Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Studying Tips - Motivate Yourself To Study

By Lachlan Haynes


The single biggest reason cited for not competing tasks is the lack of motivation. If you're like everybody else in the entire universe then at one point or another you will lack the motivation to do something. Welcome to the club. There are about 6 billion human members plus a few million animals as well (that's right animals can be lazy too).

This may not be a regular problem for you (and kudos to you if that's the case) but for many students, 'lacking motivation' can be a real pain in the you know what!

If motivation is not present in the individual, simple uncomplicated tasks have a nasty habit of becoming huge complicated problems - ones that can end up being avoided for days (and sometimes weeks or months!) So how does this happen?

Motivation is a funny beast. When we have a feeling of "high motivation" we can be virtually unstoppable. Tasks are tackled with relative ease, our energy levels are right up, no problem seems too great, and everything seems to constantly fall into place. The problem is that the opposite is also true. A feeling of "low or no motivation" leads to failure to complete tasks, low energy levels, all problems seem incredibly hard to overcome and everything seems to be going wrong!

Unfortunately, much of the motivation in the world comes in the form of fear - the fear of negative consequences. For example, you will see most students completing their homework (or at least attempting to complete it) for fear of what will happen to them if they don't. They may be embarrassed in class, they may be grounded by their parents, they may fear falling behind everyone else, or they may fear appearing stupid. It could be many things - but it is all fear-based motivation. It's only natural - this type of motivation has been around since the dawn of time.

If there were no consequence for not doing your homework, or not doing exercise, or not following the laws - what would happen? It would create chaos wouldn't it? Why would anyone do anything they didn't "feel like doing"?

Fear of negative consequences (i.e. negative motivation) is important in the world. We need to have rules and social conventions. We need to treat each other with respect. But that doesn't mean you should operate your entire life this way. There is more to life than just constantly doing what everyone wants so that they (and society) will be happy with you. That's not a joyful life experience.

Acting only out of fear of consequences will not lead you to a positive and happy life. It will lead to "existing" - and existing is not the level of motivation you will need to take you to where you really want to go - all the way to the top (of whatever it is you want to do)!

Real motivation is borne out of a possibility. A possibility of what may happen from taking a certain action. The possibility of what can be created. For example, when you ask a girl or guy you like for their phone number, you are living into a possibility. The possibility you may get to go out on a date with them! Sure, you may not succeed. You may get shut down. But so what? The power of living into a possibility drove you to take that action. If you act out of fear, you probably won't ask for the number or take any action and you'll just feel regret. Why? Because fear of negative consequences (like being embarrassed or laughed at) won the day. By living in fear you don't really live. By living in fear you don't feel the amazing power of real motivation.

The answer to finding motivation is actually simple. Whenever you are doing something and don't feel motivated simply ask yourself "What is the possibility here? What positive outcome is going to occur from this?" If you can't find a simple possibility (like I could learn something new, I could earn some money which I can spend on something important to me, I'm a step closer to something I really want to achieve) then you really aren't searching hard enough. There is a possibility in everything. Good luck.




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