Motivation & the Anxious Mind

By Jennie Marlow

In my last post, Vision That Serves Us, I describe ways we might put our vision in service of what is practical.  In this post, I’ll begin a discussion about our motivation for what we desire, and how this can dramatically alter our approach to creating our lives and how effective we are at creating a life that empowers and fulfills us.

What motivates a human being? Psychologists have been debating this for over a century. Darwin posited that motivation was driven by instinct, and Freud expanded upon this by theorizing that motivation had its basis in irrational, unconscious instincts, expressed within the mind. Modern behavioral and cognitive psychologists have explored and debated the role of intentions, desires and goals and their impact on the internal motives that explain human behavior. Spotted Eagle addresses these questions by drawing a distinction between fear-based motivation and essence-based desire.

Fear-based motivation describes the way in which the anxious Mind seeks to quell its fears by trying to guarantee certainty and security in an uncertain world. When the anxious Mind’s motivations drive behavior, we fantasize about a future where our fears and issues do not exist. Most fantasies are born of distorted, fear-based motivation and for this reason they are not powerful in guiding us to create what is practical, sustainable and satisfying.

Spotted Eagle says, “To be powerfully creative, you must go after the greatest distortion in your thinking—fear of the future—and overcome it, or nothing you do will produce sustainable or satisfying fruit.” He points out that where we feel powerful we usually do not fantasize about the future. Instead, we come to the now, open and available to whatever is there, whether it is painful or joyful. Because we feel powerful in this area, we have no neediness for fantasies to medicate our fear of the uncertain future. “Be present with your now and everything that is truly there within it,” he says. “Appreciate its joys, and rise to meet its challenges with courage and dignity. This is what catalyzes the growth that will evolve you into a person who can live the life of your dreams.”

Spotted Eagle points out that the anxious Mind will always try to circumvent the growth process by feeding us fantasies of a challenge-free life. We think that having our fantasy come true will make us effortlessly happy and allow us to circumvent the work required to resolve our most fundamental fears and issues. Spotted Eagle’s primary dispute with models that focus on manifesting our fantasies is that they negate our spiritual responsibility to grow from our challenges, to respond effectively to our persistent emotional and personal problems, and to overcome our addiction to the illusion of security. For Spotted Eagle the bottom line is: you cannot keep your fear and your issues, and create the life you desire in your heart.

By Jennie Marlow

Related posts:

1. What Is the Post-New-Age?
2. The Map and the Territory