Your career spans many decades. Maintaining the eager enthusiasm you once had for lawyering can be challenging. You had the motivation to get through law school and graduate. You had the motivation to study and pass the bar exam. You had the motivation to go above and beyond to get your dream job.
You’ve checked all those goals off; now what?
Life is showing up and doing the job every day for the next 40 years. The reality sets in, the dream job has lost its luster, and many lawyers I work with express having lost their motivation. They are stressed out, anxious, and cynical about their job.
Is it possible to rekindle the motivation? If so, how can you create long-lasting, sustainable motivation to get you across the finish line of the career marathon?
The Two Essential Components of Sustainable Motivation
Two essential components to motivation are:
- How you frame your goals
- Incorporating activities daily that naturally produce dopamine – the neurotransmitter associated with motivation
Understanding Motivation: The Goal Framework Challenge
Motivation is the desire to act in service of a goal. When you have time-limited, specific goals, it is easier to maintain motivation because you can see the finish line. Graduating from law school and passing the bar are two such examples. Individual days may be challenging but keeping your eye on the prize sustains your drive.
But you cannot see the finish line when you’re in the thick of your career, and it is easy for that drive to disappear.
The Motivation Spectrum: Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic
Motivation lies on a spectrum. On one end is extrinsic motivation, and on the other is intrinsic motivation.
Extrinsic Motivation: The Problem with External Rewards
Extrinsic motivation involves accomplishing a goal because:
- You either want to avoid pain or punishment
- You want to earn a reward
Examples include:
- Filing a motion with the court at the deadline to avoid consequences
- Saying “yes” to requests to avoid people being mad at you
- Receiving compliments about your fancy car or house
- Entering billable time to avoid getting in trouble
- Earning partner status for the title and power over others
Stress, fear, and insecurity fuel these externally-motivated goals.
Intrinsic Motivation: The Path to Lasting Satisfaction
Intrinsic motivation involves working towards and accomplishing a goal because it is inherently rewarding.
Examples include:
- Becoming a law firm partner because you enjoy extra responsibility and like to lead others
- Earning money to finance a life that allows you to do things you love and provide for your family
- Practicing law because you enjoy problem-solving, using your intellect, learning new things, and helping others
- Entering your time daily as an act of valuing yourself and capturing business accurately
- Filing a motion on your case because you want to move the case forward and advocate for your clients
Desire, reward, and satisfaction fuel intrinsically motivated goals.
The Research: Why Intrinsic Motivation Matters
Extrinsic goals do not help you achieve lasting well-being; they are associated with:
- Narcissism
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Poorer mental health in general
- Poorer social functioning
They keep you busy and believing, “If I get __, then I’ll be happy and satisfied.” The problem is that there’s no end to this, and the satisfaction is only temporary. For example, if your main motivation at work is to hit your hours, the satisfaction drops off quickly because you start the following month back at zero.
What Goals Lead to Lasting Satisfaction?
Heidi Grant Halvorson, a leading researcher on goal achievement, explains in her book Succeed:
“…not all goals lead to lasting feelings of true satisfaction and well-being, and that’s because not all goals satisfy our needs for relatedness, competence, and autonomy. Which ones do? In general, goals that are about making, supporting, or strengthening relationships do. So do goals that focus on personal growth, physical health, or self-acceptance – addressing your shortcomings or, if they can’t be helped, simply coming to terms with them. Goals that have to do with contributing to your community or helping others also fulfill these needs.”
Ask yourself: Do you have a unique definition of what success as a lawyer means to you? Or what constitutes a meaningful career?
Transforming your goals from extrinsic to intrinsic motivation is one component of creating long-term sustained motivation.
Component #2: Harnessing the Power of Dopamine
The other component is to tap into your biology and harness the power of your natural source of motivation: dopamine.
Understanding the “Motivation Molecule”
Often called the “motivation molecule,” dopamine provides the drive and focus we all need to be productive. It is heavily involved with our:
- Attention span
- Focus
- Follow-through
- Ability to experience pleasure
The Consequences of Dopamine Deficiency
If we are deficient in dopamine levels, this can cause an imbalance in our life. A lack of dopamine is associated with:
- Fatigue
- Apathy
- Lack of focus
- Forgetfulness
- Moodiness
- Difficulty concentrating
- Insomnia
- Sugar cravings
- Lower motivation
Dopamine-dominant people are usually focused go-getters. Unfortunately, many things people do to boost their focus and energy backfire.
The Dopamine Trap: Unhealthy “Quick Fixes”
There are many unhealthy ways to seek out a “dopamine fix.” For example, anything addicting like:
- Nicotine
- Caffeine
- Alcohol
- Sugar-laden, fat-filled treats
- Amphetamine or stimulant medication
- Phone scrolling
- Gambling
These actions all flood your brain with dopamine and can motivate you to complete demanding tasks in the short term.
However, these actions have unpleasant side effects and disrupt natural dopamine production. The result is:
- Decreased natural dopamine production in the long term
- Ever-increasing reliance on those substances or activities to fuel motivation
- The root cause of addictive behavior in life
Natural Dopamine Production: The Sustainable Solution
How can you produce dopamine naturally instead? Here are proven methods: eat foods rich in tyrosine (almonds, bananas, avocados, eggs, beans, fish, and chicken), exercise regularly, learn to meditate or practice mindfulness meditation, get a massage, get adequate sleep each night, listen to calming music, learn something new, play sports, finish a task or project, socialize and connect with others, and spend time in the sun.
Yes, these activities may take longer than the unhealthy ones mentioned above, but you are not relying on substances or unhealthy activities to fuel you. They are components of a thriving career and life.
Ready to Reignite Your Passion?
If you have lost the motivation and drive you once had for your career, I invite you to Book a call with me to discuss how we can reignite that passion and sustain motivation for the long-haul.
P.S. Not a lawyer but resonate with this overall message? Great – I work with many types of professionals including doctors, corporate leaders, finance professionals, entrepreneurs, and more!
