Death as a Motivating Factor

While reading through Chapter 2, I came across the term "unconscious motivation." Now, when I think of motivation, I usually think of things like buckling down to study for an upcoming test, so that I can get good grades in college, or taking as many business classes as possible in my free time so that I can own my own business in a few years, or waking up at six in the morning to work out at the gym. So, when I read unconscious motivation, I decided to look more into what exactly this means because, hey, I need all the help that I can get with motivating myself to work out at the crack of dawn and study instead of sleep.
However, when I googled the term, I came across a really interesting journal article all about how mortality can be an unconscious or conscious motivating factor in one's life. The authors of this article basically say that people need self-esteem and faith in order to provide protection against a "deeply rooted fear" of death, which is an essential and ingrained characteristic of humans. These two needs motivate all forms of behavior.
There are two different types of defenses, proximal and distal. Proximal defense is when people are consciously aware of death lurking around the corner for them, so they find different ways to push it to the unconscious. This includes thinking one is indestructible or invincible, or exaggerating one's own health, and making the promises of eating healthier, working out more, quitting smoking, etcetera. Proximal defense addresses the problem not of death, but of being aware of death, and is characterized by a person denying his or her own vulnerability, or purposely removing the thought of death from his or her consciousness.
Distal defense is the category in which people who strongly believe in the cultural worldview fall under. Basically, adults understand that death is inevitable, but if they live up to all of the standards of their world view, their self-esteem is increased and there is a certain sense of safety from this. Striving to be a valuable member to a meaningful universe is what helps these believers cope with thoughts of death and dying. The article claims that thoughts of death are "on the fringes of consciousness...This implies that the pursuit of self-esteem and faith in the cultural worldview are driven by unconscious death-related thoughts."
In conclusion, I guess I am not sure if I should feel optimistic, or pessimistic after reading this article. It does not make me feel great to think that death is a motivating factor for me, and the avoidance thereof is what pushes me to do the things that I do, and make the decisions that I make. On the other hand, the authors of the article do claim that their reasoning for bringing these defenses to light is to help people find meaning in life and in themselves, and who wouldn't want that? Bottom line, however, I still need to find something to help motivate me to work-out and study productively.

My Addiction

I know this is a long post, but it is a long story.

When I started training in track and a few other sports near the end of middle school, my coach had all of the students that were training watch a video on exercise addictions. I found this strange because at the two previous schools I had been at I had not been shown a video on exercise addiction. My friends and I laughed about it, finding it pathetic that there were people in the world who found exercise addicting.

One thing that I think should have been included in this video is the motivation that comes from becoming an addict. I think it would have helped me avoid my addiction which has cost me a year and a half of my life.

By the time I was in High School, I had become pretty good at track. As much fun as football was, there was too small of a student body to play in Hamburg, PA where I lived.

When I started running, my coach gave me a goal of five miles. I began at three, and would increase the distance by no more than five percent a week (if I could do it that is), a standard increase according to my coach. In six months I reached ten miles per run.

My coach had decided this would be a good goal for me to maintain as a recreational runner. I never wanted to compete professionally. He said that pushing myself further risked injury and only those who were really interested should go farther.

I never was interested in professional running. Even competition running amongst my schoolmates. However, a few weeks after reaching my goal, I noticed that I was less satisfied with my goal of five miles. It had been a few weeks and wanted to run further. I came back a little less satisfied after the runs. I found I couldn’t concentrate at school. My family seemed much more irritable (though it was my attitude, not theirs).

When I talked to my coach about it, he seemed concerned and told me to not run any further and take a break.

I did not want to take a break,

So, I consulted a few running organizations that I had joined online (the ARA (American Running Association) and RRCA (Road Runners Club of America) are two of them). I made a running plan from data collected by different professional runners listed on the sites.

Again, I felt good when running and my spirit was lifted. My parents were happy that I was running so well. They were very involved in my running and when I told them that I was running close to times and distances as some professionals, they were ecstatic. When they asked why I was so motivated to run, I said the usual BS of health, my running hero’s, and so on. In my mind, I knew that I was running for the feel of it, but I felt guilty whenever I thought of it, so I brushed it to the back of my mind.

My coach knew something was up. He had been monitoring my progress closer than I realized. When he approached me, I told him I didn’t want his help any more.

My grades began falling again. I had been skipping some study times to run farther. I didn’t care though, having the feeling of spin outs and elation was far more rewarding than any school work.

Eventually, it all came to a crashing halt.

