Do you have trouble staying motivated? Understanding'motivation' from an evolutionary and psychological perspective could well be the key to helping you with yours, whether you don't have enough or have too much with no purpose to aim for.
From a 'drive theory' standpoint, we'll look at what motivation is in this article. We'll then give you some actionable tips to assist you channel your motivation toward a carefully chosen and desired objective.
A lot of this may be classified as 'alignment.' That is, choosing a goal that you actually want, linking that end goal to your inner power/talent/skillset, and then performing activities that inexorably lead to said objective becoming a part of your experience.
You may not recognise yourself as such, yet you are a superb manifesting machine. Take a time to reflect on your life to this point; all of the good, terrible, and indifferent experiences. Who you are right now is the sum of all of that.
How powerful could you be in achieving your goals/dreams if you could channel that manifesting power and focus it on the outcomes you want? What if you could begin to do so by merely altering your mindset?
Here's the thing: this isn't just about coming up with fresh ways to pursue any old goal. It's about understanding your emotional connection (drive) to your motivations and why there can be a gap.
Are your motivations genuinely in line with who you want to be and serving you...or someone else?

What Is a Drive Theory?

First and foremost, let's define what we mean by a 'Drive Theory.' R.S. Wordsworth is credited with coining the term "drive" to describe human behaviour in his 1918 book Dynamic Psychology.
In truth, American philosophers J.B. Watson and J.J.B Morgan published Emotional Reactions and Psychological Experimentation in the April 1917 issue of the American Journal of Psychology.
The relationship between our underlying emotional states and our motivation is what he, Watson, and Morgan are all discussing. They focused their research on three basic emotions: fear, fury, and love (using love in approximately the same sense that Freud uses sex).
It might be anything with an emotional charge. When it comes to motivation, it's all about the emotional states that revolve around a lack of something. These trigger enough willingness (motivation) in us to act in order to fill that void.
As a result, a 'Drive Theory' focuses on the emotions that underpin a specific human activity that is carried out in the pursuit of a certain objective. Because it is at the heart of everything we do, the drive theory of motivation is possibly the most fundamental of all drive theories.

The Role of ‘Time’ in the Drive Theory of Motivation

Again, this may seem self-evident at first glance, but it's critical to discuss the value of time in terms of our motivations.
I'm sure you've heard of the concept of "delayed gratification"[2]. It's frequently utilised as a basic sign of intellect and a predictor of life success. In essence, that means accepting the fact that future rewards may be bigger if we don't pursue instant gratification.
When it comes to our motivation, time is crucial to how things go. In truth, time is a constraint because you begin in one location and wish to end up somewhere another. The entire reason you're motivated to take action is to change your future from where you are now.
What is the source of this drive? It could be a matter of control: you want to incorporate a level of certainty into your future so that you can be assured that you will be financially or emotionally secure.
Let's say you want to earn a master's degree and contribute to a pension because you want to improve your career prospects and financial security as you get older. You're taking action now in the hopes of reaping future benefits.
But what is it that has brought you here? What is the emotional engine that propels the wheels forward? Fear. Fear that you will wind up in a void in the future.
We'll put this scenario on hold for now, but I want you to remember it because we'll return to it later.
The fact that time is finite plays another part in what motivates us. We are the only living creatures who understand that death is an unavoidable part of life.
The fact that time is finite plays another part in what motivates us. Because humans are the only living animals who grasp the inevitability of our mortality, we understand that if we want to experience something during our lifetime, we must act now, before death occurs.