Top 5 Essential Things for Motivation

As much as you want to have that spring break body, McDonald's looks so good.  As much as you want to get an A in your biology class, going to that party with your friends is much more appealing than studying.  As much as people try, everyone struggles to stay motivated.  But once you realize how to stay motivated, it’s easy!  According to the article "What is Motivation" written by Kendra Cherry, a psychology expert, there are 5 essential things you must have to stay motivated.

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1. Desire: a strong feeling of wanting or wishing for something to happen. Having the desire to accomplish something is the first step to becoming motivated.  Deciding that you want to lose weight, or get a job, or even going to college, all derives from one’s personal desire to do so.

2. Activation is the next thing.  Activation is when you initiate behavior that acts on the desire you want to accomplish, like joining the gym to start losing weight.  Activation is important because without actually beginning to work towards your goal, you will lose motivation and eventually give up on what you wanted to succeed at.

3. Persistence is not stopping.  You have to continue to push yourself, and get over the obstacles that pop up, no matter what it is.  Even if it means investing extra time or money, persistence is key.  It could mean investing extra time running so you can finish the race you’re training for, or extra research done for a project so you get the A in the class so you earn your college degree.  In any situation you must persist.

4. Intensity: seen through the work effort you put towards your goal, and how hard you work towards that goal.  You have to actually put effort towards your goal if you want to succeed.  Some people are spoon fed their entire lives, then once they are adults, they just coast through life.  Don’t coast through life.  Have intensity, work hard for your goals.

5. Concentration. If you want to stay motivated to do something, you have to stay concentrated on it.  If something goes wrong, don’t concentrate on how you messed up, or how you forgot something.  Stay concentrated on the outcome you are looking for. If you’re trying to lose weight and you get McDonald’s one day, don’t only think about how bad of a choice you made, concentrate on how you’ll fix it for the next time and still work towards your goals.

FUTURE RESEARCH: How do people motivate others?