Staying high on motivation

A brief introspection

Demotivation is our constant, silent and undesirable companion. Thankfully, however, its presence can be overcome with the right mindset and strategies. Curiously enough, we are not born that way. We are curious, motivated and energetic at birth, but these fade away as we grow up.

 

Creating a programme

To design our strategy for motivation, we need to first understand why we lose motivation. When there is a project at hand which we do not feel motivated to complete, thinking ‘why’ we need to do it can motivate us. When you realise that your friends are counting on your completion and giving up is not an option, you feel the strong inner urge to proceed. Once you have thus found out your ‘why’, have broken it down, created a routine, you can push through the lack of motivation. Motivation is not always about feeling inspired. Sometimes, it’s about taking deliberate actions to create the conditions for motivation to flourish.

The goals set by most people are like bad GPS directions – they lead to nowhere! Rather than have vague goals, keep them specific. These goals will excite you, might scare you, but will make you feel alive! As you proceed with small steps, celebrate each win along the way. One can do a fun exercise: write down your wildest dreams on sticky notes, and put them on your mirror. Every morning, look at them and say, “I’m one step closer!”

Create a positive community, with people who will uplift and support you. When you are a part of a community who are on the same wavelength as you, you will start believing more strongly in yourself. Consistency and perseverance are critical. Motivation is like a muscle – the more we work at it, the stronger it gets. We can apply this wisdom in situations where we feel demotivated. Once we set small achievable goals before us and achieve them, the little victories build up and reignite your passion for the project at hand. Personal care and self compassion greatly help to keep one motivated. As students when we are overwhelmed with the syllabus, projects and activities, self-compassion and taking breaks become necessary. Here, small rewards can make the workload seem manageable.

Lastly, find your flow. Do what makes you lose track of time, what makes you feel like you’re in your element. That’s where the magic happens! For some, when they are on stage and speaking, they forget about time, and are fully present. Finding what puts you in your flow, and doing it often, is a great motivator.

On a note of wry humour, one can also try Manifestation. By manifesting your goals, you’re essentially tricking your brain into thinking you’re already a motivated superstar. Who needs actual motivation when one can just fake it !

 

Extrinsic motivation and its damage

In life, we generally do things in order to receive praise. When we are ‘not being liked’ for reasons that are external to our being and feel low, one needs to start finding things that one enjoys. The effects of external gratification are shortlived and their retraction can have negative impact on us. Aptly it is said, “ if you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change “ . So let us change our perspective to our tasks and actions so as to derive the intrinsic pleasure that will enrich us with sustained motivation.

 

About the authors

The article has been contributed by the following students from St. Joseph’s High School Matigara, Darjeeling: Adhishree Pradhan, Nilayam Chhettri, Aishanee Das and Shreyashree Das.