In my own personal
experience being motivated, having motivator, motivating and inspire others
including gaining knowledge with people by attending Motivational seminars and
talks, I have explored with curiosity the necessity of motivation.
Why people attend motivational talks and seminars many times and yet have failed to harness the knowledge of self-motivation?
Why have motivational
speakers have not successfully impart, the knowledge of motivation to inspire
within individuals to make them self-motivated?
What makes people like Steve Jobs stay motivated, earning $1 as remuneration in Apple?
What makes people like Steve Jobs stay motivated, earning $1 as remuneration in Apple?
How do you motivate
yourself and stay motivated?
We will be looking at
all three (3) perspectives to understand,
1. What is motivation?
2. How best motivators can proceed to motivate other(s) long term?
3. What must individuals do in order to be motivated and inspired?
1. What is motivation?
2. How best motivators can proceed to motivate other(s) long term?
3. What must individuals do in order to be motivated and inspired?
In this blog we will be going through the stages of :
1. Motivation
2. Motivator
3. Motivated / Inspire
Understanding Motivation
To understand how
motivation works is complicated and at times contradictory. There are a
combination of elements such as hopes, desire dreams, rewards (that are outside
influence), policies (that can
affect social pressures), and many
other psychological interpretations.
It is a complex equation made complicated by theories of motivation and categorize by
many in accordance to tasks or subjects from Education, Learning, Leadership,
Salesmanship, Labour, Human Resource, Motivational Speakers, politicians,
Religious Clerics (one example is prosperity gospel, love GOD to be prosperous)
and so on so forth.
There are many theories
on motivation too by Frederic Freud, Lewin, Gardners, Weiner and many others.
Here is something to ponder or think about. Why did Steve Jobs accepting to a $1 remuneration when he came back to lead Apple? Think about it? He was losing money and was heavily in debt purchasing Pixar for $5 Million. There are a lot of argument and discussion on it but not many of the CEO or Directors would agree on a remuneration of a $1 a year. What motivated him? Think about it.
In this blog I separated motivation into two parts.
Here is something to ponder or think about. Why did Steve Jobs accepting to a $1 remuneration when he came back to lead Apple? Think about it? He was losing money and was heavily in debt purchasing Pixar for $5 Million. There are a lot of argument and discussion on it but not many of the CEO or Directors would agree on a remuneration of a $1 a year. What motivated him? Think about it.
In this blog I separated motivation into two parts.
The two types of
motivation we will look at are :
1.
Extrinsic Motivation
2.
Intrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic
Motivation
People who are
motivated by extrinsic equation tend to work hard for rewards (includes social status and so on), as
their attention is focus on external incentives to perform a task as their
objective is to attain the goals either on merit of result, rewards or
incentives. They are motivated to get the highest results or to the standard
requirements that would qualify them to a certain goal. The rewards become the
end product.
Most of these individuals will not be innovative in approach in their learning abilities as they will avoid risk and likely to stay in a safe zone simply following instructions or not questioning the norm. Their motivation is of short term. Some or many would not even start to do the job or task. Once the result is attained they have no other motivations being formed. This forms students and adult to be educated and not learners.
Most of these individuals will not be innovative in approach in their learning abilities as they will avoid risk and likely to stay in a safe zone simply following instructions or not questioning the norm. Their motivation is of short term. Some or many would not even start to do the job or task. Once the result is attained they have no other motivations being formed. This forms students and adult to be educated and not learners.
Intrinsic
Motivation
Intrinsic motivations
have a deeper understanding of learning. Will have more interest and are more
confident. They are more curious and love to explore. Due to these attributes
they may or will take risk. While taking risk they may not get higher scores as
they will not follow through with instructions but have fully understood
subjects, issues, situations and circumstances by trial and errors. They look
at things in forms of equations and always questioning the norms.
They can get easily
bored in a controlled environment and like to do different things. These people
have self believes. Are more innovative in approach and have developed self-
motivation by means of exploration,
by not fearing to fail and have the ability to assess issues to do better. They
acquire knowledge by questioning facts. They will not be afraid to share the
knowledge as they have confidence in gaining more knowledge.
These individual(s)
do not need incentives, rewards or promotions to motivate them. It’s a long
term basis and forms students and adults to be Lifelong Learners.
