Motivation

It was dark and cold when I woke up just before the alarm. I was comfortable in bed and could easily have stayed there. Resisting the urge to turn over, I got out of bed and went downstairs to do some exercises before breakfast. Two days later the same scenario presented itself. This time, I succumbed to the urge and turned over for another 20 minutes. At the weekend I had no problem getting outside as it was getting light, even though it was raining hard.

At this time of year there are a lot of factors that test our motivation: the dark, the cold, the wet and the ice. Yet it is at this time of year when it is traditional to make New Year’s resolutions and we expect to have the motivation to carry them through. The BBC website: www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-67559290 reports research that found that the most popular topics for resolutions are improving physical health, followed by losing weight and slimming. A third of the people making such resolutions give up after a month and most of them by the end of six months. The article goes on to suggest that it may be easier to start resolutions in autumn or early winter to have a better chance of establishing a new habit.

My two different responses to early morning exercise got me wondering about motivation. What is it? How do you improve it? I know that I do not like doing circuit training and so I have to motivate myself every time. On the second day, I could rationalise that skipping it would not be such a bad thing so close to the weekend. I find going out for a run in daylight more enjoyable and therefore feel more inclined to do it. I have a residual motivation to do circuit training because I am getting older and need to slow down my loss of strength. Strength training also helps with the running. I know, as Steven Pressfield writes in his book The War of Art, that: “at some point the pain of not doing it becomes greater than the pain of doing it.” This is what got me out of bed the first day, but it was not quite enough two days later.

Simply put, motivation is the initiation and maintenance of behaviour. However, the more you dig into it (search for ‘motivation’ on the internet), you soon realise how complex it is. Although an internal process, the driving forces behind it can be both intrinsic: from within for personal satisfaction and self-esteem; or extrinsic: for an external reward.

Some articles refer to family as a third force motivating us to do things we may not like. Then there are the different motivational phases: starting, maintaining and the effort applied. It is apparent that there is a lot more to think about when you make your New Year’s resolution.

Motivation plays a key factor in working life and in the application of non-destructive testing (NDT). Everyone needs to be motivated to do a good job, to follow procedures, to apply techniques diligently and to speak up when things go wrong. This can be challenging. Everyone is different. Everyone responds to different ‘forces’. As illustrated by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, as one need is satisfied, we move on to desiring that another need is met. There are no easy answers.

One key area in which it is important to inspire motivation is the area of continuing professional development. People entering the NDT profession progress from novice to expert, usually along a well-defined path. However, with the increasing pace of technological development, it is more a game of snakes and ladders rather than a steady climb to the expert peak: new techniques, equipment and processes can quickly move an expert down to proficient or even just competent. Motivation is required to keep undertaking education to maintain whatever level a person may be on.

The good news is that motivation can be developed and strengthened, which will be important if you want to keep that New Year’s resolution. In addition, the holidays and the period immediately afterwards can be a particularly difficult time for people. So, if you do have low motivation, do not face it alone. Talk to someone to help you get remotivated for the year ahead.

Please note that the views expressed in this column are the author’s own personal ramblings for the purpose of encouraging discussion within NDT News. They do not represent the views of Jacobs or BINDT.

Letters can be mailed to The Editor, NDT News, Midsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road, Northampton NN1 5NX, UK. Email: ndtnews@bindt.org or email Bernard McGrath direct at bernard.mcgrath1@jacobs.com

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