We tend to think of motivation as the feeling that we WANT to do something and will ENJOY doing it.
Motivation isn't that simple.
Every day we do things we don't much enjoy, but we do them anyway.
We must feel motivated enough to do them, so what's going on?
We over emphasise motivation as a positive thing which moves us TOWARDS feelings we like.
Lots and lots of motivation (maybe even more) comes from MOVING AWAY from feelings we don't like.
When we vacuum the house, do we want to move towards the pleasure of looking at a clean floor or move away from the frustration of looking at a messy floor?
For me, the driving force is moving away from the feelings I get when looking at the messy floor. It annoys me enough to take action. I enjoy the clean floor, but I am not thinking about that pleasure in advance.
What's this got to do with dog ownership?
Are you generally proactive and take action to move TOWARDS being a good dog owner and having a dog you can take places and enjoy as a great pet and companion?
If so, you'll probably do research, choose your dog carefully, set up your house for a pup, make time to train from the beginning, stay mindful of the rights of others, and ensure your dog's needs are met, so they can be the best pet possible in your home.
Are you generally reactive and only take action to MOVE AWAY FROM the disappointment and frustration of struggling with your dog's behaviour?
This means that disappointment and frustration have to come first.
Completely accidentally, you may be giving your dog lots of opportunities to do things you, or others don't really want them to do. Your dog might get into your rubbish, toilet inside, jump on visitors, chew valuables, pull hard on the leash, run away when let off leash etc.
None of that is necessarily your fault. You don't know what you don't know and everyone has to start somewhere.
Even if you have turned yourself inside out to make the best decision possible, prepare for, care for and train your dog as well as possible; things will still go wrong/ get difficult at times. This is entirely normal!
You now have to take action to MOVE AWAY from uncomfortable feelings.
The good news is that you're going to be way more motivated to take action quickly to sort the issue because you have MOMENTUM.
You're used to researching, considering options, trying, failing, adjusting and trying again, keeping your end goal in mind. Go you!!
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