Six ways to use your social environment to motivate you

Of the three factors of motivation, environment, especially your social environment, may be the easiest one to positively impact. The model for self motivation tells us that positively impacting your social environment will increase your motivation. Your social environment includes the people and organizations that surround you or are available to you.

Here are six ways you can use your social environment to increase your motivation:

1. Find yourself a peer partner: Having a companion on your path to making your vision come true will make the voyage so much better. So find yourself a companion. He or she doesn’t need to have the same vision as you do, in fact they don’t even need to have a vision. But if they do, you will be their companion on their path as well.
A peer partner will be there to encourage you when you get distracted, and be a sounding board for you when you don’t know which fork to take. Your peer partner may be a spouse or other significant other, a friend, or maybe someone you met at a class or seminar. Find someone who will help you, and not impede you. Trust your instincts.

2. Join a support group: No matter what your vision, that change you want to make in your life, there is probably a support group full of people with the same desire as you. A support group can provide you with many benefits, for example, a safe place to try out and practice new behaviors, access to wiser, more experienced people, and a feeling of belonging.

3. Choose a role model: A role model is a person whom you want to emulate. Sometimes the role model is doing exactly what you want to be doing, but it’s not necessary. A role model might possess a positive attribute that you believe would help you make the change you want in your life. You don’t need to know the person you choose as a role model. It may be someone you read about. Practice acting out the positive traits your role model has. When you are faced with a decision, ask yourself what your role model would do.

4. Find a mentor: Unlike a role model, you do have a personal relationship with a mentor. That person not only knows you, but agrees, orally or tacitly, to serve as a guide to you on your path to your vision.
There are many resources for finding a mentor. Your support group is an excellent source for a mentor.

5. Enlist family and friends in your journey: Your social environment includes your family and friends. You may be surprised at how supportive your family and friends are of your dreams. It’s worth taking the risk to find out how supportive they are. If they are supportive, look what you have gained. If the response is belittling or less than supportive, you know you need to look somewhere else.

6. Pursue training opportunities. A self examination may reveal there are skills you lack that make it difficult to make the change you have identified as your vision. If this happens, you will need to pursue training opportunities. Investigate your local community college or university to see if they offer the training you need. Other sources for skills acquisition include trade associations, networking groups, on the job training, coaching, seminars, and continuing education classes. Don’t let the lack of a skill rob you of your motivation.

As you can see, there are many ways to utilize your social environment. Something in your social environment might turn out to be the very thing you need to make your dreams come true.

Please feel free to leave a comment for your fellow readers on how you have used your social environment to achieve a goal you had.