The sacred science of manifesting motivation.

Once you learn to create with joy, then it won't matter what your goals are or what you are creating, simply "because" you will enjoy doing it. You can make a habit of this, and learn to create with joy, just as you can learn to create with fear.

            In order to move towards something, you must first have the belief that it's attainable. If you believe that it's attainable, you can work towards its fulfillment. You must hold in your mind, not only the idea of its attainability, but also of its joyful anticipation and expectation. You must create joyful anticipation and expectations, instead of negative expectations; otherwise we aren't providing fuel for our intended goal. This creates movement towards the object instead of fear based negative conditioning

            Our "problem" of motivation is actually sort of a catch-22. That's why it's so difficult to change. Thinking of something as a "problem" actually helps create the resistance towards the desired goal.

            The book Oneness by Rasha states,

            "When one's approach is that of joyous anticipation of the natural results of one's efforts, the manifestation occurs with ease and the process is uneventful. However, when one approaches the effort anticipating difficulty, and projects one's intent to circumvent it by mentally focusing on all the things that could go wrong, one sets the stage for those very kinds of difficulties to occur. It cannot be otherwise, for your mental focus creates your reality...One creates with ease what is approached with the energy of joy...and the level of satisfaction one anticipates as a result of those efforts produces that very result."

By approaching something with the assumption that the highest possible result is forthcoming and that our efforts will be rewarded, we actually help set those events in motion.

This is the formula for motivation.[i]

Emotional Value (desire, expectations) + attainability (perception of ease) - resistance (belief of difficulty) - circumvention ( "I'll do it tomorrow," letting you off the hook, etc, excuses) = doing

            Motivation first begins with a strong emotion. Contrary to popular opinion, emotions aren't just instincts that need to be tamed by the "rational" mind. According to neuroscience, our emotions are extremely important in assigning value to things and making decisions.[ii] Our emotions give us the "drive" to focus on and achieve our goals. What have often been overlooked are the other variables that modify these emotions.

            Ease and attainability profoundly affect our decision making process. If we begin to think of an idea's ease and attainability, we increase the desire for it, while simultaneous our thinking mind begins to think of ways in which we can satisfy it. The trick in lessoning resistance in our minds is not in trying to try and overcome the problem, merely to cease defining it as "a problem.[iii]" If we also lower the beliefs[iv] that bring on resistance to our goal, accumulated desire naturally impels us towards the intended target. Once your emotions become aligned with your thinking mind, the power of your thought becomes focused and creates your reality. If we are able to focus the energies of our mind, then our mind can become like a laser and cut through to our intentions and goals.  

            Imagine for a moment a cork bottle filled with soda. If you shake up that bottle, there comes a great buildup of pressure. This is similar to building up your emotions and expectations. It then looks for the fastest and easiest way to let out this soda (desire). The cork is the resistance. If resistance is less than the buildup of the pressure of the bottle, then the cork will give way (resistance will give way).  If however, there is a hole in the bottle, which represents another outlet and our excuses, then the pressure built up will follow the path of least resistance, and the pressure directed towards the nose of the bottle, (our intentional direction), won't be as great.

            Another way we could think of this is a river dam. The great surge of water represents the buildup of emotional desire. The river dam represents resistance. If we lower resistance (by lowering its level of difficulty in our mind) and open a hole in the dam, then the water flows out where we want it. If however, we divert the river before it reaches the dam, then the water level won't be as high when it goes through it, (if indeed it even makes it out of the gate.)

            Let's, however, take an example of this in real life. Suppose you want to go to the store for some small item, (say for instance some spices). You want to get the item (desire), but you don't want to go all the way to the store (the value in attainability is not greater than the resistance.) If however, you're able to think of more things you need at the store, then you are increasing its desirability. If you also increase the desire by deciding to cook the meal that absolutely needs those spices, and you decrease the resistance ("it won't be so bad," "I'll just get those items real fast") then you have dramatically increased your motivation. Before you make the decision though, there are ways in which we look for easier outlets or ways we can let ourselves off the "hook" in other words. "Well I can get those spices tomorrow" or "Maybe I can cook something that doesn't need those spices," then your intentional desire to go to the store (goal) has just vanished.

            One of the things I didn't talk about yet is the value of negative pain or feedback. This is what happens if you don't finish the task. (I). This is represented by ± I. The (I) variable also represents your internal calendar and sense of time.