I was on my run, nearing my eight mile when a pain flared from my waist. I came to a halt and fell to the ground. Stopping so suddenly while my heart rate was high gave me a few stares, but nothing serious. I tried getting up and walking, but the pain always came back and forced me to stop. I didn’t have my phone on my, but my sister drove by me on the way to school. She helped me into the car and rushed me to the hospital. It was bursitis. My doctor extracted my running plan from me and told me that it was dangerous to run as I was without supervision. When he asked me why I was running so much if I was not pursing in professionally I said I did not know. I felt guilt again, though I was not sure why. He eyed me suspiciously and forbade me of running for three months.

During those months, I was depressed, angry, and hostile. After the fourth week, I seemed to recover. My coach had come by on the third week and told me his encounter with exercise addition when he was a track star. It was then that I finally understood that it was an addiction to the high that motivated me to push further. It was then I recalled that movie on exercise addictions in eight grade.

I tried running a little after my recovery. Sometimes a little pain would come back. I also was afraid of getting myself into my addiction again.

Even though I had a very small incident with this addiction, it still haunts me.

I gave up running.

Motivation

Throughout our lives, we work toward achieving self actualization, or the realiztion of all of our potential. As we try to move up the ladder of success things get in our way, slow us down and set us back. This is when our motives or motivation levels play a very important role in our lives. Motive/motivation can be defined as a want, need, interest, or desire that leads a person in a certain direction. The motivation mechanism is a drive that promps people to take action. There are many different motivation theories that are actually quite similar, except for the amount of emphasis they place on either biology or environment. Some include basic biological forces while others seem to transcend concrete explanation.

Motivation to lose wieght

Many people are motoivated to lose wieght because of many reasons. Most people do it because the are insecure with themselves and they want to change their physical apearence. Others are influenced to lose wieght because of health issues. People who are influenced to lose wieght because of physical appearences is either because they are comparing themselves to what society portrays through the media as a norm and they feel inferior to people displayed in magazines and on television to the point that they begin to critique themselves to these people. Many men in America take steriods because they are desperate to gain muscle and become physically fit like men portrayed in the media, they believe women would like them more if they have more muscle. Most woman take dietary supplements because they feel over wieght when they compare themselves to these models and actresses. In all actuality none of these people are displayed in the media are normal in fact they are of the minority. I believe if people stop comparing themselves to the media and focus on what makes them comfortable they will become more secure with themselves and apply confidence in their everyday life.

Motivation and Emotion

The link between emotion and motivation was talked about in chapter two. Descartes found that “emotions are an internal source of motivation that push humans into action toward a specific aim.” This video, I feel, portrays some of what was talked about very well. We were given a number of examples of how some of the most famous icons throughout history were put down and told that they were not good enough. I’m sure the emotions that were felt were anger, sadness, the feeling of inferiority, and maybe even hate. Through these emotions, they were driven to prove to themselves and the ones who did not believe in them that they were good enough, and would be considered by some, the best. The negative words of those who were supposed to encourage motivated them to do the unexpected.

Music and Art as my Motivator

Motivation is a reason why people act in particular ways and what gives them a desire for someone to do something. My motivation comes from so much, for me, I am mostly motivated by art and music. Growing up I have always loved art it has been a big part of my life for many years. I love seeing peoples artwork it inspires me to paint more and different creative new things. Music is also a motivator it makes me happy to listen to. I do not play instruments but it is always fun to listen to other people who do. I recently went to a festival in Arkansas and there were two guys painting at the same time while watching a band called Sound Tribe Sector 9. Heres a video of the band then the painting when they were done after the show. I did not take this video I found it on youtube, but I did see the artwork while they were painting it and it was amazing to see two people come together at the SAME time just painting whatever came to mind.

