Motivation and Persistence

Studies of high-achieving students reveal they find motivation by believing they can attain the goals they have set for themselves. Successful people keep their goals in their sights, tell themselves they can reach them, and engage in consistent actions that move them closer to the achievement of those objectives. To maintain their initial motivation along the way, many successful people set up a personal reward for completing a specific action or even a penalty for not doing what they said they’d do when they said they’d do it. Websites, such as Healthy Wage, enable users to make a public weight loss goal and pay/earn money or services when they achieve it or not. This commitment strategy can be applied to other areas of life, especially academics. For some people, this form of public pronouncement makes them feel more accountable to take the actions that will lead to reaching their goal.

Whether or not a reward or penalty is involved, positive self-beliefs join together with strategic, concrete behaviors to produce the motivation and persistence necessary to succeed in college and in life.

What is Motivation?

Motivation is the desire to do things or get something accomplished. Other words for motivation include incentive, inspiration, drive, enthusiasm, stimulus, and provocation. Motivation can be described as the goal, purpose, or reason that drives you to take action, and those motivations can be either intrinsic or extrinsic.

Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation comes from within and happens when we take pleasure in doing something or see the value of doing it. Intrinsic motivators include learning about a subject you are really interested in, uncovering the relevance of what you are learning to your own life, enjoying a sense of mastering a subject, or feeling called to do the work. Students who are intrinsically motivated might say things like, “I am enjoying the reading in my sociology class,” and “My English class helps me organize my thoughts.” Intrinsic motivation is self-sustaining. Making connections between what you value, your goals, and your daily work can help develop your intrinsic motivations.

Extrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic motivation involves the desire to do something not because of the act itself, but because completing the activity will lead to something else. Extrinsic motivators include living up to parental figure’s expectations, getting grades for a scholarship, or the earning potential of a certificate or degree. Students who are extrinsically motivated might say, “I need to keep my average a B, so I can keep my scholarship,” or “Our instructor will buy pizza if we all complete our presentations today.” Extrinsic motivators can have a negative impact on intrinsic motivators because if you are rewarded for completing a task, your motivation can disappear once the reward disappears.

Locus of Control

Locus of control refers to how we view the factors that contribute to our failures or our successes. As with motivation, locus of control can be inward and outward. Someone with internal locus of control attributes their success and failure to their skills and abilities, whereas someone with an outward locus of control attributes their success or failure to luck or fate. If a student has an external locus of control, they may not be as motivated to learn or they may feel anxious because they don’t connect how their actions result in certain outcomes. In contrast, a person with an internal locus of control tends to bounce back and be more resilient because they believe their life is in their hands.

Students who have an external focus of control tend to blame teachers, parents, friends or anyone else when things go wrong. They will blame the situation and say that life just doesn’t work out for them. The trouble is when we spend our time focused on blaming others, we aren’t spending energy on fixing the problem and taking action toward success. When we are honest with ourselves about what we did or did not do that led to the circumstances we are in, then we can take control and set goals that will move us forward.

Students can develop an internal locus of control by taking personal responsibility for their thoughts, behaviors, emotions, and actions.

The video below focuses on the importance of taking small actions every single day that eventually lead to success and how those steps can’t be taken by anyone but you.