“If your heart ain’t in it, your head don’t matter” – Unknown
It’s one of those 2am nights again, in Sheraton Hotel Abuja. I was already on my bed ready to sleep. I felt I was tired, and actually set an alarm to wake me as early as 5:30am so I can dress up to catch the first flight out this morning, but all of a sudden, here I am, wide awake and motivated!
The true source of motivation is not found in the rationalizations of the head, or the analysis of the factors of motivation. When the chips are down, motivation is a matter of the heart. When your heart connects with a decision or direction, motivation is easy. If you’ve been wondering why you are tired of that job, can’t seem to feel excited with that activity, the issue is not in your head, it’s in your heart.
Coming from me, all these sound very simple. I mean, I understand the principles of motivation. I know maslow’s hierachy of needs, I’m aware of herzbergs works on motivation, I even know McGregor’s X and Y motivation theory. While these are all very interesting persectives that are capable of guiding one through the psycology and practice of motivation, the core of motivation lies with connecting with a thing from the heart.
Until what you are doing truely makes meaning to you, connects with the entire essense of your being and arouses your passions, it will be a struggle and an exercise in discipline. If your heart is not in it, your head doesn’t matter. You cannot get your best out of any activity that does not fire you with passion. Be it a job, a relationship, an investment, or a whatever, the best is reserved for that which connects with the passions in your heart.
More often than not, when the heart is right, the head can be “righted”. If the heart is wrong, a right head won’t right it. If you want to see how motivated you can be, channel your energies into what you truly enjoy, and you’ll be shocked at for how long you can keep at it.
Motivation is not about more pay, faster promotion, recognition, rewards or all the likes. These have their place, no doubt, but the real thing that keeps you or I motivated, is a sense of hearty connection with whatever it is we are doing. We’ll work for longer hours, stay awake into the silent portions of the night, labour without pay and more, all because we have a sense of connection between what we are doing and the greater good of us all.
In case you are asking, how do I know what my heart connects with? How do I identify my passion(s)? How do I know if it’s in my head or in my heart? Well, there are many tests for this, but this is one that has really worked for me. Ask yourself when was the last time you cried, not drop a few tears but actually was shaken by watching a movie or by an event. If you look carefully at that event, it holds a clue for what truely is connected to your heart. Whatever it is that brings you down or takes you high needs to be properly examined. Mark my words, these will continue to happen in more rapid succession as you get close to moving in that direction.
I’m not an emotional person, but over and over again, I have found myself really moved by some particular themes. So moved at times, that if I was seen you would wonder what came over me. Even I wonder what comes over me. Deep within me I know it’s a wake up call to engage my passions, and live the life of my dreams.
I couldn’t just resist coming up here right now to write this. Why? because the things running through my head may have gotten cold by tomorrow morning. Don’t drag along the dead weight of your body with your head, find a connection with your heart or find something that your heart is connected with. True motivation is inside out!
