How to get motivated ?

                                               HOW TO GET MOTIVATED ?


          Humans are motivated by many things--psychological needs, physiological drives, survival, urges, emotions, hurts, impulses, fears, threats, rewards (money, friendship, status...), possessions, wishes, intentions, values, mastery, freedom, intrinsic satisfaction, self satisfaction, interests, pleasure, dislikes, established habits, goals, ambitions and so on. All at the same time. In the next major sections of this chapter we will deal with questions like: Why don't we do what we want to do? Can we prevent unwanted behaviors, like addictions and bad habits? Why is our behavior so hard to understand? How can we stop procrastinating? In this section, however, we will focus on increasing our drive to achieve our more worthwhile goals,

          Changing involves both knowing how (learning) and wanting to (motivation). It is important to see that learning is different from performing. A hungry rat in the laboratory will work diligently to discover how to get food. It learns how and vigorously performs, i.e. eats until it's stuffed, then it stops. The rat's eating behavior, after the initial learning, is determined by its hunger needs. We humans are the same; to grow and develop new behaviors we must learn. But, in terms of how far we get in life--how much we accomplish--motivation may be just as important if not more important than learning. We already know how to lose weight (don't eat) or get A's or give generously to others. A common barrier to accomplishing many goals in life is not wanting the goal enough to give it the necessary time and effort (or conning ourselves into believing we can reach our goal in some easy way).

          Occasionally, a person will have enormous determination to achieve something requiring great effort over a period of years. It is emotionally moving to hear about such a person who has overcome great obstacles to achieve an impressive goal. Glenn Cunningham was told as a boy that he would never walk on his badly burned legs; he became a great miler. How do you get the drive to go to college at age 35, work full-time, care for three children, and graduate with honors? The same way Rebecca Lee in 1864 became the first black woman physician: you work to accomplish your dreams. There are many, many inspiring examples of great achievements. Yet, psychology can't, as yet, guarantee high drive or prescribe a cure for laziness.