Motivation is being able to go after and achieve a particular desire. Let's say that your original desire is to get a raise. You need to be motivated to achieve that raise. It's not just going to come to you because you sit at your computer all day every day and do the same amount of work at the same quality level as everyone else.

How motivation counts at work

If you want to achieve a raise at work, then you need to find some smaller desires that you can be motivated to achieve. This is how you are going to get your raise. Let's go through a few steps that can help you find that motivation and get your raise.

Steps to getting your raise through greater motivation

1. Evaluate your current performance.
2. Evaluate where you need to be in the near future.
3. Determine particular goals to work towards.
4. Motivate yourself to achieve those goals.

Let's go through these steps one at a time.

1. Evaluate your current performance.

Take a good look at yourself. You are adequate at work. You come in on time every day, you leave on time every day, and you get everything done. Or perhaps you don't get some things done. Overall, you are a good, solid employee.

Good, solid employees generally don't get substantial raises. They simply don't get fired.

Look at places where you can do better in your current performance. Can you up your sales just a little bit? Perhaps you can improve your customer performance. Maybe you aren't that great of a team player and your groups never quite have the best presentations at meetings. If you're a manager, maybe you have a difficult time motivating the employees that you are in charge of.

2. Evaluate where you need to be in the future.

This next step comes directly from the previous one. Think seriously about where your job performance needs to be in order to get a raise. You need to be outstanding. You need to shine above your co-workers, to be blunt. This doesn't mean that you need to be overbearing or that you should stop being a team player. You should become a better team player, instead.

3. Determine particular realistic goals to work towards.

Now that you know where you are and where you need to be, it's time to translate your situation into concrete goals that you have.

Sit down with a piece of paper. Make a list of short term, mid term, and long term goals for your job performance. Be realistic when you are making lists! Perhaps your goal is to increase your sales by 5% each month for the next three months, and then increasing sales by 10%. Maybe you want to improve your efficiency. No matter what your job is, you can make definite goals. Just don't go overboard, or else you will lose your motivation due to disappointment and a feeling of failure.

4. Motivate yourself!

If you have a hard time motivating yourself, try some tricks. Envision a particular picture of yourself. Work towards that vision. Or come up with challenges that you can meet. Reward yourself for meeting your goals, whenever you meet them. Staying motivated can help improve your job performance, which will help you get that raise that you want.