3 Proven Rituals That Will Make You Motivated - Barking Up The Wrong Tree

Research shows that more than 50% of American workers feel disengaged at their jobs.

Research also shows that motivation is very important to feel engaged. Motivation predicts career success better than intelligence, ability, or salary.

We find motivation when something is meaningful. Meaning is much bigger than the enjoyment of a moment. It can include something we don't like. Soldiers risk being killed every day to serve their country. New parents handle poop daily for years.

Meaningful things give us purpose. This means doing something that serves a larger cause than yourself or, at least, making a contribution in your own world.

When a task you have to do doesn't seem meaningful, reframe your experience. You may not always be able to change what you have to do but you can change how you view it. When you look at it in light of how it helps others, you'll often find motivation.

You're not "filling out boring paperwork, you're helping people get the insurance that could save their life. You're not slaving over a hot stove, you're showing your family how much you love them.

When we feel connected to what we're doing and make it our own, we're much more motivated. Having sovereignty over what we do, when we do it, how we do it, where we do it, and who we do it with, serves as a powerful motivator.

When you're handed a task at the office, you can make small tweaks to customize what you have to do. It creates a motivating feeling when you can do it your way.

Very often, when we look at a task, we take the outside view by forgetting about the emotional component. And that's how something we may actually enjoy becomes a chore.

• The inside view requires you to focus on the middle of the task that you know you usually enjoy, not on starting the task.
• In tasks where the inside view is worse than the outside, think about the feeling of accomplishment you'll have after it's done.