Unsticking Yourself With The 3 Variables Of 'The Motivation Equation'
Imagine if motivation could be distilled into a mathematical formula – 'The Motivation Equation' and its three variables do just that. I have seen a few variations of this online, and hacked them together into what I think is the best hybrid.
Every motivational tactic in essence takes one (or more) of these variables and seeks to help you adjust it. Before I walk through some examples, lets do a quick overview of the variables themselves.
Confidence
How likely do you think you are to succeed with the task in hand? Everyone approaches tasks they will easily complete with a spring in their step but nobody will want to start a task they are expecting to fail.
Working on your core levels of self-belief and breaking bigger tasks into smaller more achievable tasks is the most effective tactic with this variable.
Value
How much do you really believe that the task is worth doing? Is there gold at the end of the rainbow? Does the outcome you’re pursuing deliver an appealing level of value to you?
Aligning task outcomes with your core values and changing your perception of the outcome to increase its value are good ways to play in this space.
Friction
Physically or mentally, how difficult is this going to be for you? Is it going to be a long arduous slog? Or will the time fly by as you vibe in your peak enjoyment levels?
Typically, getting started with tasks is the biggest area of struggle. Anything that gives you a smoother on-ramp to a task can be helpful here.
Let’s have a look at some examples now, to see the variables of the equation at play:
Going to the Gym
As I’ve mentioned before, this has long been a struggle of mine. I’ve had a few solid gym hype phases in my life but ultimately they didn’t stick beyond even the mildest of distractions. Here’s how it breaks down in the equation:
Confidence has always been low here. Being ‘jacked’ has always seemed so far away from me that it’s ended up keeping this variable really low. I found moderate success by signing up and focusing on a running race or competing on the Peloton leaderboard but these were always short-lived.
Value has been low for me too. I understand that regular exercise is a fundamental part of a healthy life but I’ve never been motivated to work hard at it ‘for myself’. (There is likely a self-worth analysis to do here but we’ll leave that for another time). As I’ve got older the clear links between flexibility/strength and mobility in old age (and VO2 max : longevity) have bumped this up, but not significantly.
Friction has always felt high. Get out of bed an hour early? Ugh. Have dinner, athlete up and drive out to a gym rather than settle down for the night? No thanks. Even changing in and out of gym clothes and showering in an awesome gym right in my workplace? Can’t really be bothered.
So, what was causing this?
For Confidence, each small goal I set wasn’t part of an achievable larger goal so I tapered off when I achieved them.
For Value, the more time I spent researching the purpose and protocols of exercise the more I saw the many people who excel at it which in turn hit the confidence variable even harder.
So, how did I solve it?
I spent a long time investing all my focus and effort on the top half of the equation without much joy. Then, eventually, I found an app called Future - you work with a personal trainer virtually, who sets you 5 workouts a week using equipment you have at home. You prove you’re completing them by linking your smart watch heart rate to the app and the trainer admonishes you if you miss them (turns out doing if for someone else spikes up my value variable too).
Suddenly, I could work out within 10 seconds of getting out of bed - in pretty much any clothes I wanted to. Taking friction to near-zero has more than covered the confidence and value issues and I’ve been working out regularly for over 6 months now and have every reason to expect that will continue!
Just goes to show the power of the equation when it’s used to examine all the angles.
The motivation equation is all around us
Almost every app and technique you see that is designed to help you achieve a goal plays on one or more parts of the equation.
Duolingo - rather than going to night school, you can learn a language in 3 mins per day. (friction)
James Clear’s famous example from Atomic Habits of leaving your guitar in a place you’ll see it all the time rather than having to actively get it out to practice. (friction)
Friends and family that unquestioningly get behind your endeavors, and books like You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Cicero (confidence)
Although it didn’t work for me, hearing stories for those further on in their health journeys can show you what you could have. (value)
Many ‘methods’ to help you achieve something are simply breaking big hairy goals down into smaller more achievable goals. (confidence)
Exceptions To Prove The Rule
Despite how effective the structure seems to be, I lack sufficient bluster to sit here and claim that something as nuanced as human motivation can definitively be boiled down to 3 variables.
One model I read spoke about the concepts of distractibility (how likely you are to lose focus on the goal) and delay (how far off the goal is), which I think can be categorized as value and confidence, respectively.
So, dear readers, I’m interested to hear from you if you have any examples of something that increases motivation which aren’t covered by the equation. Drop me a line and let me know if you can think of one!
Cheers,
Graeme