A University of Melbourne professor on motivation myths

EXAM prep got you feeling a bit meh? Here are five ways you might be sabotaging your motivation, according to a University of Melbourne expert.

Here’s how to get your motivation on.

MOTIVATION. Ugh. It turns out there is more to it than just watching TED talks or reading inspirational quotes on Instagram about how starting is the first step.

According to University of Melbourne’s Dr Terry Bowles, an expert in motivational strategy, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to motivation. It’s subjective. Our goals and our reasons for wanting to achieve things are different so it makes sense, then, that the things that motivate us will be, too. But when it comes to the factors that influence motivation, Dr Bowles says competence and mastery are two key drivers, particularly when it comes to education.

Motivation, he says, comes down to one’s perceived ability to achieve something. It’s kind of like when you go out for dinner and your meal is so big that you’re defeated from the get-go. In other words, sometimes, if the challenge is too great, no amount of motivation will help you rise to it.

This is why choosing the right VCE studies or the right university course is so important.

“Some people know from a very young age that they want to be a something and they’re motivated to do that; for others it’s a slow and steady insight,” Dr Bowles says. “Alongside motivation is the individual’s commitment to the idea. It’s those commitments that generate motivation.

“What we think motivation is, is getting people to do something they wouldn’t ordinarily want to do or what they might not like to do. Ideally, motivation is far more sustainable when there is a match between desire, intention and capacity to achieve — doing the doable, meaningful and enjoyable,” he says.

It’s this interpretation of motivation as being a struggle that has seen words like grit and resilience become the new buzzwords for motivational endeavour. And while these terms are great, Dr Bowles says they can often be little misleading because grit and resilience are limited resources.

“One of the things to be aware of is demotivating factors,” he says. “These are probably more important than motivating factors because they can have a far greater impact.”

IDENTIFYING DEMOTIVATING FACTORS

IT JUST DON’T FEEL RIGHT

Contrary to popular belief, fear isn’t always a great motivator. In fact, if something makes you feel bad, it’s going to be harder to find the motivation to do it. Case in point: slogging it out at the gym.

“One of the clearest and strongest indicators of a demotivating factor is anxiety,” Dr Bowls says. “This may be to do with the activity — such as doing exams — the content of the work or just with being in a particular environment.

IT’S BEYOND YOUR CAPABILITY

It might seem obvious, but simply being capable of doing something can be a motivating factor to do it and continue to do it better. The converse of that, of course, is that if you don’t feel capable, you won’t feel motivated. The thing with capability, though, is that it is often contextual.

“Lots of people are motivated to start courses; what stops them are circumstantial events that can’t be managed,” Dr Bowles says. “For example, some individuals might fail a subject because they can’t put the time into preparation, not because they don’t understand the subject matter. All that means is they might be better off being a part-time student so they can better juggle their priorities.

Sometimes motivation is just a matter of reprioritising to make success more achievable — such as studying fewer subjects, studying over a longer period of time or studying something that you anticipate won’t require as much time.”

HARDER DOESN’T EQUAL BETTER

“The idea that harder is better is one of the most profound, self-defeating and demotivating factors,” Dr Bowles says. “It shouldn’t be the kind of hard that really pushes you to the edge — or sends you over it.”

This is OK for elite athletes, but it is not the right path for everyone.

That’s not to say that we shouldn’t challenge ourselves — depending on the individual, challenge can often be a strong motivator. We often believe that if we put in the effort and work to the enth degree, that that’s a really good thing. And it can be for some people. “That go-hard-or-go-home mentality is in our cultural DNA,” Dr Bowles says. But there’s no point of putting in all that effort if you have a whole lot of competing priorities that will, ultimately, impact your ability to achieve success and you end up setting yourself up for failure.

JACK OF ALL TRADES, MASTER OF NONE

“A sense of mastery is really critical when it comes to motivation,” Dr Bowles says. “It’s very difficult to motivate people to do things that are threatening, which is why it is often unkind to put people in situations that present a serious threat or a serious possibility of failure. While some people will be up for the challenge, this will not be the case for all people.”

THE FIT ISN’T RIGHT

If you are good at engineering it might be difficult for you to do arts, or if you’re studying arts it might be difficult for you to study medicine. “What is important is the fit,” Dr Bowles says. Part of finding a good fit can be whether or not you’ve seen other people successfully do the things you’re attempting to do. “It’s not an accident that people often chose the careers of their parents,” he says. “They’ve seen how they’ve done it so the perceived level of difficulty or threat is therefore less.”

MOTIVATION 101

1. Have goals. These goals need to be associated with mastery and performance. Find role models to help you achieve those goals. Continuously adjust immediate and long-term goals.

2. Seek a range of opportunities. Visualise yourself doing what is required to gain the skills and knowledge to practice. Study and work hard but not to the point that it is damaging.

3. Fail fast. Failing is fine as long as you analyse the reasons for failure and don’t repeat them on your next attempt.

4. Know what the end point is. Know what you are striving for and seek people to help you manage the negative feelings and stresses. Stay focused and draw on your inner drive.

5. Be kind to yourself. Don’t convince yourself you have to be something you’re not, but seek to achieve the possible, realistically and authentically.