Manipulation
(with incentives / extrinsic motivation) vs Motivation (without incentives /
intrinsic motivation)
There is a difference
between Manipulation and Motivation. The only similarity both
have is that they begin with the letter M.
Extrinsic Motivation due to its reward equation is a form of Manipulation.
On the other hand
Intrinsic Motivation is cultivated with focus
objective purpose (this is purely on the focus of why, what and when
learning process. If we want to learn to
gain knowledge then one will be motivated for serving the “proper purpose”).
Motivation and
manipulation can be engaged in the next segment of Motivator.
Understanding Motivator
Understanding Motivator
Just like in the understanding of motivation there
are two types in motivator.
They are:
1. Leadership
(Mentorship)
2. Salesmanship
/ Showmanship / Managers
A major function of
leaders is to support, mentor, consult
and nature the motivation of other individuals and group(s). That is the
leadership perspective. These are constructive approaches in
cultivating individual(s) and group(s) to grow in confidence and be
self-motivated.
Cultivating these individual(s) or groups(s) to self-motivation
sustains long term motivation. Although different people have different desires
(a catalyze element of needs and wants) to be motivated, it would be excellent
to make them focus on the intrinsic benefits rather than benefits towards
material forms of rewards. Having said that, it would be better to form a
balance in the choices to motivate.
The other form of
motivators are motivational speakers, managers and even some political
candidates and individuals directive or objectives are simply to motivate in
terms of extrinsic motivation in terms of rewards, punishments or simply having
messages of a euphoria to the audience, individual(s) or group(s).
These could be found in
Multi-Level Marketing (MLM), Motivation seminars, political elections, Sales
manager meetings at times in religious meetings and so on. These form(s) of
motivation are not long term. And the goals are for self-fulfilment
(motivator’s interest) of self-interest first. These are motivators of
salesmanship or showmanship not leadership.
Motivation of
individual(s) or group(s) must lead them to be self-motivated, leading
themselves (those being motivated) to have confident in motivating others, and sustaining
their positive attitude long term even in failures. Not seeking to be motivated
or seeking euphoria induced motivational speeches every day, week, months and
years and not find themselves determine and confident in leading themselves to
be independent.
Motivators must
understand that they cannot motivate all people. Just as Socrates statement one
can only make them think. Not by simply standing on a stage and talking about
your success. The key to supporting motivation of individual(s) and group(s) is
to understand what motivates each of them.
TEACHERS / Child care teachers / Career Coaches / Trainers
In actual fact,
teachers should be and must be first line motivators not just towards excellent
student but also to slower learners and those not interested in learning. In
Singapore, in my time and environment, teachers were not mentors, or motivators
neither were they leaders. Many of them were simply following the standard
operating procedures (SOP), to teach. Many of them were result oriented
managers (although they were meant to be leaders. We had a different set of
ideas of leadership principles).
The next line of group would be career coaches. Many of these fast growing individual(s) or group(s) in position, need to focus on mentorship and motivators which in turn giving them opportunity to have leadership not salesmanship attributes. It all depends how the policy makers and leaders cultivate the purpose for these sectors just like the sector for teaching.
Child care teacher(s),
to my understanding and perception, is the holiest ground(s) that creates the
authenticity of creating the culture of the nation. Child care teachers should
be and must be carefully chosen, selected or recruited. And paid more respect
in the society. They are the ones who would need to be equipped with the
knowledge of leadership, mentorship and yes, motivators.
Extrinsic
Motivators
1. Parents
expectations
2. Human
Resource Managers
3. Sales
Managers (includes Multi-Level Marketing Speakers who call themselves
Motivators)
4. Role
model expectations
5. Earning
potential
6. Managers
expectations
7. Policy
makers expectations
·
Advantage
of Extrinsic Motivator
Extrinsic
motivator produces faster results in behaviour changes. It involve little
effort or even preparation. As the structure is about result extrinsic
motivators do not require extensive knowledge of individuals.
·
Disadvantage
of Extrinsic Motivator
On
the other hand fast result(s) in motivating individuals or people or student
tend to demotivate them faster as well. Or the knowledge gain seem to be forgotten
once they have achieve the standard require expectations. Often need to find
the right rewards for the individuals to perform. In the process resulting to
“salesmanship motivation”.
