By Kaya Miller
“Motivation“ is defined as: “the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way,” or “the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.” Keeping a force in your life to do what is needed or desired is difficult. I struggle with keeping myself motivated long enough to not only do what is academically asked of me, but extra things as well.
I joined a club, which I was ecstatic about; I signed on to a project to help my aunt; I agreed to read a book with my grandmother; and I promised myself that each of these commitments would get completed. However, so far, it has just been sleeping, eating, and sitting. I get my work done, but it is not something I look back on proudly. I stress about finishing on time, whilst procrastinating my life away. I ask myself why I do this, and there are perfectly reasonable reasons, but none satisfy my curiosity and interrogation. A cycle of waiting, then rushing, and feeling burnt out; so then I wait more, only to rush ‘til midnight to finish something that I had hours to do.
So I ask myself and others, “What is the secret?” I am curious about how people are staying motivated, and driven to do not only what is necessary, but what you enjoy. People read and write quotes to keep them going, or look up articles on what they are doing wrong— but more times than not, they don’t follow that advice.
Look up the word, and dozens of articles appear in an attempt to help, but sometimes, one must realize that they can’t just listen to advice to fix a problem overnight. It is difficult to recover from losing your will to do anything, but it is possible. So long as we keep working, tell other people, and try our hardest to improve.
If you struggle with self-motivating, and you are reading this thinking: “I am trying,” I want you to look deep down, look at your actions, and make sure it isn’t just another empty promise you make to yourself to get through the day without action.
If anyone has a clue about what to do, talk about it online or by phone. If someone out there feels as if they are struggling as well, talk about it. We need to live as we were before the crisis during these times, or else, when it is all over, no one will remember how to survive in the world again.
