How to get the motivation buzz for your particular personality type

No matter what goals you set yourself in your personal or professional life, you need a few things to help you achieve them and one of the most important of these is motivation. That’s what keeps you applying for jobs when you keep getting knocked back at interviews, it’s what gets you out of your pyjamas and into your exercise gear on a cold winter’s morning and it’s what helps you get through the daily grind and stay focused on the big picture.

But what do you do when that motivation slips away sometimes?

It’s a situation we all face from time to time, but did you know that there are two main types of motivation that affect us? There’s inner motivations, which are the ones that come from within, the goals we set ourselves; and then there’s the outer ones, which comes from bosses at work, or from friends and family and society in general. Juggling all of those, it’s not surprising that we burn out occasionally.

Author Gretchen Rubin has broken motivation down even further, into four personality types, made distinct by what factors drive us. Here’s those four types, along with some tips for how to get your motivational buzz back;

Upholder

If you’re generally self-controlled and happy to balance inner and outer motivations, you’re probably an upholder. You’re driven by scheduling and planning, so these are the tools you need to get your mojo back when it all gets too much. Map out your time with a schedule, and use color coding on your calendar to make it all clear and easy to use. Make sure you understand what is expected of you by asking the right questions and try using an app like Todoist to keep up to date with your tasks, wherever you are.

Questioner

As the name suggests, you are motivated by logic and reason and aren’t afraid to question these when you are given a task. This means that regaining your motivation relies on finding meaning in your work, so make sure you ask yourself questions like ‘how does this align with my values’ and ‘what benefit does this offer me’ to help find something in the task to motivate you. And, of course, ask the right questions of whoever is giving you the task.

Obliger

Here’s one that lots of us can identify with. The Obliger is driven more by external motivations than internal ones, so if you are a people pleaser, the chances are that this is you. This leaves you struggling to achieve your own goals and tasks, so you need to find the motivation to do so, which means turning the inner goals into outer ones by getting help from friends and family and setting yourself the goal publicly.

Rebel

You’re motivated by your own freedom rather than inner or outer factors, so finding motivation when you’re giving a task can be difficult. When this happens, you need to reframe the tasks to suit your own requirements, by making them challenges or even games, and by finding a way to put your own spin on the task. This will help you to get the job done while also staying true to yourself. With inner motivations, you could write them down, put them in a jar and take them out one at a time to get them done, rather than having a long and dispiriting list to work through.

These are the four main types of personalities and the way to use them to rediscover your motivation when it seems to have disappeared. Hopefully you will have been able to see which one most applies to you and gained some useful insight into the steps you can take to get your buzz back. If you haven’t found yourself, this infographic from Quid Corner has all the information and tips you need.