Written by Ashley Lopez

What is motive? Motive (mō-tiv): something (such as a need or desire) that causes a person to act.

Today I want to talk about what your motive is. Why are you trying to accomplish XYZ?

Hi everyone, welcome back to Ashley Spills. Ashley, here. You can check out my other posts here.

What is something that makes you take action—what’s your motive?

What is motive?

A motive is something that makes you take action. Something that pushes you forth to reaching a desire. A motive is the WHY behind your actions. Someone exercises to become healthier (their why). Another person attends college to learn and become an expert in their field (their why).

What is the difference between motive and motivation?

Your motive is the why and your motivation is the push you need to accomplish your goal. For example, I am taking a copyediting course to learn how to find mistakes in writing. Reading and writing is my motivation to get better. I am motivated when I learn about grammar and when I run into a tricky sentence I can’t seem to unravel.

A painter paints because they love it (their why) and their motivation is the inspiration all around them and the end result of their paintings. My best friend is getting a PhD in Biology because she loves biological science. Her motivation is seeing the results in her experiments and learning new things.

Why is motive important in self-motivation?

What does it mean when you are self-motivated? It means you are pushing yourself to achieve your desires. Reaching self-motivation is difficult because sometimes we can’t find the reason or motivation behind something. The why behind our hopes and dreams. Once you become more self-aware, you can understand and embrace your wants: you’ll be able to understand your motive.

Self-motivation is closer than you think.

Why you should find your why

When you discover the why behind your actions, it’s easier to understand your motivation. (Why is this beautiful sunset moving me to paint? Oh, because I love painting!) (Geez, I don’t even like running! Why am I doing this? That’s right, my body feels amazing afterward!)

Finding your why helps determine what course of action you will take to achieve your desired result—whatever that is for you. Having a motive speaks loudly on your drive, determination, and the kind of person you are.

Now is a good time to say that there are bad motives. I’m sure this is evident when we turn the news on. People do things out of spite and negativity. Nonetheless, to move forward, keep the world going, and send positive energy out into the universe, it’s best to find your light and your positive motive to put into your ambitions.

Let’s keep the world moving forward one progressive motive at a time.

Conclusion

There is a motive behind every decision you make. Some are bigger than others, some aren’t as important as others, or some aren’t as relevant as others. When pinpointing the motive behind your big goals, it’s important to have your why displayed or written down to remind yourself why you’re doing it.

It’s hard to reach a goal if you don’t know why you want to do it. This week I challenge you to journal about this: What is something you want to attain, but can’t seem to get there? Do you know why you want to reach this milestone? How is it going to positively impact you and the people around you?

Thanks for reading, xo.

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