Motivation in Athletes

In the early readings of our textbook, I am seeing a lot of differences in the practicality of the concepts discussed in this book in comparison to one's that I have read in other psychology texts. Much of the psychology that I have been taught, I felt relied on theories that were matters of debate and not concrete facts. The concepts taught in the motivation textbook are relevant because they can be seen in everyday life. I think that one of the areas that being motivated is extremely important is in professional sports. A great way to see just how important motivation is in sports is to compare two athletes such as Brett Favre and JaMarcus Russell.
JaMarcus Russell was the first overall pick in the 2007 NFL draft and was awarded $31.5 million dollars guaranteed. This meant that all he had to do was show up until he was cut and he woul still get paid. He did just that. Russell didn't learn the playbook and proved to be lazy an uninterested in football. Obviously his only incentive for playing was the money. Russell had all the physical tools to be a great NFL quarterback but lacked the motivation to become great. He is an example of someone who "can but won't".
Brett Favre is the opposite of what Russell is. He is someone who "can and will". Favre was no where near as highly touted as Russell when he was drafted in 1991 but Favre had an intangible that Russell will never have. He has the motivation to be a great player. Throughout Favre's career he has had many accomplishments including 11 Pro Bowls, 2 Super Bowl appearances, and 3 league MVP awards. In the 19 years he has been in the NFL he has never missed a game due to injury. Football is the most brutal game on earth. To never miss a game in 19 years is nothing short of amazing. I think that sports franchises should put much more emphasis on what exactly a player's incentives are before they acquire him. As seen with Russell and Favre, a player's incentives can be the difference between being a Hall of Famer or a complete bust.

Characteristics of an Addiction

An addiction has three characteristics: craving, tolerance, and withdrawal. Craving is the powerful urge one gets for the thing they are addicted to, most of the time the addiction is for a drug such as alcohol. The addict begins think about their need for alcohol at all times and can concentrate on little else. The more the cravings happen the more likely the person will give in to them and a cycle begins. After a while of taking the drug the body will begin to habituate to the effects of it, this process is also know as tolerance. To get the desired effect, the person has to increase the dosage amount, even if it causes physical or psychological problems. Taking a drug results in the the rise of dopamine levels which give a person a pleasurable experience. When the drug is absent the addicted person experiences withdrawal or the drug-opposite effect. "When the drug wears off a person experiences feeling that are by contrast the opposite and negative of what the drug initially produced" (pg 82). The symptoms of withdrawal can range from a mild headache to severe illness, sometimes even resulting in death.

Meth Addiction

selecting a mate

One of the major univeral motives is the motive for sexual behavior. The way in which humans select mates can be very similar to the way animals have been found to select their mates. We tend to look for certain traits in the mates we choose. People often look for attractiveness, ambition, financial security, faithfulness, health, loyalty, shared values and interests, kindness, and the desire for children. Research has shown that men and women have differences in sexual preference. Woman tend to select men that rate highly in financial prospects and ambition, while men tend to select women who are rated highly in attractiveness. This is very interesting to me. I think selecting a mate can be a very difficult process. A woman feels she must find a man that can help her provide for a family and remain loyal throughout time. It seems a man on the other hand wants a woman that is fertile and healthy to pass on his genes, but once the selection is accomplished the couple must be motivated to maintain the relationship. This means we must continue to seek romantic love and sexual desire in our partners, overcome jealousy, and beware of mate paoching.

I have attached a video I found on youtube showing the differences in mate selection between women and men.

The Need for Caffeine

Caffeine is the most highly used psychoactive substance in the world. "90% of Americans report using caffeine on a daily basis." (http://www.myaddiction.com/education/articlesc/caffeine_addiction.html) More than 400 billion cups of coffee are consumed worldwide each year. What makes coffee so addictive? Caffeine can give off the feeling that you are awake, alert, and ready to take on the day which is a feeling that many people need after only getting a few hours of sleep. The downfall to this is if a person becomes addicted to caffeine, their system can suffer from withdrawal if they do not consume any form of caffeine.Withdrawal symptoms can last from a range of two to nine days. Also, a person can suffer from headaches and even depressive moods if the addiction to caffeine becomes very serious.
Caffeine consumption is addictive because many people consume caffeine on a daily basis such as soda or tea, but they do not see caffeine as a harmful drug like many other narcotics. Also, caffeine is easily accessible, even children cna purchase and consume products containing caffeine. If we consume caffeinated beverages in moderation there will be a lesser likelihood that we will become addicted.
By Lauren Raddi

When someone says that they have a craving for such and such food, most likely your response is nothing too radical. However when someone has a craving for such and such drug our reaction changes considerably. How quick we are to judge, for when tou think about it someone who is obese fell victim to their food addiction and couldn't say no to the cravings; while a drug addict isn't much different. Much like an obese person gets pleasure from food, addicts get pleasure from their drug/substance, and both somewhere along the line built up tolerance, created a habit, and became engrossed in it.

