Getting clear about your end-goal motivation(s)

Hi, I hope you are doing well. It has been a while since my last article. 4 months to be exact! It has been an adventurous 4 months for me. Not just work, but my health too. I have been helping my body heal from a hidden virus. And more importantly, embarked on a self-development course on shadow work. It has proven very interesting. And hence the commitment to write this weekend, even though excuses and distractions are plenty!

In this article, I want to use my learnings from my shadow work to analyse why I fell off the ‘writing horse’. I hope it helps you apply it to areas where you may be feeling stuck or have lost that ‘loving feeling’.

First, my backstory, to set the scene. Back in 2020, I realised that to get my knowledge and thought leadership out to the wider world, I would have to write. BUT I had a ‘I am not a writer’ narrative constantly playing in the background of my mind, clouding my ability to put ‘pen to paper’.

Then I had a thought, what if I just wrote an article anyway and published it to my, back then, non-existent readers. And start I did. I remember the day well. I started a simple article about coping with lockdown and all potential emotions we experienced then. Here’s the article.

Once I started, in August 2020, I kept writing every week! In the early months, it took me 2 days (not full-time) to write an article. As the weeks passed, I got better at it. After approximately 1 year, I was able to write an article within 1 hour on a Saturday morning. I had created a habit and ritual of writing every Saturday morning. I was over the moon.

And I did this for 4.5 years. In December 2024, as I wrote my last article for that year, I sensed a change coming for my writing ritual.

I slowed it down in 2025. I intended to write monthly, but I did not achieve this and only wrote 5 articles. This year, 2026, I am struggling to write even quarterly. There is a resistance I sense when it comes to writing, and I realised I wasn’t motivated to write anymore.

This is where end-goal motivation comes in, and its 3 motors.

My end-goal motivation in 2020 was to help my audience future-proof themselves. My process to do this was through writing (and posts on LinkedIn), and the outcome was an article every week for 4.5 years (and weekly posts on LinkedIn). And I achieved this AND I had an identity of a ‘writer’. [writer is in quotes intentionally, explain more below].

The 3 end-goal motivation motors are process, outcome and identity motivation! Of all the 3 motors, I enjoyed the process of writing weekly the most. My Saturday morning was a ritual I looked forward to. And it was great to finally see the outcome (the article). It felt even better when a reader gave me feedback that the article was useful.

In terms of identity, I felt a sense of achievement as a ‘writer’, but it is something I held lightly. I was thrilled that I was able to write. Which is why when I couldn’t or didn’t write anymore, I did not feel so bad or beat myself up, which I tend to do if I feel I have let myself or others down (a shadow of mine but this for another day).

The point of this article is to help you get clear about the 3 motors of your end-goal motivation, as they are the means (vehicle) to achieving your end-goal (destination). And to achieve our end goal, we need to ENJOY the process and outcomes along the way. And the same with identity motivation. It should only be used as a means to achieve the end-goal.

To tie this back to my writing example. I did not have the identity of a writer. I was driven by my end-goal of helping others future-proof themselves. My focus was on the process of writing and the outcome of the weekly articles. When I fell off my ‘writing horse’, I did not feel bad or beat myself up. Feeling bad or beating myself up is my default and I was surprised but I understand why now. I just wondered what happened. And my reflections tell me that I am in a liminal space. My old future-proofing ‘well’ is drying up and my future-proofing content needs new meaning (a new ‘well’) to serve my audience better. I can sense something new bubbling, so watch this space……

Had I tied my writing solely to my identity, my identity would not have been able to cope when I stopped writing. My ‘writer’ identity would have crumbled. Getting clear about your identity is crucial and using it as a vehicle not the destination is key.

A good analogy is people in the corporate world who suddenly find themselves without a job due to redundancy, (including voluntary redundancy), who then struggle in the ‘real world’ because their entire identity until then was tied to their corporate role. When the job goes, they feel ‘identity-less’. Reconnecting to the (true) self and purpose can take time and this journey can be (usually is) an uncomfortable one.

I hope this makes sense. To illustrate further, let’s take a simple example.

I have a friend who wants to lose 10 kg. Her end-goal is 10 kg. I started by asking her why she wanted to lose the weight – why was her end-goal important to her. This is key as she needs to buy into/commit to her future self. She had several reasons and key emotions associated with her future self. Again, important, because our primary motivational motors are our feelings (emotions)!

Once she was clear about this, we moved on to process and outcome motivations. Here’s the thing: I told her to ‘forget’ the 10kg and not weigh herself. Instead, to focus on the process and outcomes she wants to achieve in meeting the end-goal. And to have an identity narrative of ‘I am a healthy person’. This helps when making food choices and exercising. Her process, eating the right foods, exercising regularly, will be driven by her new identity, which in turn will impact her different outcomes along the way. Such as fitting into a dress which has become too tight, feeling lighter, and having more energy. This should, in the longer-term, shift her end-goal from the 10kg she wants to lose to something greater. And to eventually shift her focus entirely towards process motivation and the enjoyment of this new way of life.

Again, I hope this makes sense. If you have a goal you are working on now, take some time to first analyse which of the 3 motors is motivating you. If identity motivation shows up strongly, you may have to convert it to a process or outcome motivation. This may take time, so be kind with yourself. Ultimately, for the long-term, process motivation (and the enjoyment of it) is what is going to get you to your end goal!

As always, you can reach me at yoga@yoganesadurai.com