1. Parents expectations
2. Human Resource Managers
3. Sales Managers (includes Multi-Level Marketing Speakers who call themselves Motivators)
4. Role model expectations
5. Earning potential
6. Managers expectations
7. Policy makers expectations
Extrinsic motivator produces faster results in behaviour changes. It involve little effort or even preparation. As the structure is about result extrinsic motivators do not require extensive knowledge of individuals.
Intrinsic
Motivators
Intrinsic motivator(s) includes :
1. Leaders2. Mentor(s)
·
Advantage of
Intrinsic Motivator
Teach to master the
subject with passion. They teach things clearly by making learners think with
understanding rather than simply going through the motion. It can or will be
long lasting and self-sustaining. Efforts such as these focus on the subject
rather than rewards or punishment.
· Disadvantage
of Intrinsic Motivator
· Disadvantage of Intrinsic Motivator
Efforts
to foster intrinsic motivation takes time and are slower
to effect behavioural changes and requires special lengthy preparation and
care. It would take lots of patients to motivate as it does not have a catalyst
like a reward but solely for the right purpose of learning rather than simply
getting educated. For adults it is
about gaining knowledge rather than simply getting a certificate and following
process in order to get promotion. There are two elements in this equation.
Environment
Culture of the
environment plays a big part in cultivating Intrinsic Motivation. Our
environment separates fast learners to those of slower ones by streaming. The
focus is more on fast learners who could memorize subjects and pages and
succeed in exams. The faster learners are motivated with many extrinsic
rewards. Result centric, career centric, status centric, and many more. They
study and know they would not use what they have learned in daily lives. While
the slower individual(s), have not much mentoring to help them in developing
interest to learning.
Movie Character(s) motivation
Most of us get inspired
or motivated by Movies. My greatest motivator was ROCKY. Rocky’s character
motivated me to do something different in my approach in training, in life and
my choice to go back to school after my National Service (army stint).
Many of us get motivated from watching many
movies. Sports movie(s) like Rocky and so on. We remember quotes in the movies,
the scenes, the actions to keep us motivated.
It is also one way to begin self-motivation. It sets our mind-set to motivate and inspire ourselves.
It is also one way to begin self-motivation. It sets our mind-set to motivate and inspire ourselves.
Books Character(s) Motivation
There are many
non-fiction books biographies that can motivate you and inspire you. Books by
Mahatma Ghandi, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Michael Jordan, "A beautiful
mind" about John Forbes Nash Jr and many more which are in my mini library can
induce a proper purpose to the objective of our motivation and inspire us for
further improvement.Before I went on to do my degree in September
2009, I bought a book online called ‘When men win glory’ by Jon Krakauer. It
was about a man name Pat Tillman. He walked away from a multi-million dollar
contract to be a football player and join the army to serve his country. We are
not talking about S-League here we are talking about multi-million dollar
contract. Yes I understand it is
one in a billion you get such an individual.
His character and
attributes, in fact thought me to be motivated with the “proper purpose”. And so I went to do my degree with that state of
mind. To gain knowledge. Not to follow theories but question the norm.
Yes I did not score high marks for most of my course work. In fact because of the challenge I took I failed my business project finding an out of the box business. And yes my lecturer was disappointed. She expected me to kill that subject
Yes I did not score high marks for most of my course work. In fact because of the challenge I took I failed my business project finding an out of the box business. And yes my lecturer was disappointed. She expected me to kill that subject
Above is a screen shot of the screen shot of some of the books that made me intrinsic motivated. If you are interested you may browse through the link : http://www.michaelrsmorgan.com/#!books/cg1d
Understanding being Motivated / Inspired
Having understood the two (2) different kinds of motivation, it comes to an understanding more about motivation. A recent article by Cheryl Tay in yahoo sums it up.
Proper
Purpose
But a wrong mind-set leads to wrong reasons for
working out.
Some people may
work out because they want to look like that celebrity on TV or someone they
see in the gym and then get frustrated because they don’t achieve the results
they want.
This constant
idolization of other people will only lead to disaster.
In that news in yahoo,
Cheryl Chan, have wrote about what is the necessary attributes in terms of mindset.
2.
Having the right mindset.
The objective was about
weight loss to dieting to work out to look like a celebrity or to be like an
idol and the list goes on. That was the focus and objective that would certainly
lead to disaster.
