From the author: Why is it so difficult to develop when life is going smoothly? I don’t know if you will like the answer... The very fact that such questions arise before a person is an important evidence of the instinct for development that exists in each of us. Development is a natural desire. Rollo May even noted that happiness is a feeling of growth. The problem is that in many of us this instinct is overwhelmed by the burden of negative experience - parental and school education, life upheavals, the influence of the information environment. They wean us from listening to ourselves and teach us to listen to others, as Tolstoy wrote about Prince Nekhlyudov, they make us socialized and obedient. So it turns out that significant changes happen only during periods of crisis, when it is no longer possible to live in the old way. Willy-nilly we have to change in order to adapt to new conditions. But the path of change is always a crisis, it’s just that sometimes it turns out to be intentional and controlled. However, handling does not make it any less scary. Sometimes it's even more difficult. I could easily trust a nurse to give me an injection, but I would be scared to give it to myself. Therefore, the issue of self-motivation seems difficult at first glance. It’s easy to say: “Go ahead and do it!” To stick a needle into your muscle, you need to really want to get well or be very afraid of pain and death. A managed crisis that leads to change is fraught with the same fears and needs as one that occurs suddenly. The problem is precisely this, and not the proverbial “comfort zone.” Being able to motivate yourself means being able to set goals that cannot be failed. Otherwise, your life is not worth a penny. You need a very strong dream or goal that can achieve the same force as an intense thirst or desire to breathe. In this sense, all purposeful people are somewhat (or strongly) mentally unhealthy, their principles are ready to measure their strength with physiological needs. They are ready to starve themselves, give up sleep and comfort. Gradually I understand that becoming goal-oriented means cultivating neurosis. Andrei Voznesensky said: “If you can’t help but write, write, if you can’t help but write, don’t write.” Is the work of a poet or writer fueled by an unquenchable inner thirst? What could she be? Very often this is an insurmountable fear of death, a desire to prolong oneself. As one of my Amur poet acquaintances says: “Children and books are what remains after us.” A successful businessman can be successful, for example, only by proving to others his ability to be worth something, to heal broken significance. The famous "Be hungry!" Steve Jobs is quoted so often that they don’t even notice the pain of this phrase, bursting into determination and creativity. The right question for self-motivation is: “Why?” Without what would your life have no meaning, depreciate and become of no use to anyone, even you? What does the absence of cause you particular pain? Is there something you absolutely love? These are questions that need to be seriously considered. They refer to the core values ​​on which, as if on supports, the bridge of our lives stretches from the past to the future. In their light, you can set goals that you can pursue tirelessly. But I don't guarantee that the journey will always be pleasant. The pangs of creativity are painful, like labor pains, and what you have acquired will need to be maintained like a sports form. If you want to change without life's shocks, you will have to become such shocks for yourself, starting to see yourself in perspective, from the point of view of the potential that you would like to achieve. This movement from greater to less discomfort is similar to longing for a lost paradise. So, I would divide all life motivations into: Purpose-thirst, imbued with the instinct of growth and meaning. She will be a locomotive. It will most likely turn out to be such that it cannot be achieved in a lifetime. This is fine. The potential of infinity is hidden in a person. Goals associated with it, goals-instruments. They are already specific and measurable and.