How Your Motivations Change:
In the quest for self-development, motivation plays an integral role. Understanding how your motivations change and evolve throughout life's key stages is pivotal to ensuring progress and fulfilling your potential. The seven stages of motivation offer a roadmap to guide you through life's key phases.
Stage 1: Meeting Basic Needs – Acquiring Your Basic Skills
This initial stage is focused on taking care of essential needs such as food, rent, and bill payments. At this stage, the main driving force is the desire for basic financial autonomy.
Consider the story of James, a young man fresh out of school, living with his parents. James lands a job at a local software company with the goal to learn web design. His long-term objective is to acquire a tradeable skill that will enable him to start his own business.
Stage 2: Get Your Own Place – Independent Living
The second stage revolves around achieving independence and assuming control of your living situation. The desire to manage personal living space fuels motivation at this stage.
James, now a full-time employee, enjoys a steady income. He decides to rent his own apartment, where he learns about budgeting, managing his living space, and handling finances.
Stage 3: Earn More – Financial Expansion
The third stage signifies the expansion of professional skills and the increase in earning potential. The desire for a better quality of life and enough money for comfort drives you in this phase.
James delves into different programming languages, enhancing his market value. He focuses on identifying and accessing quality development opportunities, honing his income-generating skills.
Stage 4: Multiple Income Sources - Financial Independence
The fourth stage sees a shift towards financial independence and the diversification of income streams. The desire to break free from the constraints of traditional employment systems and control personal time becomes paramount.
James embarks on his entrepreneurial journey, establishing a web design agency. He leverages this platform to train people, generating residual income. James also sets up several small online businesses to ensure diversification. His focus is on creating sellable assets rather than trading his time for money.
Stage 5: Live Your Dream - Financial Freedom
The fifth stage encapsulates the construction of an ideal life. It's the stage where dreams are turned into reality.
Motivated by the desire for rural living and debt freedom, James uses his business profits to acquire his dream home. His transition into this stage is facilitated by his financial planning and resource management skills, enabling him to buy his house without incurring heavy debt.
Stage 6: Helping Others - Financial Philanthropy
The sixth stage revolves around philanthropy. Having met personal needs, the motivation shifts towards giving back to society and making a positive impact on others' lives.
James, now in a position of affluence, starts supporting charities and projects of his choice. He learns how to identify and support initiatives that align with his values.
Stage 7: Teach Others - Financial Teaching
The final stage is about sharing the accumulated wisdom and lessons with others. The motivation now becomes teaching others to become self-sufficient, thereby sharing the legacy of knowledge and experience.
James starts mentoring aspiring web designers and even sets up a training community to support young individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. His effective communication skills, commitment to lifelong learning, and patience become crucial to his success in this final stage of financial development.
Where Are You?
The 7 stages of motivation offer a comprehensive journey through life's key phases. Understanding and focusing on the correct type of motivation at each stage provides a sense of purpose and direction. So, where do you see yourself in this journey? Which motivations should you be concentrating on now that they've been outlined?