Q: Have you ever lost your spark halfway to a goal and couldn’t figure out how to get it back?
A: The key to staying motivated isn’t a personality trait or a gift. It’s something you can actively cultivate.
Motivation is not a fixed thing. It’s not something you either have or you don’t. It’s made up of specific elements — and when one of those elements drops, the whole engine starts to sputter.
According to Self-Determination Theory, those elements are autonomy (a sense of choice), competence (a sense of capability), and relatedness (a sense of connection — to other people, to a purpose, to your goal).
You don’t need all three in full bloom at all times. A strong element here can compensate for a weaker one there. But when you can identify which element is running low, you can actually do something about it.
The spark didn’t disappear. It just needs a little fuel.
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