Mental Fitness Mondays: Motivation Part 2
The Neuroscience of Motivation
A while back I wrote a post on Motivation (read that here - Mental Fitness Mondays: Motivation part 1 | Blog | Real Clear)
In that post I shared what motivation is and where it comes from: inside or outside, towards or away, and Daniel Pink’s three key elements of autonomy, mastery, and purpose. In this post I want to explore what’s happening in the brain when we feel motivated and how we can use that knowledge to our advantage.
Your Brain’s Reward System
At the heart of motivation is dopamine, often called the brain’s “motivation chemical”. What’s surprising is that dopamine isn’t just released when you achieve something. It also fires when you anticipate a reward. That little lift of energy when you think about something you’re looking forward to? That’s dopamine.
This is why breaking tasks into smaller steps works so well. Each small win gives your brain a mini boost of dopamine and builds momentum to keep going.
Effort and Reward
The brain is constantly weighing up: “Is this worth the effort?”. When the effort column feels bigger than the reward column, motivation drops. If you make the reward clearer, or reduce the effort by starting small, the balance shifts.
This isn’t about forcing yourself. It’s about working with how your brain is wired.
What Helps Me
Over the years I’ve learned to use this knowledge to give myself more energy for the things that matter. For example:
- Chunking tasks: breaking a big project into bite-sized steps so my brain rewards me more often
- Linking to meaning: reminding myself why the task matters, which lights up deeper reward pathways
- Pairing effort with pleasure: adding music, movement, or comfort to make the process more enjoyable
- When… then planning: saying “When I’ve done X, then I’ll have Y” so my brain has something positive to anticipate
How About You?
Pause for a moment and reflect:
- When do you notice your motivation dropping, and what might your brain be telling you about effort and reward?
- How could you make a task more rewarding, or reduce the effort it takes to get started?
Motivation isn’t about pushing harder. It’s about creating the conditions where your brain sees the balance as worth it. When that happens, energy flows more easily and action follows.
Coaching Reflection:
What’s one way you could make a task feel more rewarding for your brain this week?
