How guilt kills motivation

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Each of us sometimes feels guilty for our wrongdoings. However, this feeling pulls us down for many reasons.

Feelings of guilt take mental health away

If you are looking for motivation to complete a long-started work project, then perhaps your boss's anger will serve you if the project is not completed on time. You start to blame yourself and work harder. However, this motivation is unlikely to make you more productive.

Self-esteem drops due to feelings of guilt because you focus on your flaws and weaknesses. You are most productive when you are confident and happy. By wasting energy on negative emotions, you will not be able to focus on the tasks at hand. Therefore, the feeling of guilt is a great burden on the brain.

It is much more effective to focus on doing the right things than avoiding the wrong ones. Try to be a good person, not try to hide the bad in yourself.

So don't blame yourself for a project that's not yet completed. Motivate yourself that he will be useful and that your boss will appreciate your work. This motivation will make you happier and more productive.

You punish yourself

How do you feel when, for example, you broke loose and still ate a huge piece of cake while dieting? Has guilt helped you get back on track? Rather, the opposite is true. You feel terrible, and then you decide that another piece of cake will not change the situation in any way.

If you are sure that you have done something bad, you start to think that you deserve to be punished. Self-flagellation is an attempt to pacify your bad conscience. You punish yourself for what you feel guilty about. Only in a larger size. You eat another slice of cake and feel even more guilty about it. As a result, you find yourself in a vicious circle of self-flagellation.

When you make another mistake, don't blame or punish yourself. Praise yourself for what you have already accomplished. After all, before that unfortunate piece of cake, you were able to hold out on a diet for some time. Praise and belief in your own success will get you back on track faster than guilt.

Feelings of guilt are externally motivated and have a short-term effect

It is unlikely that you do something just to avoid feeling guilty. You spend whole nights cramming textbooks not for this, but in order not to upset your parents. Perhaps working hard and completing tasks before the deadline makes you afraid of falling in the eyes of your boss. In other words, you are looking for motivation from the outside, not within yourself.

The desire to avoid feelings of guilt is an external motivator. Imagine that you are working for yourself and you have no bosses. In this case, you will lose this motivator that pulled you forward.

Try to find and develop intrinsic motivation. Get ready for new challenges for yourself, not for your boss, family, or someone else. Learn to enjoy what you do.

The next time you feel guilty, remember that you are simply ruining your health, mood, and self-esteem.