How to Use the 3 Sins of Motivation to Achieve Your Goals

Has your hard work ever been overlooked?  Maybe you’ve been working overtime for weeks, and when promotion time came along, a less experienced co-worker (who rarely, if ever, stays past clock out time) is applauded for his great work and is rewarded with a higher, better paying position.

Or maybe a new website you’ve been working for weeks isn’t getting the traffic you think it deserves. And other, lower-quality websites seem to be as popular as ever (despite being “uglier” or having worse content on it).

Whatever it is, it’s a terrible feeling knowing you’ve worked hard on something only to see others “take” all the credit. And if you’re like most normal people, you’ll probably feel angry… jealous… or even prideful… in response to these unjust situations.

Well, while you can’t always stop this from happening, there IS a way to use this situation to create powerful motivation to bounce back from it. And possibly even let you get what you deserve after all. Life is unfair but it’s more unfair when you don’t handle it well

It’s normal to feel upset or envious whenever you see people succeed when you’ve been struggling (with little to show for it). Most of the time, people end up throwing their hands up in frustration and giving up in response. “What’s the point if it’s just gonna end up like this?” they might think.

Unfortunately, that’s the wrong way to go about things. Transform anger, jealousy, and pride into motivational fuel Rather than letting negativity tear you down, what if you instead used it to drive positive change in your life?

That might sound a bit strange. But at the end of the day, certain negative emotions drive action. Of course, these are usually unhelpful actions. But there’s no reason you can’t channel this energy into something that improves your life instead of hurts it.

Here’s how to use 3 supposedly “bad” emotions in a way to propel you forward into motivational and productive success.

1. Unleash Your Anger

Anger is the antidote to fear and anxiety. Whereas unease will cause you to shrink away from challenges and opportunities, anger will make you metaphorically raise your fists and blast your enemy to pieces. For those of you who suffer through apprehension when you know doing something will improve your life, find something to get angry at… and let em’ have it!

If you want a promotion but are afraid of rejection, imagine a lazy co-worker getting it (and gloating about it), and use that as fuel to go take it for yourself.

If you’re afraid to promote your website, but see other “lesser” websites gaining traction, think to yourself “Hey, that’s MY traffic!” and then “fight” for your website to take the spotlight. In the right doses, anger is your friend. Learn to control it and it can become a powerful weapon.

“A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. With enough effort, he may achieve it. Or he may find something that is even more rewarding. But in the end, no matter what the outcome, he will know he has been alive.” – Walt Disney

2. Get Green With Envy

When you see a person with a better paying job than you, how does that make you feel? Or what about seeing someone with a nicer body than you, what about then? No need to think about it much – you (and I) will both feel jealousy. We want what they have. And WE want it NOW.

Problem is, this feeling usually just gets compartmentalized because we don’t like this feeling. It makes us feel inadequate and uncomfortable. And most people are experts at running away from these feelings.

But that’d be a waste of your envy! A much better reaction would be to look at the person you’re jealous of, study their methods of success, and adapt it to your own life – but better. Nobody is successful overnight. So see if there’s a way to improve on that person’s method so you can do even better than they have.

3. Be a Stubborn and Prideful Person

If you lack a certain “stick-to-it” capability that hurts your self-discipline, then pride may be what you need. I’m sure you’ve seen those people who refuse to give up on something because they’re just too darn stubborn. Most people view this as a bad thing, but is it, really?

What if you could convert that stubbornness to a more productive outcome? Well, here’s what drives that stubbornness… pride.

A person is stubborn because it would hurt their pride to give up otherwise. It’s like admitting they aren’t who they say they are if they call it quits. And I think that’s nearly a superpower if applied to important goals.

To make this work, you need to find something you’re prideful or stubborn about. For example, maybe your family is known for its stubborn ways. Well, that’d be perfect! Next time you’re working on a goal, and feel that urge to give up settling in, just say, “I’m a Johnson, and we don’t give up!” and then push through till that feeling dissipates.

Or maybe you’re prideful about doing great in college or taking care of your family or being a great worker… all of these things can be used to drive you through tough times. 

Just remind yourself that the thing you’re prideful about means you ARE capable of doing great things. And that you won’t give in to feelings of laziness just because they happen to you.

“If you’re not stubborn, you’ll give up on experiments too soon. And if you’re not flexible, you’ll pound your head against the wall and you won’t see a different solution to a problem you’re trying to solve.” – Jeff Bezos

I like to believe in the idea that everything is to your advantage. Good things are helpful. But if you’re creative and open-minded enough… so are the bad things. When you start to think like this, you begin to see that everything can help you. And when that happens, you might even start hoping you have a bad day… just to use it as motivation fuel.