Faith is the Ultimate Form of Motivation

 

Hello winners,

It's second of July in the second half of the year and I am really excited that you and I have made it thus far hale and hearty! Of recent, I have come to see the magic of faith and how for me, it's the biggest source of motivation. 

To begin with, let us all define what faith means and this will be the basis of the entire post. A quick Google search on "faith definition" gives the first definition of faith as "complete trust or confidence in someone or something."

Merriam Webster dictionary has a slightly different variation of that definition and defines faith as: "firm belief in something for which there is no proof."

The Cambridge English dictionary defines faith as: "great trust or confidence in something or someone."

Since there is no clear cut way to measure faith using any physical scale, the first two definitions reflect the definition of faith used in this article.

With that established, why is it the ultimate form of motivation as I claim? Before we answer that question we have to clearly define what motivation means as related to this article too, so we can be on same page.

Doing a similar Google search on "motivation definition" returns the definition of motivation as 

"a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way."

Cambridge defines motivation as the "willingness to do something, or something that causes such willingness"

Merriam Webster dictionary defines it as "the act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something". Other sub definitions are: "the act or process of motivating someone, the condition of being eager to act or work, a force or influence that causes someone to do something"

All these definitions are in alignment with what "motivation" in this article means.

Before we consider why faith is the ultimate source of motivation, we have to begin with the question: why do we even need motivation in the first place?

Based on the definitions above, motivation is what gives us that willingness to do something or the reason why we should act of behave in a particular way. It makes us eager to take action.

Taking action and doing things are essential to ones happiness and general well-being. It's what makes us lively to engage life and enjoy the beauty in it. It's through taking actions that we find meaning and make sense in the world around us. 

An 80 year study  here  showed that good relationships are the key to people being happier. But then to build good relationships you need to take action through actively reaching out, volunteering,  creating value for people around you, sharing your time and sometimes resources to help other people.

You cannot do all these things if you are not motivated.. because motivation as we know is what makes you eager to act or take action. Everything you choose to do or not do is tied to how motivated you are to do it!

Motivation by definition is therefore behind every action we take. Since we need to be motivated to even take actions that could make us happier, we have another important question: what makes people highly motivated or eager to take action?

The easy guess here would be reward. If you are sure that there's something to get from doing something, you're suddenly motivated to do it. It could range from money, love, recognition, fame etc.

Our motivation comes from the knowledge that there is a reward for what we are doing. If there's no such motivation, there's no push to go for it. So technically, we are motivated because we become willing to do something to get some reward from it. 

It then means that people can easily become demotivated once you take away that thing which motivates them. Does it then mean that people's motivation and subsequently happiness has to come from something external to them? Money, fame, love recognition etc? For a large number of people these material things are their biggest motivators.

But come to think about it. What if these things are not there? What happens to people who only depend on them to be motivated? It's simple, they become demotivated instantly. The external things we look up to as motivation sources are not always guaranteed. Getting money for your work, feeling loved, gaining recognition are things that are not in your control and as such motivation derived from here only lasts as long as the reward.

But there is a more consistent way to stay motivated. That is what I call the ultimate motivator and what is it all about? It's faith. Given that faith in this article means "a firm belief in something for which there is no proof." Take a wild guess why it's the highest form of motivation now.

In the case of faith, you believe you already have something which you seek when there is no physical presence of it. You see it in your mind's eye and the reward now becomes internal created because you see what you seek. The mental shift in seeing what you happen is what propels you to take action, same way you would quickly do something because you will make money.

The key here is that in the case of faith, the material reward is now done internally through envisioning the future. You create the reward in your mind through this faith. And the mentally created reward propels you to take more action in exact same way being offered $100,000 would freak you!

If you understand this properly, you will see that your source of motivation would no longer depend on externals. You will create your own reward at anytime by painting on your canvas through vision and faith. You will no longer be a slave to external things you look to for motivation (which could disappear at any time.) You will rather be in control of your internally created rewards through faith based actions.

Faith is always available for you to create with. The trick is that you have to believe it totally before you can see things manifest. But the problem is that it's difficult for a lot to do simply because it is easier to see material things with our physical eyes than to mentally create a reward(outcome/target) internally which will always motivate us to take action. 

So many people would take the easier route - and be at the mercy of external events which are wildly beyond their control.. And then when those external rewards are not there any longer, the motivation just drops instantly. 

But you are able to create that unforeseen reward inside you. And keep looking unto it for as long as you want. looking at both rewards(the external one and internal one) both will eventually lead you getting the money you were promised externally or the money you created internally.

It's similar, but in one case, you have the liberty to create any kind of reward and allow the internally created reward to motivate you into acting towards it! It is faith that makes what you create internally as real as what you can actually see or experience externally. And this realness evokes same motivation for you to act as you will be motivated to do a very simple task for $100,000 which you can see on a table.

With an expected reward, you will be motivated, with motivation, you will be spurred to take various actions and through those actions you will become happy.. Happiness from your motivated actions and happiness you will eventually get when that reward comes to you.

Through faith, your expected reward is always there.. And you are free to create and design it the way you want. If your expected result is always there internally, you will always be motivated.. with being always motivated, you will always take relevant action and after that you will always the reward you had in mind.. which makes you always happy! "Begin with the end in mind"..

This is why I strongly feel faith is the ultimate form of motivation. You have full control over your reward system with this. There is no room for sadness or depression, because unlike external rewards being taken away at anytime and destroying your motivation and subsequently happiness, no one can take away the reward you have created for yourself internally through faith. It stays for as long as you want and has same potency in motivating you to your best self.

If you are a religious person, Faith in God means you have unshakeable trust in the power of God and on who and what he says you are. This in itself is enough to spur you take actions that are in accordance with the belief you have about who or what God has made you.

It's all faith. And trust me it works!

Embrace unlimited faith and keep winning.

Your man,

Ike Nigel O