5 Surprising Tricks To Increase Your Motivation Immediately, According to Fresh Research

Y1. Strike a high-power pose for a jolt
of confidence
Body language may be a lot more important than
you imagined. It affects not just how you’re
perceived by others, but also your internal body
chemistry.
That’s right, holding your body in a certain
position literally changes the way you are.
How does it work?
Amy Cuddy gave a TED Talk in 2012 on the
significance of body language. She is a professor at
the Harvard School of Business, and she presented
the research she conducted with two other
professors. It starts from the premise that non-
verbal communication (i.e. body language) may be
just as important as verbal communication. And
one of the ways that you can communicate non-
verbally is with a “ power pose .”
There are two kinds of power poses: high and low.
A high-power pose usually means having your
body open rather than hunched up. That means
chest out, arms spread, no slouch. Most simply, it
means that you try to take up a great deal of space.
Here’s an example of what that looks like:
2. Tell yourself that you’re going to
have a fresh start
I said that this post isn’t exactly about helping you
keep your New Years’ Resolutions. I stand by that.
But have you ever wondered why it is that
everybody chooses January 1, of all dates, to make
commitments?
Yes, it’s a new year. But it’s also an arbitrary point
in the lives of most people. January 1 may be a
good date to set new commitments, but it’s not
much better than July 28.
And here’s the thing: If you just keep in mind that
you’re going to have a fresh start, whatever the
motivation, then you’re going to have a burst of
energy. That’s one of the findings from a study by
three professors at the Wharton School of Business
at the University of Pennsylvania.
The researchers find that these “intertemporal
markers” encourage us in two ways: first by
making people disconnect from past failures, and
second by promoting a big-picture view of life.
3. Grab some chocolate – or some
other dopamine-releasing reward
Here’s another low-tech hack to increase your level
of motivation: Eat some chocolate.
Chocolate is delicious, easily available, and most
importantly, well-documented to stimulate
dopamine levels in your brain.
And what is dopamine? Dopamine is a
neurotransmitter that has stimulating effects on
the brain. It plays a particular role in pleasure,
cognition – and motivation.
5. See some green
Certain colors make us think of certain things .
Ever wonder why all sales signs are red , for
example? It’s because people react faster and more
forcefully when they see the color. People tend to
associate the color red with a danger cue, and that
attracts attention.
Red isn’t just associated with danger. It’s
associated with attraction as well. A recent study
found that simply wearing the color red makes a
man more physically attractive to women. The
effect is unconsciously associated with higher
status and higher income.
Other studies have found that blue is associated
with trust and dependability, while pink is
supposed to have a more calming effect on the
brain.