What is Motivation?
Motivation is a word we seem to use quite frequently, but do we really know what it means? As a student, the phrase "I just have no motivation" seems to be a sentence said at least once a term. So let's look at motivation for a quick second here, to really understand what it means before we help you find your motivation to power through that project, class, term, or whatever it may be.
According to Psychology Today, "motivation is the desire to act and move towards a goal. It's the crucial element in setting and attaining one's objectives". In simple terms, motivation is our attitude towards a task. When you approach a task feeling confident, productive, and accomplished... that's motivation! Motivation can come in different ways such as the desire to check another thing off the to-do list, a reward such as food or an outing upon completion of said task, positive affirmations, and so on. Something surprising about motivation is that it usually comes before starting a new behaviour, not after. See, motivation is often the result of action rather than the cause of action.
So now that you understand motivation a little bit more, let's explore ways to motivate yourself.
According to Psychology Today, "motivation is the desire to act and move towards a goal. It's the crucial element in setting and attaining one's objectives". In simple terms, motivation is our attitude towards a task. When you approach a task feeling confident, productive, and accomplished... that's motivation! Motivation can come in different ways such as the desire to check another thing off the to-do list, a reward such as food or an outing upon completion of said task, positive affirmations, and so on. Something surprising about motivation is that it usually comes before starting a new behaviour, not after. See, motivation is often the result of action rather than the cause of action.
So now that you understand motivation a little bit more, let's explore ways to motivate yourself.
How to Motivate Yourself:
Before jumping in, we are not professionals. We are just as confused as you might be, and we too lack motivation from time to time. Some of these may work for you and some may not. That is okay!! Motivation is different for everyone, these are just some suggestions based on the pool of students we surveyed. That being said, here are some suggestions on how to motivate yourself.
- Set attainable goals. Ever heard of "SMART" goals? Google it, this method will help you set attainable goals.
- Acknowledge your accomplishments. Every. Little. One.
- Create some new challenges for yourself (like joining a new club or sport). Remember that motivation comes before a new behaviour? Here it is.
- Try using incentives to motivate yourself towards completing a task! This could be going shopping after submitting an assignment, watching an episode of your favourite show, or whatever you like and enjoy doing!
- Some people like countdowns (until the end of the semester, class, etc) because it provides a visual.