I was discussing the topic of motivation with my family members to understand how different
people with different experiences think about motivation. My family includes my wife, two
daughters, one in final year of her graduation and second in 10th class and myself.
I had shared with my family members that I did write an article on motivation and it will be very
interesting to discuss the topic over a cup of tea. I opened the conversation by asking them a
question, “what is one thing which will drive you to get up early in the morning?” My elder
daughter enjoys group dance and she said that she would get up early morning to join a group
which is dancing. My younger daughter shared that she would be excited to get up early in the
morning if she has to go out of the city for picnic or for travel to Indore which is our hometown.
When I asked the same question to my wife, she said that she would be very happy to get up as
early as 5 a.m. in the morning to play badminton.
We had some good discussion and debate and I shared with them that during one of my training
program people had shared that buying mobiles phones or buying a new cars or a new home
would motivate them to work very hard. My wife immediately asked as to how many mobile
phones are people going to buy to stay motivated. Is buying process is motivating them or
mobiles are motivating? Her question made it pretty clear that material things may have
temporary motivating effect or buying process may give a feeling of pleasure to some.
Next I asked my younger daughter that if she sees a person on the ground floor, who is very
thirsty and asking for water, would she go down using staircase and come back? She said I
would be happy to serve water to a thirsty person. When I checked with my elder daughter, she
refused and said that she would not be going up and down for serving. Just for your information
we are staying on the 5th floor of the building. It was shocking to hear that our elder daughter
would not be interested in serving a thirsty person as my wife and I were of the impression that
our elder daughter would be very sympathetic and she would work an extra mile to support the
needy and she would be very happy doing such kind of activities. My wife knows our kids better
and she then explained the entire scenario once again to my elder daughter who said that now she
has better understanding the problem and she feels that she would definitely go and serve a
thirsty person.
I had one solid learning that while asking the question I have double check with the students if
they have understood the question or no. Everybody has a different brain processor and based on
their attention they process the data with varying speed.
We continued our discussion and I shared with my daughter that appreciation is one important
thing which can motivate people. Both of them agreed initially but later they denied. My elder
daughter shared that she was very happy when she was appreciated by her college Principal for
being a volunteer in one of the conferences but if given a chance she would not do the same task
again as she did not enjoy the work.
My wife had shared that she would get up early morning to play badminton. To give a new
direction to the same topic I asked her that if she has to play the game with not so good players
would she be interested in playing? She replied that she would not be interested in playing with
such people. So I asked her again that is it the badminton which motivates her to get up early
morning or the team with whom she plays motivates? She realized that it is not the game of
badminton which drives her to get up but when she plays badminton with good players there is a
challenge to fight back, she also gets sense of achievement when she wins, she burns a lot of
calorie in the process and she also uses her brain to beat the challenging opponent. She shared
that the sum total experience of all the above is very refreshing and it helps her to stay fit. She
also shared that she goes for morning walk or bicycle ride early morning when the badminton
court is closed. Fitness is her undefined goal but this is what drives her.
She also shared that her dad being diabetic has been consuming medicines since quite a long
time and she never liked consuming medicines and there was always and a clear warning in her
mind that if she has to keep medicines away she has to stay fit.
She also narrated as to how she would listen to her Aaji (grandmother) during her pregnancy.
Her Aaji had very clearly shared with her the benefits of natural delivery and she followed all the
instructions of her Aaji to ensure that she delivers the baby in natural way and she thanks her
grandmother and the almighty. She also narrated that she took similar steps and care during the
second daughter and results were in her favor. She takes pride in sharing this incident as she feels
that it is difficult to hear cases of normal delivery in the present times. This was all part of the
hidden goal of staying fit which we had never discussed.
It was realized that the unwritten goal of staying fit drives to play badminton, do cycling,
participate in short run or go for morning walk. There is also a sense of achievement in all the
above activities as you feel good about yourself. This is pure intrinsic motivation.
I ask her a question that if she has to play table tennis instead of badminton would this motivate
her? She refused and told me that she does not relish playing table-tennis and hence in the
absence of badminton she would rather go for a long walk and lose and burn calories.
I am sharing below some of the learning outcomes from the above discussion.
1. People do have undefined goals which drive them to achieve. It could be to stay fit, help
others or positive emotional experience. The person can get his focus on his goals if they are well
defined.
2. It is possible that there could be many means for attaining the goals and every individual is
free to choose his path. Teachers can help student define their goals, let the students choose their
way.
3. Appreciation is a good motivating tool for an organization but it will motivate people who
have really enjoyed their work.
4. As a teacher it is important to communicate and ensure that students have properly understood
what is told to them.
5. Human beings love to help others as this action generates positive emotions.
Dr. Nitin Joshi
Director,
DR V N BRIMS, Thane
Also read : STAY POSITIVE, STAY HEALTHY!
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