Can Motivation be Negative?

When Our Motivation is Maladaptive

Being described as “motivated” is generally seen as a compliment, but it is important to consider what we are motivated to achieve. A simple way of evaluating this is to write down your short-term and long-term goals, carefully looking over them to make sure they reflect your values. Then, you can ask yourself if what you are motivated to do will help you to accomplish these goals. For example, if one of your long-term goals is to get a college degree, but you have been spending so much time working on other tasks that you have not made time to sign up for school, your motivation in other areas may be high—however, if it is not helping you get started in accomplishing the goal that is most important to you, then you may want to reevaluate where you are directing your energy and focus. 

Additionally, motivation can be problematic when we think in absolutes, telling ourselves that we “must” accomplish something and that we are either a “success” or “failure”. While there are plenty of inspiring quotes related to the concept that hard work automatically leads to success, this is not always the case, as ability and some external circumstances can get in our way. This is why it can be helpful to have the motivation to accomplish multiple goals. If you are a college athlete and your dream is to become a professional athlete, you will want to spend a great deal of time practicing, and maybe you will achieve this. However, if your only motivation is to become a professional athlete, and so you do not attend classes, or you do not spend time with your family, friends, and significant other, it could be devastating if, for instance, you experience a major injury and then fail to accomplish this one goal.

When Our Motivation is Excessive

Sometimes our motivation does align with some of our important goals but prevents us from taking care of ourselves (which probably should be one of everyone’s main priorities). If we are so focused on accomplishing goals, is our mental health affected? Are our relationships with the people we care about suffering? Are we so exhausted that we are unable to enjoy the limited time we do spend on pleasurable activities?

Becoming more aware of what we are motivated to accomplish, how behavior reflects this motivation, and whether we may be neglecting other important areas in our lives can help us to ultimately improve the quality of our lives and may even make us more productive when actually focusing on our goals.