Who do you want to become? The person who has a good job, and enjoys life, or the person that struggles daily to survive, and hates life? In today’s society there are people like Tom Brady, Donald Trump, Oprah and more who are esteemed above others for their success. Just like them we are all capable of success. Many just dream of this success as they continue to waste time in society’s distractions. In order to achieve success one most become motivated. When students learn what motivation is and obtain it they will be able to succeed in today’s society during, and after college.
In many motivational seminars or leadership books people tell you to get motivated in order to succeed. Rarely do they tell you what motivation is. In fact the common person doesn’t know the true potential of the word. If you were to search motivation on erriam-webster.com it would say, “The condition of being motivated” Not very clear is it. How do you describe motivation with a word so similar such as “motivated.” If you define motivated you are lead to the term motive which is “something (as a need or desire) that causes a person to act.” If we put these terms together, motivation is the state of acting for a need or a desire. This is just a basic part of motivation. Experts like Del Beatty Dean of Students, and Stephanie Higginson Student Government advisor from Dixie State College both defined motivation in other words such as empowering others to work together, and a sense of passion and responsibility to act for an idea. These are just a few additions to the previously defined term of motivation. In all, motivation is something that causes someone to act to fix a problem or better something according to their needs, passions, and greatest desires. The word “motivation” is a lot more complex than it seems. Each person has a personal definition of what motivation means to him/her and what motivates them. Generally these definitions not only define what motivation means to a person, but what they consider motivational as well. In order for something to be motivational to that person it will need to match their personal definition of “motivation.”
When asked, “Do you consider today’s students to be more or less motivated than ever before?” Both Beatty and Higginson agreed that students are less motivated than ever before. Higginson said, “There is too much available to us. We live in a world where there is so much going on and it’s instant… It takes little effort today to accomplish something.” She went on to explain that most tasks today do not require a lot of motivation to complete or, they are just used to waste time. Higginson proved her point by explaining that most people spend their day texting or on Facebook, instead of getting out and learning, studying and trying new things. She compared motivation like fire. “Fire doesn’t come out from anywhere it must be built and taken care of.” This means that we get motivation overnight we must look for what motivates us, and constantly be motivated to reach motivation.
The quest to find what motivates us as a species has been around for a long time. Let’s go back in time and see what Thomas Hobbes an extinguished philosopher in the Enlightment era thought motivated people. (qtd. in Sayre.) Thomas Hobbes believed that people are motivated by two things; death by another, and the desire for power. These two motives were the foundation of Thomas Hobbes social contract theory that many still discuss today. The question on what motivates us can still be answered today with some of today’s beliefs. Stephanie Higginson at Leadership training this year (2011) discussed the three levels of completing a task. They are fear, duty, and love. Within in these categories are many things such as wanting food for survival or praise such as getting a candy bar for taking out the trash. These examples and others can all go back to one or more of those points of motivation. Beatty said, “One can experience motivation when they find something they enjoy, become dedicated, or are given responsibility with that interest.” He explained that the idea of being motivated is simple, but doing is the hardest part. Even though we are all motivated by different things all individuals in some way are motivated by fear, duty, and love. Today the world demands so much of a person that we don’t find or spend enough time looking for things that motivate us. The hardest part is taking those first steps, and discovering what motivates us, and continually being motivated.
“The hardest part of the journey is the first step” (Anonymous). Luckily we don’t have to take these steps, and fine what motivates us on our own. We can learn and be with other motivated people to help us start. Due to difficulty of find what motivates us Beatty believes this is where it takes motivated people to help motivate others to take their first step. (Beatty) “In a college students perspective getting someone motivated is inviting them out and getting them involved in things. From there the passion and responsibility will become motivation.” The real question is what motivates you? Sadly motivation is not a one word fits all type of word. There are many different people who are motivated and demotivated by different things. For example a piece of chocolate candy may motivate one student participate in class whereas another would be more motivated if the chocolate candy was some type of fruity candy. To make it even more complex one can be motivated by something such as candy where another may be demotivated by candy depending on the person, time, or place. Going back to our previous example if two hungry students are offered any type of candy one will still be motivated whereas the other could be on a diet and not want candy at all. In this case the teacher would be better to motivate the student with something that is not candy or food related such as extra credit, or praise.
If you look back to at the merriam-webster.com definitions of motivation, you will notice the difference between motivation, and motivate is that motivation is a state. A State is also known as a condition of being. We can compare something that motivates us to like food. Once we eat all the food we can over time we will become hungry and need more food. Just like food we when we are motivated we are only motivated for so long before we need to be motivated again. Motivation is a vigorous and never ceasing cycle. One of John C Maxwell’s 21 laws of leadership is the law of process. The law of process is simply says, “Leadership Develops Daily, Not in a Day.” We can easily replace leadership with motivation in this phrase. Motivation does not come over night, but through continually doing things that motivate us. Maxwell also states “The secret of our success is found in our daily agenda.” In laymans terms, when we daily do things that motivate us we enter the state of motivation, eventually reaching success. This motivation enabled successful athletes like Tom Brady to practice every day to be successful. If football did not motivate Tom Brady, he would not be playing football. If he wasn’t motivated continually he wouldn’t have had the motivation to practice every day. If Tom Brady did not have motivation he would not be the successful athlete he is today. If students do not find a field of study that motivates them, they will not want to go to work in that field and be unsuccessful. Students need to learn what subject motivates them so they will not only be successful, but enjoy their career. This motivation will make it easier for students to do homework when presented with distractions such as televisions, facebook, and other distractions of society.
Today many people want success but don’t know where to find it. Whether success is getting out of bed or changing the world, motivation is essential. One must be motivated to achieve their true potential. Motivation will carry them to success. The answer is simple, but finding what motivates you in a society that has so many distractions and is unmotivated is difficult. A slogan from a brand that sponsors successful athletes and many young kids dreams gives great advice, “Just do it.” Find what motivates you and “Just do it”. Get motivation to get success.
Works Cited
Beatty, Del. Dean of Students Dixie State College Tanner Holt. 8 September 2011.
Higginson, Stefanie. Student Government Advisor Tanner Holt. 8 September 2011.
Maxwell, John C. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leaderhip. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2007.
Merriam-Webster. n.d. 27 September 2011 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/>.
Sayre, Henry M. Discovering the Humanities. London: Prentice hall, 2010.