Way to re-kindle your motivation

As the school year drags on, and we’re just about ready to begin studying for midterms, it is officially that time of year: the time to rekindle your motivation and remind yourself why all the late nighters, 5,000 word essays and seminar presentations are worth it.

For one, I find the most helpful thing to do is remember your goal. Whether you want to be a forensic scientist, nurse, ski instructor, engineer or communications expert, (hopefully) everyone has some sort of motivating goal. I find it’s best to keep that goal in mind with every class you attend and paper you write – the goal that will make it all worth it once you undoubtedly achieve it.

Of course, if simply doing that isn’t enough, you can always make a list of all the reasons you want to achieve the goal, whether it be for money, success, to live in your dream location, help people, etc. etc. (Anyone who knows me will also know I’m a compulsive list-maker, so I might be a little biased on this one.)

As a general safeguard, it’s also always good to have a support team. Growing up, my mother always reinforced that successful people hang out with successful people – generally, likeminded people. If I find my motivation slipping, I usually talk to a friend who I know is going through the same thing – when we know we’re both feeling the same thing (aka the desire to watch Netflix) we’re able to convince each other to get back to work.

And finally, if nothing else works, I’d strongly advise you to watch this video. Although the video quality and audio is poor (at best), what the speaker says usually works well to remind me that in the end, all the hours you spend at school is really worth it, if it means being successful in what you want to do.

Good luck!