Feeling demotivated? You might be lacking something that you are not aware of.

Have you ever found yourself in a hole? Feeling like you can't get out? Why do people in poverty remain in poverty? Do you have low self esteem? Or all of the above? Often these question is posed and with sarcastic gasps the participants in the conversation, who have clearly not been in the same situation as those who they are discussing, verbalise their frustration on others' inability to get themselves out of that situation. "Why can't they just get a job?" Why can't they just take some initiative and get off their backsides and go and make money?" ":Why can't they just get their act together?" The biggest problem is not necessarily lack of opportunity, but lack of motivation. Yes, the lack of opportunity exists, but the motivated finds the way to a better situation, almost every time. Most humans have some sort of a hole that they are in, whether it be addiction, financial depression, bad luck with relationships, not getting everything out of religion etc.. And how do we overcome? How do we get out of our holes? The answer is motivation.

About a year ago, I started getting knee ache. I was only 26, and having heard comments from those around me that I am reaching 30 soon, that I am getting old, I started to think that it was due to old age. I kind of started to feel a little depressed. Being the chancer that I am, I decided to go to a physiotherapist, being fully aware that there is no way that I would be able to afford see a physiotherapist. I told the physiotherapist at the reception (my luck) that my knee was sore, and I pointed out where exactly it was sore. I then asked "What do you normally prescribe to patients that have the same problem?" Not realising that she was consulting me without a consultation, she told me which exercises I should be doing to get rid of the problem. Turns out, my quadricep was stiff, and all I needed to do was to stretch it out. Now there are a number of morals in this story, but the point I was trying to get at was that the manifestation of the problem that I was facing was different to the source of the problem, or, my knee was sore, but the problem was my quad. The same goes for motivation.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is theory that was put forward by psychologist Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation”. The pivotal conclusions of this theory is that individuals' most basic needs must be met before they become motivated to achieve higher level needs. Read more on this here. Below is a pyramid of these basic needs that Maslow came up with. I do not necessarily agree with all of what he said, but the fact that basic human needs must be met before one can be motivated struck a chord with me. In addition to having your needs fulfilled, or, perhaps as a replacement to these needs being fulfilled, I would add that a hope can also motivate, even if these needs are not fulfilled.

Image credit

Looking at this pyramid, it makes sense that some people seem to be stuck in a hole, or they cannot jump from one tier in the pyramid to the next. Or they have their feet in more than one tier of the pyramid. A lot of people in poverty do not have the very basic needs at the bottom of the pyramid, that is, food, shelter, normal bodily function, whereas someone that has those things, may be stuck in the third tier of the pyramid, in a mundane job, doing the same thing day in day out, never quite getting the respect that you need. This then leads to depression, which can cause your body to dysfunction, it can cause you to not eat properly, which can cause you to spiral down instead of climbing up the "motivational ladder"

The point that I wanted to get across is that we sometimes need to look inward in order to get to a position to help others. If we look after ourselves, we will be in a position to look after others. Looking after yourself means to shower often, eat healthy, go away for the weekend, eat out with your wife, play with your children, make time for what you love, even go out with friends. Even if these things cost money, and you have to spend time on yourself, you will be a better father, husband, friend and ultimately a better human being. These could foster hope, and hope along with your basic needs being met can help you to break addictions. Often addictions are replacements to needs that are not being met.