For Example, take a graduate student who is working their way through school. His classmates much like him are burned out from working all day, class all night, and any spare time catching up on homework; so they started going out every night after class to unwind. Unfortunately this individual begins to make a habit of drinking as a means of coping with stress and before he can even see whats happening he is showing signs of an alcoholic. Then there is the girl whos boyfriend broke up with her and found comfort in food. Then she began gaining weight, which mad her depressed, and eating more. Now she eats as something to do when shes bored, stress, and upset. Sometimes we can slip into a habit with out realizing it, and slowly our tolerance for it builds and an addiction is created. This short documentary conveys the similarities of food addiction to other addictions.

Tragedy and Natural Disaster as Motivators

While tragedy and natural disaster cause human suffering and pain, they also motivate ordinary human beings to respond with extraordinary courage, altruism, solidarity, and ingenuity. Tragedy, it seems, is often responsible for bringing out the best in human nature. One of the most obvious examples is the response following 911, where countless civilians, police officers, firefighters, and rescue workers acted with tremendous bravery, often at the expense of their own lives. In the face of disaster and distruction, strangers stood together in a show of solidarity, inspiring the motto "United We Stand". Americans responded similarly four years later during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Motivated and inspired by the call for help, volunteers from all over the country left their homes and headed for New Orleans to help rebuild the lives of their fellow Americans. Now, as 250,000 gallons of oil leak into the Gulf of Mexico every day, there is little doubt that Americans will respond as they always do: with support and humanity. Already, ordinary Americans have shown remarkable ingenuity in attempting to find solutions to the oil leak and cleanup.

BP Oil Spill Motivates Amerian Ingenuity:

Exercise Motivation

Most people that I know who exercise often have a hard time getting motivated when they start and sometimes have problems staying motivated once they've begun. Some people need to exercise because they aren't happy with the way their body looks or they need to be in better shape for an activity/sport they are participating in. This is a perfect example of the push-pull metaphor of motivation. Some people push themselves to be in shape simply for their own reasons (want a better looking body) while other people are pulled toward fitness (getting ready for a triathlon). These guys are mainly talking about personal motivation and trying to motivate yourself, by yourself (push).

Some people require a different kind of external or "pull" motivation in order to reach their goal. One of the most popular way for those late night TV ads to sell you P90X or some other kind of ridiculous workout trend (ShakeWeight) is to show you those before and after pictures. People see that and say wow I can look like that if I buy this, but once they get it they usually lose that initial drive they had to lose weight from the pictures. One person I know takes pictures of himself regularly to track how his workout routine is working (because you you usually can't see yourself getting bigger). And I know for his inspiration he goes back tot he very first picture he took and sees how far he has come and he realizes that he can keep going and look even better.

Facial Expressions and Emotions

Chapter 2 mentioned work done by Bacon and Descartes in the field of facial expressions signaling emotion. I found this to be interesting because I often fail to realize that my facial expressions give away exactly what I am feeling, whether good or bad. I find that it can be difficult to hide emotions because facial expressions may give away one's internal feelings. This reminds me of "Poker Face," when a card player has to keep his facial expressions at bay to not reveal any gains or losses in his hand of cards. On the other hand is the saying about "wearing your heart on your sleeve" when surrounding people can easily tell how one is feeling due to their facial expressions. In this video, the woman is talking about the many types of facial expressions a human can show.

Marine Corps and Motivation

I know for than a few friends of mine that joined the marine corps. While they intially joined for their own idividual intrinsic reasons they all said the same thing about boot camp. The marine corps tears you down and rebuilds you the way they want you. They are incredibly successful with changing many characteristics about recruits that many view as ingrained such as disipline, motivation, and self esteem. They use many techniques to change people from many walks of life into disiplined soldiers.The most famous of which is the prohibition of vocabulary words that imply individuality. These words include: "I, me, or my". Instead marine recruits are instructed to say "This recruit, That recruit, Those recruits, etc." All the marines in the same barracks are always wearing the same uniform. Whether its the shorts and t-shirts of morning runs or full fatigues in a mock combat scenario. They also receive punishments and rewards on a unit basis. Another way they modify behavior, especially disipline is by being critical of small details in high stress situations. The recruits are expected to have their foot lockers set up in specific ways that are universal to all the troops. They are expected to keep everything clean and make tight racks (beds) in the morning. Eventually the extrinsic motivations pushed by the Marine Corps instructors becomes the intrinsic motivation of the recuits. All of these things combined with the environment that the drill instructors create works together and modifies behavior for the next wave of soldiers in the United States Marine Corps. M

"The Blindside" as Motivation

The film that was out this year, "The Blindside", based on the true story and struggle for success of Michael Oher is a strong representation of motivation. In the film, Sandra Bullock takes Michael in because it is evident he doesn't have a stable home or family structure. Her family willingly agrees, and despite the flack she receives from her neighborhood friends, she allows him to permanently stay with her, treating him and constantly reminding him that he is her "son". This push from her allowed him to begin to try harder in school, as well as succeed in his new found football career. He began to excell so quickly that he was being scouted by many prestigious colleges to play on their football teams. Before he had been taken in by this family and had no one pushing him to succeed and being reminded how special he truly was, he had no dreams of playing a sport or even dreamed of attending college. This graduation scene at the movie's close is a touching example of how motivated Sandra Bullock and her family kept him and how it really changed his life for the better.

