Expectations
When people get motivated, they tend to overdo it. They start to look at a goal they want, so they get motivated to do it. All is going well, and they start feeling like they are doing impossible things—That’s when your expectations begin to come to reality. You don’t do a fantastic job or make a new record. This feeling of not meeting your crazy expectations causes you to lose that motivation even to try and complete your original goal. The problem is that you lose that motivation when you overdo it. Setting your expectations too high sets you up for failure and drops your inspiration like an anchor. Think of motivation like a river you need to cross. You can try to jump the whole thing, but most likely, you will fall into the water. Instead of just jumping it, why not try landing on a few rocks here and there. Reaching a goal is all about knowing what you can do, not what you think you could do.
The Path of Motivation
We look at motivation as many different shapes, but the hill’s most common. The hill is the path that bursts of inspiration go through. We start our motivation at the bottom then slowly work our way up. After a while, we eventually attempted the task we got motivated to do. That’s when we start reaching the peak, but the motivation begins to drop once it gets too hard for us. The path that leads to success is the diagonal line. But to keep that constant increase of success, we need to stay motivated and be consistent. People are constantly looking at how they can drive, climb, swim, etc., but don’t ever think about how they got there. Everyone starts at some point on the path of motivation. It just depends on whether you stop or keep going.
Someone I know
I know someone constantly looking at their Instagram and finding flaws in how they look because of all the people they see. They will pick themselves apart and give up when things get tricky trying to look like them. They are a prime example of how bursts of motivation work. The more they open Instagram, the more they compare themselves and want to work towards themselves but give up due to not wanting to be consistent with it. Recently, the person I know has been working to better themselves and sticking with it. They finally have seen results, which gives them a little more confidence in themselves. Staying consistent has given them results and has motivated them even more to become even better. The person I know wouldn’t have ever thought to be where they are today, but they have met their goals through motivation and consistency. Like the person I know, you can also take what you can do and eventually reach your goals.
Gavin Schmitt
Student Writer - Spring 2022
