I must admit I go through highs and lows as far as self motivated playing.
Outside of my self I have found things that stress me to practice.
Lessons. (I do not want a teacher to say I sound worse this year)
Playing in a group. (you play the old version of “The Girl I Left Behind Me”?)
And job interviews (didn’t pan out, don’t ask)
So, what motivates you outside of your self?
I play in effort to maintain my frail grasp on my fleeing sanity.
I do not think of it as practice, it is an end in and of its self. I play to please my soul!
Though it would be exceedingly nice if I were capable of pleasing other souls with my playing. But, perhaps this will happen, if I keep playing! 
When I was going through my last low I said to myself. Once I know all the tunes, I won’t have to practice. I know it will never happen, but it definantly puts things in perspective.
I’m guessing just about everybody goes through self-motivational cycles. What I seem to do to keep the ball rolling is to make variety out of my time, to keep subject selection organic and low-pressure: some days it’s tunes, other days tricky tune runs or arpeggio-type exercises, other days might be devoted to particular ornaments that I want to put extra work into, another day just tone/embouchure practice or even just putting together sets. Frequently it’ll be a combination of some of the above, just going with the flow some days. If I don’t start off with tunes, I often end up with playing at least one or two by way of applying what details I’ve practiced on that day, and as a sort of reward.
The main thing is to get the flute out and have it right there looking at you.
Whether or not it all helps is another item. 
I pretty much agree with Jordan. It’s like therapy for me. As far as “practice”, shoot, it’s ALL practice, whether there are people listenning or not. 
Fair enough, but I do make a distinction between practice and performance. One’s like honing the blade, the other’s like cutting.
Hi I.D.10-t,
this is a good question; how to stay motivated. There’s an equation here to do with the amount of input ie work/effort and the reward ie musical satisfaction or appreciation. Sometimes it’s all in balance and it’s so easy, sometimes it’s not and you wonder why you bother. The antidote to all this introspection is playing with others. Join/create a band/group whatever and this question will become irrelevant because you’ll be trying to solve musical problems and not existential ones. Am I making any sense at all I’ve had a few drinks you know. hic
Oh and what motivates me is getting these bloody rolls sorted. It’s enough.
regards
I’m with sillydill, I play as an antidote to reality
I never said I didn’t, myself! 
My playing ebbs and flows. Sometimes to do with energy level, mostly due to just how much time I have to play.
The thing that really motivates me is getting new material. I just got on inter library loan the complete Playford tunes. The best part is that my new Noy flute can play anything but an Eflat. Cross-fingers beautifully, so I can play all those tunes in C and F and I get to enjoy two new toys at once.
i find i become unmotivated when i am only halfheartedly practice. now i do a good half an hour or an hour of harmonics, scales, arpeggios, and tone work, then i feel great and go into the tunes.
i was tired of playing poorly, and never getting better, so now i cant stand practicing for fun. the second my practice isnt productive, i stop. since i started redoing my practicing methods, the difference between months is the difference it used to be for years.
for you, find out what makes you unmotivated about practice: not enough tunes, not good enough, too overwhelming, dont know what to practice, etc. once you figure it out, just think about it, and try new things every day to put the fun back into it. for me, it was working hard instead of playing around that made it more fun. it might be the opposite for you, maybe you need to relax and just have some craic, who knows!
let us know how it goes.
I try and play some every day. It becomes habit.
Each summer I participate in a songwriting challenge group and their support and encouragement helps keep me going.
Once a month, I attend a music group and play a song or two solo. It helps to have practiced that month, that is motivation too.
Every day when 4:00 PM rolls around - or close to it - I salivate for my flute. Off I go to the “music room” (front room, ground level, looking out on the street) for an hour or so of “entertaining” self, cats, family, neighbors - whoever. I play no tunes for a while just flow the flute along. Then break out a book and play a few more, whatever hits me. The window to the street is my stage to the world (Phew!, Gary, how about that?)
No, I don’t call it practice but my 4:00 o’colck tea ('tini?)
BillG
It’s fun to play music.
Best, John
I am more or less with daiv: For me, the most motivating thing is improvement, so that there consistently becomes less and less of a barrier between my technical/musical deficiencies, and the music.
To that end, far and away the most motivating thing, for me, has been finding an excellent instructor: One who really has a good grasp of ITM, who plays the music with the right feel and flow, based on lots of experience. Someone who is technically proficient as a player, as well as being a very good teacher. I realize that people like this can, of course, be somewhat difficult to find outside of Ireland, but they are out there.
It really is amazing how much difference a good teacher can make with regards to learning to play this music WELL, but it’s one of those things that you can’t fully appreciate until you’ve worked with a really good instructor, and you’ve “seen the other side” so to speak.
It used to be a real struggle to “Force” myself to get through even 20 or 30 minutes of “structured” practice on the flute, although I’d play through tunes and noodle for quite some time. However, since finding the right teacher, I can barely put my flute down: 2 hours or more of practicing, per day, has become the norm for me now, and most of that I quite enjoy - certainly there are things that frustrate, but I now have the tools to work through those issues, and so the frustration is greatly lessened and progress is significantly hastened.