Addiction Behaviors

Sometimes people do choose behaviors that have undesirable effects. Personal responsibility and behavioral change are major components of any credible treatment program. Addiction, like heart disease, cancers, and type II diabetes, is a real and complex disease.
Examples of addictive behaviors include:
•Problem gambling
•Sexual activities
•Food and eating
•Exercise
•Computer games
•Shopping
But now theres a new addictive behavior being added to the list, its texting!!!

Remember the Titans Inspirational Moments

Motivation is what brings a team together, in order to win you need to work together as a team. After reading some chapters in the book the first movie and one of my favorite movies that really started me to think about was "Remember the Titans" these young guys had to come together to learn to work together with a different race in order to be the best team out there. Through a lot of work and a lot of motivation from the coach's in the movie the team was able to learn to work together and be the best the could be.

There was one scene in the movie where the Coach takes the boys to Gettysburg and gives them a great speech about how they need to come together and work as a team if they want to win, they may not need to work together, but need to respect each other as a person in order to play as a team. Through out the entire movie they built friendships out of each other and the more they became better friends the more motivation they had to win the game. The fact that this was one of the first high schools to ever merge together as a white and black school and had to play a sport together they came out on top with a perfect season. Not only did the Coach motivate the players to be the best the could and play together as a team, but once the team started playing well together the entire town was motivated to accept the change that was going on and to come together and be proud of what was coming out of it.

Motivation comes together weather it's a one person's motivation to go to the gym and lose the weight or if it's a teams motivation to want to win or if it's motivation to clean your room we all have it and sometimes when need people to help motivate us and this movie based on true events that took place back in 1971 shows that as long as you have people who love the sport and love doing what they are doing the motivation will come easy it doesn't matter what skin color you are and this movie shows that. Followed is a clip of some of the best scenes in the movie where the team is motivated to do their best and be better than the other schools who didn't have to deal with a merge of blacks and whites coming together at this time. Enjoy!

Kourtney baskerville's addiction post

I have learned through reading and personal experience that drugs and alcohol are strong motivating source in many peoples lives. My grandmother was an alcoholic and consequently most of her children were drug addicts, including my father. Drug abuse has been a large part of my family heritage and I always wondered how they could chose the streets over their families. From other research and reading this chapter I have come to understand that the dynamics of addiction. I believe that my uncles and my father had a genetic disposition to drugs and alcohol because of their mother. Unfortunately, I don't know why my grandmother became an alcoholic,but it played a huge part in the way she lived her life. I know that my father has felt like he was unwanted, and not good enough from an early age. Seeing his mother put herself and her children in bad situations because the alcohol wouldn't let her be the nurturing mother he has always wanted. I think that he wanted to feel better and he soon found that certain chemicals/drugs could do that for him. I'm sure he wasn't aware that it was a lack of Dopamine in his brain. In order to combat these feelings as a child he was a risk taker. He would hang off the back of truck with a towel wrapped around his neck pretending to be Batman, jump off the roofs of tall buildings, and throw rocks at the nearby trains. It was in his personality to try new things as he got older as well when he joined the army for a short while. Although he is drug free now, drugs brought him some of the best short term pleasure, and some of the worst long term pain. He lost the one women he cared about the most and missed out on a lot of my sister and my childhood. He is full of regret now, but at the time the craving were to much from him to bare, and because he refused detox and rehab, if he tried to quit the withdrawal symptoms were to much to handle. We re all thankful that those days are over now, but unfortunately that is not a case for all of my family members. Maybe one day they will seek help and even try some of the antagonists that were described in this chapter to help them get their live in order.

