Motivation and Drive
All of us recognize motivation when we see it. Someone who is motivated is determined, a go-getter, and ambitious. Their energy and enthusiasm for what is important to them moves them tirelessly toward their goals.
The highly motivated are able to overcome setbacks, injuries, and barriers because their motivation carries them though the rough spots.
Motivation is the drive toward goals. The drive that underlies motivation can be based on physical or biological drives (hunger, thirst, sex).
Social drives that fuel the drive toward goals include the need for achievement, the need for affiliation, and the needs for status and power.
High-level motivation is difficult to sustain
in an environment in which there is too much stress.
High performance and high achievement are products
of strong and sustained motivation. Individuals
and companies which strive for high performance
need to incorporate stress management to be sure
to create an environment which is supportive of
high motivation.
Motivation and Peak Performers
Peak Performers have intense drive toward their goals. They work at what they really care about. They tend to spend the largest portion of their time on work that they like.
Internal satisfaction relates to finding work and activities intrinsically rewarding. External satisfaction comes from external sources such as recognition, rewards, money, and fame. Peak Performers receive both internal and external satisfaction from what they do. This dual source of satisfaction works to maintain and enhance their motivation.
The level of motivation that Peak Performers have toward their goals is sometimes described as passionate commitment or as burning desire.
Peak Performers have a sense of autonomy and a sense of control over the direction in their lives because they follow a course toward their goals. This goal-directed and intentional way of living goes far beyond ordinary motivation.
They pursue their goals with clarity, a sense of purpose and a mission-like intensity.
Motivation and Stress
Stress works against motivation. Experiencing too much stress, dampens the kind of long term sustained motivation that is required for top achievement.
Stress detracts from the energy and stamina that it takes to maintain a high level of motivation. With stress there is confusion, a feeling of a lack of control and a loss of focus. These characteristics are antithetical to the focus, control, and purposeful action that are represent of the performance and work of Peak Performers.
If we look at Peak Performers and at those who are have chronic stress, we have a study of contrasts.
Although some individuals claim that they work better under pressure, they are setting themselves up for depleting their physical and mental resources and heading toward a state of burnout.
For the consistent high performance of Peak Performers and top achievers, individuals need to peel off unnecessary stress. Having a sense of control, focus and a high level of purpose are sustainable in an environment in which stress is manageable and under control.
To have high level motivation over time, people need to learn to manage and control stress in their lives and their work. High performance is achieved by individuals who have focus, direction and a powerful sense of meaning in the work that they do. The very qualities demanded by high performance are eroded by too much stress.
