The New Way To Motivate

Scientists have finally discovered exactly where drive comes from. Here’s how to harness yours and take success to the next level.

- Dana Hudepohl

Motivation, that mysterious force that’s crucial for achieving your goals, can be frustratingly elusive just when you need it most. You try as hard as you can to summon it up, and . . . nothing. But researchers have finally cracked motivation’s code and identified the tools that will help you unleash it.

Motivation is regulated by a part of the brain known as the nucleus accumbens, according to the latest studies. This small region, and the neurotransmitters that filter in and out of it, strongly influence whether or not you do things like go to the gym, eat healthfully, or lose weight, experts say. A key neurotransmitter in this process is dopamine. When it’s released in the nucleus accumbens, dopamine triggers motivation so that you’re primed to do whatever it takes to achieve an objective, no matter what hurdles stand in your way, says John Salamone, Ph.D., the head of the Behavioral Neuroscience Division at the University of Connecticut. “Dopamine helps bridge what scientists call psychological distance,” Salamone explains. “Say you’re sitting at home on your couch in your pajamas, thinking you really should exercise, for example. Dopamine is what enables you to make the decision to be active.”

Scientists have also made key discoveries about the emotional aspects of motivation, which are just as important as the hormonal factors, says Peter Gröpel, Ph.D., the chair of sport psychology at the Technical University of Munich. His research shows that one of the strongest predictors of whether you’ll meet a goal are your “implicit motives”—things that are so pleasurable and rewarding to you that they subconsciously drive your behavior.