m - Motivation

One of the main questions that we’ve received has been on how to keep motivated/be motivated. Motivation is a double dynamic, that comes from will and from results. Wanting something can motivate you to take actions. Getting or achieving something can also make you motivated to keep going.

We therefore encourage you to be able to define your goals, but also to develop gratitude. Where do I want to go and what do I have now?
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Motivation is like a motor and participating to events or group meetings where you get to hear other people experiences helps you to build motivation. Sharing experiences is also a powerful reminder that your motivation doesn’t always have to be at its best, that you don’t have to feel guilty about not being motivated, and that your mental and physical health and well-being are condition sine qua non for your motivation level. 

• In our networking and peer support groups, we have been working on exercises to determine what our participants’ values were. What is it, inside you, that keeps you going forward? The integration and job-hunting processes might be straining, the more you rely on external factors to keep you motivated, the more you might at times feel that things are completely out of your hands. Working on your own values and priorities might be very helpful for you to stay motivated when events that you can’t control will slow down or interrupt your integration or your job hunt. 
• Talking about your inner values and priorities in life with others, especially your partner, will help them to support you more effectively. Mentioning them in your peer support group or to your mentor is also a very powerful way to remind to yourself from time to time why you are in the middle of these long and difficult processes. 
• Accountability and external factors are also important to consider helping you stay motivated. Communicating your goals, hopes and plans makes you more accountable for them. Peer support groups are very effective to help each member to feel motivated by other people’s help and support. 
• Make a list of the things that keep you motivated and then list the things that depend on your actions. Speak Finnish at the cashier? Send a LinkedIn invitation? Swim for one hour? Wake up earlier than usual? Motivation is a whole and can build up from many different factors. Being motivated in your job hunt process doesn’t necessarily depends on how successful the job hunt actually is. It depends on how you manage your motivation level, as a whole. Take time to divide your bigger goals in smaller ones, in order to be able to feel satisfaction regularly. If your goal is to network in Finnish, can you see how saying two sentences in Finnish at the supermarket or daring to send an invitation on LinkedIn are small but concrete steps?