation. Self-motivation is the force that keeps pushing us to go on – it's our internal drive to achieve and keep moving forward. It is a motivation that is born in wanting to “be” something, versus merely “wanting” something. This implies pursuing an objective because it is connected to something that you value or has real purpose for you. When something becomes a part of your identity, the motivation to ‘be’ overrides the motivation to ‘want’.
Intrinsic motivation, therefore, is a lasting type of motivation. While you can charge a person’s battery, recharge it, and recharge it again, it will always need external charging. Intrinsic motivation suggests someone has a generator of one’s own - a motivation that needs no outside stimulation.
When setting resolutions, it is important that they are linked to meaningful goals and values that can sustain motivation.
Whatever your new year’s resolutions are, let us not just go through another year, succumbing to our circumstances; merely accepting things as they are. Let’s choose to believe that at any given moment we have options. We can steer the ship of our souls. Like George Eliot said: “It is never too late to be what you might have been.”
1. Write down clear, attainable goals
2. Find an accountability partner
3. Celebrate small wins
4. Just keep swimming
5. Revisit and rewrite your goals as you progress
May 2021 be a great year! May your personal (and professional) development be significant. May you find motivation in being rather than wanting. Even if you take baby steps, just keep moving. In the wise words or Aristotle: We are, what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act but a habit.