willingness of someone to do something
so already from this definition it is
evident that motivation requires
something from us it requires us to have
a purpose to have a reason to do
something one of the misconceptions
about motivation is that it can come
from the outside in
for example maybe if we read a bunch of
motivational quotes or surround
ourselves with ambitious people then we
will find motivation now don’t get me
wrong I love motivational quotes in fact
in my notes app I have over three dozen
of them anyways the trouble with this
type of motivation that comes from the
outside-in is that it doesn’t last very
long motivation has to come from the
inside otherwise it is simply temporary
and ineffective in the long run so how
do we get motivation to come from the
inside is it a skill that takes years to
master
is it something only a select group of
people can do not at all
to achieve true motivation we must
defeat apathy now I’d like to tell you a
story about a girl during her freshman
year of high school she struggled with
overthinking which made it difficult for
her to socialize and be confident in
front of others she had a lot of free
time on her hands school wasn’t
academically challenging for her it
didn’t require much of her thus she had
all this free time but nothing to do
with it really and she didn’t feel like
using this time to hang out with people
because socializing was stressful for
her
thus she came home everyday with little
to do and after so long this turned into
a daily routine and she began to feel
useless
she lost a sense of purpose she lost
that general desire and willingness to
make use of herself now knowing what
comes next in this story I would say
that this is
where and how her depression began as
the year went on she continued to
isolate herself and she let her
overthinking get the best of her the
saddest part was that the year before
she had a lot going for her she had all
these friends and she was happy she had
never struggled with overthinking before
she didn’t understand what happened to
her
with the little amount of energy she had
she focused it on trying to figure out
what went wrong with her and then she
got tired of that she came to accept the
fact that her life would be stuck like
this because she didn’t think there was
anything she could do to make it better
and that is where she really went wrong
because that is when she let the apathy
take over and sink in she gave up on
herself for months and months she was
stuck in this mindset that she had lost
control of her life one night her
feelings came to a climax to this day
she still struggles to explain what she
felt that night some sort of cognitive
dissonance whatever it was it was a
feeling she didn’t like and she sat
outside for hours just trying to rid
herself of the sensation and then she
did something something that she hadn’t
thought of before and something that she
didn’t think was a big deal at the time
she asked herself a question a simple
question what am I doing with my life
she didn’t feel the need to find a
solution to this question but just
asking it made things seem a little
better I suppose it made her feel as
though she still had some sense in her
later that night she wrote in a journal
and it included the following statement
I feel like no one can help me but
myself at this point
this was a crucial idea that she
discovered again at the time she was
just expressing her thoughts little did
she know that this would be her turning
point basically she recognized the fact
that she had the power to make a change
in her life
she was not going to let apathy or
negativity rule over her anymore so she
did make a change in her life and things
did get better now her depression didn’t
go away just like that
it came back here and there but
eventually it did go away as she found a
sense of purpose again that girl was me
three years ago and that was my story so
now taking from that story I’d like to
do some analysis so when negative
thoughts enter our head they can be so
powerful to the point that we start to
feel as though we have lost control
really one could say that it’s a
fight-or-flight scenario in which we
either try to fight the negativity or we
get scared thinking that we have no
chance and we let negativity when we
allow negativity to win and this mindset
of letting things happen is the type of
ideology that leads to apathy apathy
attributes to a loss of motivation
according to a study by the American
Psychological in Association there is a
strong inverse correlation between
motivation and apathy in that the more
apathy we experience the less motivation
we have and vice versa we can recognize
apathy when we no longer feel strongly
about the things that we once cared
about so much we sit back and allow life
to unfold in front of us
we get stuck in this ideology because
the alternative option is intimidating
the alternative would be trying to make
a change to our mindset it’s completely
understandable why we would not choose
this option based on human history going
back hundreds and thousands of years
people tend to resist change because it
is unknown territory and because there’s
a chance that the change could make
things worse making a change also means
putting in effort
and when we get stuck in an apathetic
state of mind the last thing we want to
do is invest effort in something that
has no guarantee this option seems very
unappealing so what do we do when we
lose motivation and succumb to apathy
what do we do when we can’t pick
ourselves back up yeah sure we figured
that we should probably make a change to
our mindset but how do we start I say we
start by doing something that we should
practice more often
start by questioning things for me that
was questioning my life in general make
your questions simple it may seem a
little arbitrary but try it out I mean
what do you have to lose inquiry is
vital to change an advancement without
asking questions we wouldn’t have the
innovation of computers or cars or
electricity or to really throw it back
we may not even have the wheel the way
that we live is not permanence nor
should it be so start by asking yourself
on a daily basis why does this have to
be this way just because life is complex
and just because problems can be complex
does not mean that the solution has to
be complicated in fact the solution
could be very straightforward when we
think simply we think clearly so taking
this skill of asking questions when we
don’t know what to do we can apply that
on a global scale if we think about some
of the most obvious issues that the
world is facing right now they might
include hunger poverty and climate
change but there are issues which aren’t
as obvious issues which aren’t as
tangible issues which have come about
because of human behavior such as voter
apathy and discrimination with these
issues it is up to us to change our
minds
it is up to us to defy the tendency to
sit back and assume that other people
will take care of the issue once we have
achieved motivation on an individual
basis
we need to motivate each other and when
we do that we are unstoppable and the
innovation will be infinite defeating
apathy is so important we may find
ourselves motivated one day but that
motivation won’t last if we don’t
overcome apathy so if you ever find
yourself feeling stuck with a loss of
motivation ask yourself some questions
for you that might be where could I be
right now or what am I waiting for so
ask yourself these questions and think
of some solutions don’t shy away from
solutions which may require change in
fact these are the solutions that we
should strive for I say embrace change
change is exciting and you never know
where it will take you I know that
without change without pushing myself I
wouldn’t be up here talking to you all I
wouldn’t be at this school Thomas Thomas
Jefferson said if you want something
you’ve never had you must be willing to
do something you’ve never done I told
you I liked motivational quotes this is
the quote that got me through the end of
my freshman year and made me realize
what I had to do to pick myself back up
so let me remind you again negativity and apathy are power