            The right amount of imperative or (I) can modify your emotions (E) and can provide the motivation for you to finish your task. ("I have to get this task done", "If I don't go to the store right now, I'll never go.")  Too much imperative or pain, however, actually turns into a negative and creates the resistance (R) that actually stops you from doing the assigned task. (We think of ourselves as failures if we don't do something to our expectations). Resistance can also happen when we feel rushed to complete a task in a small amount of time, and then you're mentally resisting that "external" pressure. Then you have to go back and lower the amount of resistance in your own mind.[v]

            What the Imperative variable actually does is it limits your options. Going back to the example of the bottle, it is that the imperative that says to you, "There are no holes in the bottle, you have to go through the cork right now," which in this case is resistance. It tries to fight resistance, but if it doesn't push through, it turns against the bottle. There comes a certain point where pain ceases to help create motivation, and actually turns against you. If there is too much pain associated with a certain task, we will avoid that task. Pain can work for short-term tasks and goals, but it doesn't provide the fuel in the long-run. The less you can use pain, the better. A better way is lowering resistance from the start of our equation.  

            The formula is easy, but in real life it becomes very complex, because human beings are constantly changing their minds about their expectations, values, beliefs about attainability, intentions and their self-identity. Don't think you can just start mentally assigning numbers for this equation, because it requires your emotions and a certain level of self-reflection and self-awareness of your patterns. As such it is also an art form and can be developed. We can start looking at our variables and seeing if they need to be increased or decreased, (even as we are doing the task). Motivation is an art form that we should all learn to increase, because it can affect every single one of our decisions.

            The trick to staying motivated is to be aware of the things that derail us from our intended target. We have to be aware of what really influences us, not what should influence us. By becoming aware of our influences, we can then use those influences to work for us, and to become more conscious of unconscious belief systems that hamper our progress. 

            It's important that we forgive ourselves for our lapses and don't beat ourselves up too hard for "failing to live up to our ideals and expectations." It takes time in implementing any new patterns, to actually look forward to things, instead of reacting against them. Making ourselves feel guilty not only does nothing for us, it is actually counterproductive and creates painful associations that make us want to avoid the situation in the future. And why should we feel guilty? There is no instruction manual we are given when we are born. (This does not mean there are "no rules in life", just that there are natural consequences of certain actions.) We learn the patterns through trial and certain people have become "better" and "worse" than us in certain key areas. It is important to keep an open mind, and always be open to learning.

            Keep your goals in mind[vi], but use what you think of as mistakes simply as learning experiences and building blocks for success. Use them as challenges. Our benefits that we gain come not from our goals, but what we learn in the process and from our efforts. We can set goals in our progress, but we must learn to enjoy the journey, and the only way we can learn to enjoy the journey is, paradoxically, by journeying.

Not all our decisions should be conscious, yet we can become more conscious of ways in which we can help ourselves.

This is the sacred science of manifesting motivation.

            "Suddenly, opportunities appear effortlessly. And one ceases to anticipate resistance to one's hopes and dreams and thus stops creating it energetically. One begins to assume that everything will go smoothly and that potentially difficult or complex scenarios will work out perfectly. And, therefore they do. One begins to enjoy the process of learning to harness the power of creation, and one is increasingly able to sail smoothly through the scenarios of one's life. The resistance that one may have been accustomed to is suddenly not manifesting in one's life script, for one has ceased creating it. A brand new kind of experience begins to predominate.[vii]"

[i] EV + A - R - C (± I) = D or the mnemonic acronym EVARCID

An easier and simpler formula to remember is Desire - Resistance, or in other words, "Increase Desire, Lower Resistance." Standing by itself, though, I think it ignores several key variables. Still, it is very useful. 

[ii] Check out the book, "How We Decide," by Jonah Lehrer

[iii] "Our problems cannot be solved by the same consciousness that created them."    --Albert Einstein.

[iv] Many of our resistance beliefs are subconscious, which is why it is extremely important to be as honest as possible in self-reflection, in order to uncover those subconscious beliefs. Once we are aware of our underlying belief systems, we can begin to question and weaken them, while looking for better belief systems.

[v]     In order to overcome resistance you have to lower the emotional degree of difficulty in your own mind, and let go of the connotations of obligation that invariable follow. There are also many different ways of denying resistance. Check out the book Live the Life you Love by Barbara Sher, for a particularly good one.

[vi] Otherwise this is like going to the store for spices, buying all your food, and then forgetting the spices!!

[vii] From the book Oneness by Rasha.