Which is the wrong
idea, mind-set and concept in motivating themselves. What should be your focus
and objective to motivate yourself must be of a benefit to be healthy. To work
out in the gym or having a diet in a healthy way, should be and must be the “proper
purpose”.
2. Having the right mindset.
Which is the wrong idea, mind-set and concept in motivating themselves. What should be your focus and objective to motivate yourself must be of a benefit to be healthy. To work out in the gym or having a diet in a healthy way, should be and must be the “proper purpose”.
How to be a self-motivator?
Before we move on to
how we can sustain our motivation we have to understand the reason we lose
motivation. The reason we lose motivation and need to attend motivational talk
all the time is because of :
2.
Lack of focus
3.
Lack of direction
Having come through all
and reaching this point we will now attempt to understand the how to motivate
ourselves which in turn keep us motivated. We have understood by now with
knowledge of motivation and now to progress in inspiring ourselves to goals, objective,
vision and realize our missions.
It is the same concept as in starting a
business with a business plan. Any business without a plan, vision or mission
will find it difficult (not that they will certainly fail) to succeed. The same
can be reflected upon our motivation to start a task and complete a task with
confidence and determination.
It is the same concept as in starting a business with a business plan. Any business without a plan, vision or mission will find it difficult (not that they will certainly fail) to succeed. The same can be reflected upon our motivation to start a task and complete a task with confidence and determination.
My personal experience, at the age of forty four (44) to do my degree.
In my speech to
potential in-take of students for Loughborough University in PSB, I would
inform them that the course is hard and not easy to succeed. That they would
need to put in a lot of effort in the three (3) years of the course and it is
not going to be easy compared to other university courses. Having said that, I
would tell them that the first cause of interest to come for the preview and seminar,
sets the chances of success to be higher.
The basic element(s) is
a need to build the tools to manage your task, such as planning, organizing and
controlling. Scheduling time and then you will have to lead yourself to the
task. You have to build your character.
As you grow you will build and grow with problem solving skills, decision making skills, stress management skills and so on.
Although I did not fail
my exams and was fortunate to have so many of good friends who would coach me
and mentor me and push me through the lectures, there were others who have
failed or had to slow down. I admired their steel of determination. Successful
people build that steel in them. They also build in them the character and
attitude to be self-motivated.I hope through the journey of Motivation, Motivator, Motivated and Inspired we have understood how to achieved self-motivation. As Sun Tze would say,
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you
need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the
enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know
neither the enemies nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
Most of the ideas to write this blog were done
from lots of reading research materials both online and from books. Here are the
references from some.
Father Tricks Son Into
Becoming a Top Student by Scoring Zero on Tests - http://www.visiontimes.com/2015/12/26/father-tricks-son-into-becoming-a-top-student-by-scoring-zero-on-tests.html
As you grow you will build and grow with problem solving skills, decision making skills, stress management skills and so on.
Most of the ideas to write this blog were done from lots of reading research materials both online and from books. Here are the references from some.
Helping People to Motivate Themselves and Others - http://managementhelp.org/leadingpeople/motivating-others.htm
Center of teaching – Motivation - https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/motivating-students/
Motivation and the brain – How to harness student
motivation. New research points the way. - http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3758277
The Ultimate Guide to Motivation – How to Achieve
Any Goal - http://zenhabits.net/the-ultimate-guide-to-motivation-how-to-achieve-any-goal/
Motivation and the brain – How to harness student motivation. New research
points the way. - http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3758277
9 ways to motivate kids - http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/9-ways-motivate-kids
Adults in modern society are on a lifelong educational journey by Raymond J
Wlodkowski - https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/motivating-students/
Flipping the Switch – Motivation vs Manipulation by
