It is not only positive emotions that work as motivators but negative emotions too can do that. Positive emotions can be used for a lot of things, but in order to drive someone, negative emotions are needed. One simple example is, when you are in the middle of a fight, just think about using positive emotions for a moment the next thing you will remember is being injured. Why I took this example? Because it can happen to anyone at anytime.

Motivation:

Before diving into the main topic let’s discuss what is Motivation? Motivation is the complex force that drives people to act in a way that helps them achieve their goals or needs. And motivator is the trigger that forces someone to start working towards his/her goal. We are what we are today because we got motivated by something or someone since very early in our lives. I had discussed about it in here. Like when we love an actor, we want to become an actor. By watching soldiers’ dedication towards our country, we want to become soldiers. If we have a favourite teacher, then we want to become a teacher. Motivation is the core of any success. Only passion is not enough because passion is like a fire but without motivaton it won’t last long. So motivation work as petrol.

Let’s say your dream is to become a business man and why do you want to become a business man? So that you can be rich and have a lot of money. In here, becoming a business man is your passion, the reason you want to become a business man is to have a lot of money, so the money is your motivation. And motivator can be the situation you are in or if you got inspired by some successful businessman in your life whos achievements are pushing you to achieve your goal/passion. Or it can simply be the thought of becoming rich that drives you.

Motivation can be external or internal. I personally believe internal motivations are much more powerful than external motivations. Because in case of internal motivation, it is you who is driving yourself. If someone or something else drives you then there is a chance it might fade over time.

Negative Emotions:

Another point we need to discuss is emotions. It can be of two types postive and negative. Some of the Negative emotions are anger, fear, sadness, hatred etc. I am taking these four because these are perfect to push you towards your goal. There are many others but they don’t drive you rather slow you down and affect your mental health negatively. So for what type of work you need the motivation is very important. Simply put, if it is something that requires great dedication and focus, then in order to keep you motivated you need negative emotions.

You can watch in various movies, series, anime, it is said that anger is a great source of power but if you don’t know how to control it, it will slowly consume you and can finally destroy you.

How Negative Emotions work?

Let me take a classic example, a girl you like rejects you because of your looks or your body. The very next day you will start taking care of yourself and start working out. In here achieving the dream body or improving you looks is motivation and the feeling that you got from that rejection which can be sadness or anger or both, they are working as motivators. So whenever you feel like not working out, if you think of that feeling it will motivate you to work out.

When you are being compared with your siblings, cousins or friends that their marks are better than you, or they are good at something that you are not, you feel anger or jealousy or both, if you use these emotions properly these can help you excel at your respective field too.

People say fear of failure might stop you from starting something. But there is another way to look at it. That fear of failure might make you more observant and conscious towards your surrondings and decisions. Before making every decision, no matter big or small, you will think about the consequences and impact of that decision.

Competitive mindset is a negative emotion but a powerful motivator:

At work you feel a sense of competition be it a raise in salary or a promotion. You shouldn’t surpress it rather let it guide you. A sense of competition is very important for our growth. Many say that their competition is with themselves but not with others, which is not completely correct. While it is true a competition with youself is occur at a point in our lives, but that competion starts after an individual reaches the number one position of their respective field. But before that their competition is with others. Competitiveness is one of the basic negative emotions. It is when somone has something that we want but don’t have or can’t have or someone who is doing other than us, we get an urge to surpass that person.

It has been seen in many occassions that when an individual is stuck at something, a sense of competition might show them a path that they couldn’t see before. People who are at the top of their field. Do you know how they maintain their position? By creating a sense of threat or fear inside of them. The fear that if they don’t grow at a steady rate their number one position might get taken away. I have discussed a topic related to this in here.

Conclusion:

I have in my life always observed what is generally considered bad or harmful for us can give us a boost to a certain point. But it is also true they are bad so not controlling them will affect your life negatively. We tend to avoid negative feelings because it affect us badly and not good for our overall health, yet we feel them why? Because they are a part of us if you feel postive emotions then you will feel the negative emotions too. Being emotionless simply is not possible.

So rather than running away from them or thinking of ways to avoid them, we should find ways to use them to motivate us to improve our lives.