Child & Dog Motivate & Reward Each Other

excited dog and baby @ Yahoo! Video
Here is a cute & funny example of how animals & humans can interact based on non-verbal or non-word communication involving only action, laughter & facial expression of both parties involved. Both the dog & child are smiling which acts as a reinforcer or incentive for both parties to continue what they are doing. The child's laughter serves as yet another reward/motivator/reinforcer/incentive for the dog to continue playing with the child. The dog's act of running around, playing with the child each time the child moves toward the dog serves as a reinforcer to the child to continue to move toward the dog. It could be hypothesized that the dog desires intimacy with the child which is why it rewards the child by playing with it each time the child moves towards it. This hypothesis is supported when the dog eventually licks the child as a kiss which could be another way of rewarding the child for interacting with it. Both parties seem to desire attention from each other & are rewarding each other for giving that attention. There seems to be both a push motivator of desiring attention/interaction/imtimacy & a pull incentive of receiving attention/interaction/intimacy. This is a symbiotic relationship.

Self-Evaluation

Motivational factors aren't always external. In fact, it can be argued that the most important types of motivation are dependent on how we see ourselves. Self-evaluation and reflection are becoming increasingly potent in our modern society preoccupied with Facebook, MySpace, personal blogs, and other forms of self-expression. One's sense of self-- their likes and dislikes, their goals, needs, and desires-- shapes who they are and what they do. Naturally, it can be said that outside influences have a profound effect on our behavior and motivations, but as the clip below suggests, intrinsic motivation should be our real driving force, because at the end of the day, we only answer to ourselves.

Wall-E

The drive to lose weight

Obesity has always been a large issue in America, and are one of the top causes of death. Throughout the years the people have lost their touch of eating healthy because there is fast food out there that they can get on the go. The crazy aspect of it all is that obesity is preventable. Although obesity is global but right here in the U.S.A in the state of Mississippi 1 in 4 people are obese. This video goes in depth of how one of our well known fast food franchises are killing America and how they are not healthy for our bodies. They target any where form kids to adults, they do this by having happy meals with toys as an incentive for children and the option to supersize for adults. You waste more money eating at a fast food restaurant rather than eating a healthy meal. This video serves as a motivation to take precaution as to watch what you intake and the long-term effects it will have on you and your family.

"I think I can. I think I can"

As the book talks about in the first chapter The Little Engine That Could is a book we all have heard about or even read at one point in our life. Having worked at the library in my town for several years I have come to see parents, older siblings, and other family members read and recite this book to young children over and over again. This book is definitely a motivator for many children and teaches even at a young age that giving up is not an option. The book says that motivation is to be moved into action. Having been a transfer student to Stockton this year I had to make new friends, start over again in a new school, and choose a new major. All of this would not have happened if not for being motivated. College is a big step in life knowing that your future rests on what you decide to do during you four years has to motivation enough to succeed. The incentive from going to college is graduating, your degree, and eventually getting a job. The Little Engine had it easy when he just had to climb up the mountain.

Motivation: Elements of Greatness

I liked this YouTube video because it discusses goals,being positive, having courage, being able to be great and believing in yourself. The book defines goal as the incentive a person is motivated to achieve. They are selected from an array of incentives, depending on their scope, complexity, cognitive nature, and their likelihood of being achieved (p.268). I think everyone has had goals before and you can accomplish them if you stay positive and believe in yourself. Positive and pleasant emotions also act like positive incentives (p.358). The text discusses the broaden-and-build theory which are positive emotions that increase a person's available repertoire of thought action links and enhance the cope of attention (p.363). If someone has a longer attention for something, which tends to happen if they like something, they tend to stick with it and accomplish what they set out to do.

What Motivates you to get a college degree?

Motivation is the activation of goals. Motivation has internal source and external source. The internal source helps us to move towards our goals and external source helps us with the incentives for us to achieve that goal we out in fornt of us at any given time in our lives. Why my internal source ( biological needs) help me to decide to go back to colelge and get my degree. I ws in the nursing field for four years and the stress started to cause the onset of health problems. The external sources of my motivation was the incentive if I go back to college and change my field of work. I would decrease my stress.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IxeJDCh5FY&NR=1

What Motivates You?

Over time it seems that my motivations in life change and adapt depending on my life's circumstances.  Music, movies, food, all have influences but the example of others has always been a big motivator for me.  I have a good friend who trained for, and then successfully ran a marathon.  During training over the months it was interesting to see him exchange smaller sooner rewards for larger later rewards.  The choices he made seemed to show an incredible amount of self-control and this issue is evident in many of the motivation theories presented in our textbook.  Other athletes inspire me as well.  Especially the ones that perform in their sport beacuse they are driven to do so, not just for the money.  In fact the money becomes a secondary motivator.