When you're struggling to reach a goal, such as a promotion at work, losing weight, or saving enough money for a trip, it can be hard to find the motivation to stay on track. A natural tendency is to ask someone who has been successful at the same goal for some advice. But what if that's the opposite of what you should do? A very interesting article about motivation was recently released by two psychologists from Wharton and the University of Chicago. According to their research, the key to motivation is giving advice, not receiving it.

A series of experiments were conducted by Lauren Eskreis-Winkler and Ayelet Fishbach focused on people having self-control problems - these types of problems commonly cause people to struggle because they lack the motivation to turn knowledge into action. For example, smokers know that cigarettes aren't good for them and overweight people know that eating junk food day after day will not help them lose weight. But these people may lack the motivation to change their habits; Eskreis-Winkler and Fishbach were interested to see if the reason boils down to a lack of confidence. By having people struggling with certain problems give advice to others in similar situations, could it lead to a boost of confidence and thereby increase motivation?

The simple answer is yes. Failing to achieve one's goals over and over may cause a dip in confidence but giving advice may help restore it for a number of reasons. The experiments concluded that after people gave advice, they were more motivated to achieve their own goals. This practice could be useful in your own personal life, as well as in corporate and academic settings.