By Editor Jamie Plafker, March 13 2019

Motivation and Realizing aVision

An aspect of my life that I wished I had worked on is motivation. As I look back on my life as a senior in college there are many things I wish I would have learned while a teenager. There are situations in my life that could have ended up differently if I had changed the way I approached them. The same is true if I had been more motivated to change the outcomes.

Motivation

Motivation is ‘the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way’ and ‘the general desire or willingness of someone to do something’. I can’t put my finger on the moment in my life when I learned about motivation. It has become a very important discipline to live by as I have grown older .

Achieve Your Goals with Motivation

Motivation allows me to achieve not only big things but little things that can lead to a bigger goal. It’s been scientifically proven that to make your bed in the morning or go to the gym a few times a week improves the value of your life. It would be hard for me to do them without motivation. However these are simple tasks that may seem unimportant. Once you are happy with the small habits you’ve accomplished, the more important ones seem less daunting. You will be able to achieve your bigger goals like studying for tests, getting into college, and creating a business.

Aristotle

There is a quote by Aristotle I think perfectly describes motivation. I wish I had known it when I growing up. The quote is “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit”. As a young adult this is a very important quote for me to think about. It shows it is very easy to get stuck in bad habits even those made in middle school and younger.

Ask Questions

If you are constantly asking questions and trying to learn more, you will learn more. When you stop asking questions because you are embarrassed you don’t know something you create a habit not to ask questions. I notice that the older I get it takes a lot of courage for me to ask questions. This, slows down the process of my understanding a task before I finish it. Because I spend so much time stuck in this habitual loop I have made throughout my life, I don’t learn about those things I really want to know.

Helpful Habits

This process goes hand in hand with motivation because in order to change these habits that hinder growth, you must have the motivation to do so. If excellence comes from habits you must have the motivation to try to understand, notice and change when habits are not helping you grow. I think it would have been super interesting to have been able to take more pride in changing my habits when I as younger because it could have led me down a different path later in life.

Motivation and Taking Risks

For example, starting a company. If I had the motivation to create habits like asking questions, taking risks, and sharing my ideas I really believe I could have created a dream company in my younger years. I think having the motivation to make good habits is great advice for all young entrepreneurs. These habits could stick with you for the rest of your life, especially if they are good ones.

You should have motivation to take a chance and be you, especially when starting a company. There are going to be hurdles and challenges to get through when facing any task. Starting a business requires the motivation and courage to face your fears and stand up for your beliefs. Have the motivation to ask questions and to keep pushing on even if someone else doesn’t like your idea. Stay in one night and work on your project. Go out and explore the market you want to break in to. But have the motivation to start something and start these habits early so that in the future your habits can evolve with you and thus create excellence.