Chapter Eighteen

Motivate Yourself

What Is Motivation?

Motivation can be defined in many ways by different people. Motivation is the ability to move forward with energy and enthusiasm despite having several shocks and setbacks in life. Motivation needs direction, initiation, intensity and persistence. People often take direction and initiation in their lives. However, they fail to intensify their efforts and energies and persist for a long time without good results. Some people even go to the extent of intensifying their efforts. But when they are faced with failures, they give up. About 97 per cent of the people remain average in their lives because they don’t persist when confronted with setbacks. It is only 3 per cent of people who are ultimately successful as they persist for a long time. Therefore, motivation is the blend of direction, initiation, intensity and persistence.

Motivation is different from encouragement. People often get encouraged when they meet one success after another. These successes encourage them to move forward. However, motivation is about moving forward when there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel.

Motivating the Youth

In any educational institution, we find three categories of students—those who are below average, average students, and above average students. The faculty member must motivate students of each category to improve themselves and strive for a better performance each time, in order to excel as good students.

Ericksen rightly remarked, ‘Effective learning in the classroom depends on the teacher’s ability … to maintain the interest that brought students to the course in the first place’. There must be a friendly exchange between the faculty and students in the educational institution as it paves the way for effective learning. Most of the time it is the responsibility of the faculty to create a conducive atmosphere to enable students to feel comfortable, come forward and clarify their queries. The faculty must especially take a little more interest to motivate the students who are below average and those who are slow learners. We cannot downplay slow learners as they have a huge potential. The only concern with slow learners is that the faculty must spend more time with them and concentrate more attention towards them. When you look at Albert Einstein, he was a slow learner but he contributed immensely towards science (in his later life) through his theory of relativity. Therefore, each student must be motivated so that he can unlock his potential.

Motivation at the Workplace

At the workplace, it is the responsibility of the superiors and leaders to motivate the employees to get the best efforts out of them. This will lead to the highest level of organizational excellence and effectiveness. Motivation differs from person to person, as the needs of people are different. Some people crave for money, some for love, some for power and prestige, some for knowledge, and some for luxuries. Hence, leaders must make a note of the motivational needs of their people and they must apply different strokes for different employees to get the tasks executed smoothly.

The Importance of Self-Motivation

Life is full of challenges. It offers both problems and prospects. You need to convert problems into prospects. Hence, it is essential to motivate yourself so that you can always remain firmly on your feet. You cannot always depend on others to stay motivated. You need to motivate yourself, by finding out the ways and means to lift your energy levels. In addition, if you want to excel as a leader you must not only motivate yourself but also motivate others to succeed in all walks of life.

Motivational Books

People can be motivated in various ways. By reading books, they can get motivated. Children are not interested in reading ordinary books and magazines. They are more interested in books with visuals and stories that help them get a deeper idea of what is going on. Students can charge themselves up by reading self-help books and career oriented material. Working professionals can read books related to their area of interest and about their work environment. Elders can read books about spirituality. Reading habits and tastes vary across different age groups, genders and depend on different areas of interest. In order to motivate yourself, you can read books written by international authors who write books based on their experiences. These books also contain anecdotes and stories that will help you connect with the authors easily and motivate you, apart from providing knowledge in your area of interest.

Motivational Tips

Here are some tips you can keep in mind, in order to keep yourself motivated:

• Observe and listen to motivational speeches.
• Stand in front of the mirror and say, ‘I am the winner!’ a number of times. When you listen to your own voice uttering positive commands, your mind gets reinforced with positive thoughts and ideas.
• Read self-help books that provide food for thought and enrich your mind with successful stories and anecdotes.
• Always be in the company of good friends as they help you keep the motivational ambience. It is true that one bad apple spoils the entire basket. Therefore, associate with positive people who fill your mind with positive vibes.

Motivation is a tough thing and that is the reason why everybody is not successful in this world. If people want to succeed, they must learn to motivate themselves through the right tools and techniques. Find out what motivates you and charges you up to constantly stay ahead of others. Make it a habit to motivate one person everyday as what goes around comes around when you are in distress. Johann Gottfried Von Herder quoted, ‘Without inspiration the best powers of the mind remain dormant. There is a fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks’. Hence, become a leader and motivate others to make a difference in their lives.