Jack Dunigan - http://thepracticalleader.com/motivation-vs-manipulation/
Inspiration Leadership and Aspiration Management Drives Business Success :
Motivation Shifts – Inspire, Aspire, Achieve – Business Trends - http://bizshifts-trends.com/2013/06/27/inspiration-leadership-and-aspiration-management-inspiration-leadership-and-aspiration-management-drives-business-success-changing-paradigm-of-motivation/
Scholastic Professional Paper – Raising students who want to read – By Phyllis
S Hunter - http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/authors/pdfs/Raising_Students.pdf
Academic Diversity : Ways to Motivate and Engage Student with Learning
Disabilities - http://www.council-for-learning-disabilities.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Weiser_Motivation.pdf
ADULT LEARNING – Adults in modern society are on a lifelong learning
educational journey. - http://userpages.umbc.edu/~koconne1/605TheAdultLearner/ivse.htm
CENTER OF EDUCATION POLICIES - Can Money or other rewards motivate students? - file:///C:/Users/Michael%20r%20s%20Morgan/Downloads/UsherKober_Background2_Motivation_5.22.12.pdf
Motivation : A literature Review - http://images.pearsonassessments.com/images/tmrs/Motivation_Review_final.pdf
Understanding motivation : A review of relevant literature - http://carleton.ca/slals/wp-content/uploads/5_Understanding_Motivation_BARKER_CPALS_2004_05.pdf
Adult Leaner – The definitive classic in adult education and Human Resource
Development - https://books.google.com.sg/books?hl=en&lr=&id=1We2BQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=The+Adult+Learner:+The+Definitive+Classic+in+Adult+Education+and+Human+Resource+Development&ots=C7HU5nKvpR&sig=jYsloS120YYTgqnbLUfqviSLoY8#v=onepage&q=The%20Adult%20Learner%3A%20The%20Definitive%20Classic%20in%20Adult%20Education%20and%20Human%20Resource%20Development&f=false
Don’t Confused Motivation and Inspiration to be the same - http://www.chrmglobal.com/Articles/313/1/Don-t-Confuse-Motivation-and-Inspiration-to-be-the-Same.html
How to get motivated to study - http://www.planetofsuccess.com/blog/2010/how-to-get-motivated-to-study/
How to stay motivated and accomplish anything - http://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2013/07/19/how-to-stay-motivated-and-accomplish-anything/
But a wrong mindset leads to wrong reasons for
working out. Some people may work out because they want to look like that
celebrity on TV or someone they see in the gym and then get frustrated because
they don’t achieve the results they want. This constant idolisation of other
people will only lead to disaster. – https://sg.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/fit-to-post-sports/body-positive--it-s-all-in-the-mind-075401358.html
Motivation and the brain – How to harness student motivation. New research points the way. - http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3758277
9 ways to motivate kids - http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/9-ways-motivate-kids
Adults in modern society are on a lifelong educational journey by Raymond J Wlodkowski - https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/motivating-students/
Inspiration Leadership and Aspiration Management Drives Business Success : Motivation Shifts – Inspire, Aspire, Achieve – Business Trends - http://bizshifts-trends.com/2013/06/27/inspiration-leadership-and-aspiration-management-inspiration-leadership-and-aspiration-management-drives-business-success-changing-paradigm-of-motivation/
Scholastic Professional Paper – Raising students who want to read – By Phyllis S Hunter - http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/authors/pdfs/Raising_Students.pdf
Academic Diversity : Ways to Motivate and Engage Student with Learning Disabilities - http://www.council-for-learning-disabilities.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Weiser_Motivation.pdf
ADULT LEARNING – Adults in modern society are on a lifelong learning educational journey. - http://userpages.umbc.edu/~koconne1/605TheAdultLearner/ivse.htm
CENTER OF EDUCATION POLICIES - Can Money or other rewards motivate students? - file:///C:/Users/Michael%20r%20s%20Morgan/Downloads/UsherKober_Background2_Motivation_5.22.12.pdf
Understanding motivation : A review of relevant literature - http://carleton.ca/slals/wp-content/uploads/5_Understanding_Motivation_BARKER_CPALS_2004_05.pdf
Adult Leaner – The definitive classic in adult education and Human Resource Development - https://books.google.com.sg/books?hl=en&lr=&id=1We2BQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=The+Adult+Learner:+The+Definitive+Classic+in+Adult+Education+and+Human+Resource+Development&ots=C7HU5nKvpR&sig=jYsloS120YYTgqnbLUfqviSLoY8#v=onepage&q=The%20Adult%20Learner%3A%20The%20Definitive%20Classic%20in%20Adult%20Education%20and%20Human%20Resource%20Development&f=false
Don’t Confused Motivation and Inspiration to be the same - http://www.chrmglobal.com/Articles/313/1/Don-t-Confuse-Motivation-and-Inspiration-to-be-the-Same.html