Having lived in an area where there was VERY little ITM, and now living in Boston, I can much more clearly see both sides of the situation here in the US. (Certainly I’ll need to spend time in Ireland in the future, in order to have an even more complete picture and experience of ITM) From my current perspective though, I’d really highly recommend that anyone who’s seriously interested in ITM, particularly if you’re frustrated or feeling unmotivated, try to find a good ITM instructor within driving distance, even if we’re talking a looooong drive. Obviously lessons on a weekly or bi-weekly basis are best, but even just one 2 hour lesson a month, with the right teacher, can give you plenty to work on and make huge differences in your playing, and therefore your enjoyment, of the music. That’s the way it’s worked for me anyway
Loren
Man, that would be great. Not an option for me, though. I’ve looked a few times, and there just doesn’t seem to be anyone within reasonable driving distance (especially with gas creeping up again) for me to get to. That would definitely increase my motivation, though, as well as helping me to develop some clear, concise goals and direction to my playing… something that’s lacking at this point, other than “I’d like to play like that guy” 
Great words, Loren!
I play because I love it - We all do!
Just make sure that each time you pick up your instrument you relax and feel the love - Experience the beauty. There are always the challenges - that bugger of a song with that thinger that’s giving you trouble etc. - ya have to make time for that as well. That’s part of real love anyway.
Off hand, I don’t know of anyone who might be “hiding in plain sight” in your area, but perhaps someone else out there will see you post and PM you.
If not, I do have a suggestion, as a possible alternative for you, or others who may be in a similar situation:
For many years I taught the Martial Arts, first at my father’s school, and then later at my own school. It was quite common for us to arrange seminars with highly regarded instructors from around the world: We would generate enough interest amoung our students, and in some cases students from other schools in the area as well, that we could sign enough students up to pay a famous instructor to come to town for a one or two day seminar.
Typically the school wouldn’t make much, or any money on the deal, because after covering our promotional costs, and paying airfare, food and accomodations expenses for the visiting instructor, little remained of what we collected from the students who paid to attend the seminar. However, the perk for us, as the hosting instructors, was that the visiting instructor would work with us for a number of hours privately, essentially private lessons in a style different from our own, or at a higher level than we were currently at in a particular style/system. Most times we’d fly the instructor in late on a Thursday or early on a Friday. Then we’d get our private training on Friday afternoon/evening, with the public seminar being on Saturday and/or Sunday.
Most instructors enjoyed the travel, particularly if you live somewhere warm in the winter, or a place that is beautiful or unique in the warmer months.
I suspect, that with a little effort, it wouldn’t be difficult, or terribly expensive to do the same with a good ITM instructor or two. I realize the format I mentioned above might not work where there are very few flute/whistles players, however another approach would be to consider getting 3-8 people together to spit the expenses to bring someone in for a day or two of long private lessons. If you time buying the plane ticket right, and have someone with a (nice) extra bedroom who can put the instructor up for a night or two, then you only have the instructor’s fee, a $300. or so plane ticket, and what…$50-$60 in food expenses? I should think that a half dozen or so people could get away with spending around $150. each (give or take a little) for a two hour lesson. With the right instructor and a recording device, plus the relationship you develop with that teacher (the ability to call or email with questions, and perhaps, for an additional occasional fee, the option of sending tapes back and forth), it seems like a pretty good deal to me.
(Just as a point of reference, I pay $50 and hour and travel 2 hours in each direction, for my lessons. The local big name ITM Mandolin/Guitar teacher charges $70 and hour, so $150. for a couple of hours of private instruction is right in the ball park.)
I realize that not many people will be motivated to try this approach, but I can tell you from LOTS of experience, it really isn’t that difficult or time consuming to make happen. In addition, you get to spend quite a bit of extra time with the teacher you bring to town, which often proves to be an valuable learning experience in and of itself, as you’ll often learn quite about about history and other non-technical experiences. Best of all, you often make long term friendships with some really wonderful people (both tearhers and students), and in the process you are strengthening your own local scene. All potentially huge positives, with very few negatives - you simply have to make certain you choose an instructor who has a good reputation as a teacher, and trackrecord of showing up, on time, and sober (don’t laugh, it can happen.) Also, you have to make sure to collect the money from those who “commit” to participate PRIOR to buying the plane ticket, as people have a way of bailing at the last minute if they aren’t already paid up in advance.
As they say “where there’s a will there’s a way”…
Loren
Mostly 'cause it’s fun 
I use to practice to seek out new tunes and build up my repertoire for sessions. I still do but not to the degree I have been.
At this point I would really like to improve my tone, endurance (Maintaining a good tone for a long period), and phrasing.
I have a distant goal, really more of a dream, of being able to walk into a session anywhere, with any caliber of player, play some tunes, and feel like I’ve contributed.
I also really enjoy performing in public, but do not have anything steady lined up. WHich is a good thing for the public.