The other day I asked several people what motivated them to do the things they do not enjoy doing. Most responded that they think about the negative consequences of not completing a task and that "fear of bad outcomes" pushes them to start and finish an unpleasant chore. For example, "If I do not clean the kitchen, it will become infested with pests." "If I do not finish this term paper, I will fail the class." Other people mentioned that they think of worse things they could be doing. In visualizing other distasteful activities, they ameliorate the unpleasantness of the current project. They tell themselves, "I don't want to wash the dishes, but I could be cleaning horse stalls." Still others stated that rewards motivate them to complete the jobs they don't want to work on. They think about the reward of having more time for pleasurable activities or the positive benefits of getting a job completed. Lastly, people are motivated to do things they don't want to because they know it is the right thing to do. Some internal conscience tells them it is the only ethical and moral option and moves them to get the job done.
It's easy to do the things we enjoy. We take pleasure from the act in an of itself and it is that pleasure principle that motivates us to start and finish something. So whatever it takes to get the less-than-fun activities done actually constitutes a good thing, even if the motivators happen to be negative. It would be a great thing if everything could stem from a positive point of origin, but we humans aren't necessarily built that way. If we didn't have the idea that something worse would happen if we didn't do A, B, or C, then a lot of things wouldn't be accomplished. It would be a lovely world in which all motivators were happy ones, but we don't live in that world, so all we can do is try to do our work with light hearts, regardless of how we motivate ourselves. Doing something with a light heart really makes the job much easier to do. Finding the silver-linings, upside, or benefit from every task we are assigned aids in doing it without resentment and doing it well.
It's the same as when I am cooking. If I have to cook, even when I don't want to, I find that if I do it with resentment or high levels of negativity, the food doesn't taste as good. The dish always goes wrong. The recipe doesn't gel properly, something gets burnt, or it lacks flavor. If I do it with a happy heart, then people taste the love and joy that go into what I prepare. It's the same with any kind of job. Happiness becomes a key ingredient in whatever you do or make. The Shakers, a Utopian religious group founded during the early 1800s, believed this to be true. They believed that everything they did constituted an act of devotion to God, and therefore they used that as a motivator to complete whatever task at hand to the best of their abilities. They worked with a sense of joy in all they did and their joy can be seen in their architecture, furniture, and handicrafts. Everything they made contained a beautiful, precise simplicity.
We should take a lesson from the Shakers. We should act as if everything we do matters. The mindset that if everything we do is an act of devotion to either God, our families, or ourselves allows us to put more love, happiness, and joy into our work and unpleasant tasks become more pleasant while the chores we enjoy become even more fulfilling and vibrant. The end product of whatever we do benefits from a light heart and a sense of positive dedication. Try to remember that when you have to wash dishes, mow the lawn, finish an assignment for school, or complete a project for work. Guaranteed you will feel better in the middle of the task, and you will definitely appreciate the end results much more....both the project itself and your own feeling of satisfaction.
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