How To Be Motivated At Work

“I am highly demotivated!”

In the space of two days, three colleagues had confessed their low morale on the job. I was silent for a while because my mind went back to two years ago when I felt the same way. I was particularly concerned because this third person was close to me.

“The company is not making me happy,” the young man continued. “I feel like leaving today though I do not have another job!”
“I know how you feel…” I started.
“No you don’t. You look like you enjoy the work despite the challenges.”
“Yes, that is because I enjoy my work. I am motivated. But it was not like that before.”

A lot of people appear to have low worker morales and even hate their jobs[1]. With so many people worried about their jobs, the economy, and their safety, motivation plays a key role in how they deal with all that is going around them. Even with the best education, credentials, intelligence and work history, if you are not motivated on your job, your career will not be enjoyable[2]. I have once felt demotivated at work. I will share with you few things that helped me to remain motivated on that job and in other jobs that followed.

1. Know who your boss is
When I worked to please man, it seemed futile. Rewards, appreciation and recognition did not seem forthcoming. Paul, who demonstrated a lot of zeal and motivation in his ministry, encouraged others to do work as if working for the Lord and not for men [Colossians 3:23-24].When I applied this advise, I began to feel fulfilled. This was for the following reasons: -
- God rewarded my work [2 Chronicles 15:7]
- He saw my heart [Jeremiah 17:10] and the extent of effort I was putting in
- He could change any situation for my favour [Proverbs 21:1]

2. Know that real motivation comes from within
If I depended on money, appreciation, or promotions to motivate me, I would have been demotivated when these did not come. When my motivation came from within, I began to see the money, appreciation, and promotions as rewards from God. I did not set my affection on earthly things [Colossians 3:2].

3. Appreciate what God has given you
When I reflected on my job, I remembered that this job was an answer to a prayer. It was a good and perfect gift [James 1:17]. It was a blessing. The more I thanked Him for it, the more I began to see the good in it.

4. Know that God gave you this job for a purpose
All the while I was feeling demotivated, I was expecting too much, especially from my heavenly boss. I wanted to receive. With time, I realized that God had His reasons for giving me the job, in addition to providing me with external motivation (the money, recognition, promotions, etc). Some of these reasons include: -
- To give him pleasure [Philippians 2:13]. He derives pleasure from blessing us.
- to make a difference by exhibiting His character [1 John 4:4]
- to get external motivation [Ecclesiastics 3:13, Isaiah 65:22]
- to motivate others [Hebrews 10:24]

5. Understand that you are blessed in all you do
Whether man accepted it or not, I knew that I am blessed in all I do. Blessed is the work of my hands. Blessed am I in my going to the office and in coming out of the office [Psalms 121:8].

6. Ask God for Guidance
I took advantage of the fact that God had promised to give us guidance [Isaiah 30:21]. I knew that new challenges, new opportunities and new responsibilities will make me internally motivated. I asked prayed to God for motivation and asked Him to open my eyes to these new things. Then I began to see that there were lots of internally motivating factors around me [Isaiah 43:19].

I shared this ‘How-to-be-motivated at work” with my colleague. Today he is a motivated worker, working as if for the Lord and not for man.

[1] http://meetingsnet.com/corporatemeetingsincentives/mag/meetings_no_mr_nice/
[2] http://www.career-intelligence.com/management/MotivatedAtWork.asp