Cornerstone: Creating Success Through Positive Changes

Motivation is based on the will to continue and achieve some means to an end. Whether it would be to wake up in the morning or to finish a doctorate in medical biology, motivation does exist. It exists for all of us and here is the response I can give for ‘what are my motivations.’

Ever since I began my teaching career, I have been fascinated with the topic of motivation and the role it plays in student learning. Daniel Pink’s book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, has been on my personal reading list for a couple of years now, and I was elated to find that it was one of the recommended books to read for this assignment. I have often wondered why some of my students, and even one of my own children, are more internally driven than others to complete a given task. Now that I am in the process of becoming a school administrator, my curiosity about what motivates adults has been heightened, as well. In the hopes of finding some insight, and perhaps the answers to some of my burning questions, I

Sometimes it’s easier for someone else to motivate a person than for that person to motivate themselves, but I believe the theory discussed in the book “MIND OVER MOOD” that a person has to change the way they think in order to change how they feel. If they change their perspective on things their motivations will change too. Motivation to me is this - setting goals, hammering into your mind to finish what you’ve started, associating with motivated people and positive thinkers, and being persistent and patient.

Faith- The incorporation of faith has been a driving force in keeping me focused and motivated to do my best in academics as well as my Service Learning

Motivation is an amazing trait. Anything in this world is obtainable as long as you have the motivation to pursue your dreams. About four years ago I was living in the worst place in America Camden NJ. Many people may not even have heard of this place but it has been rated the most dangerous city for the past couple of years. One summer as I was sitting in my house a man from down the street got shot nine times in front of my house. After that I decided to do whatever it takes to get out of that city. After that I went to a recruiter and joined the United States Marine Corps. I would definitely say that my motivation was extrinsic because I knew that after all the pain in suffering that there would be an award at the end.

What motivates me most to pursue a college degree is opening new doors for career options and inspiring my daughter through my own actions to pursue lifelong learning. I have waited until this point in my life to take this first step for many reasons. I feel that I had a lot of fear of failure that kept me from pursuing this higher learning. I am in the right place mentally at this stage in my life and feel like I can fully invest in this experience and make it truly a success and representation of what I can do. I am also highly motivated by the fact that my career is truly stalled because I am not competition for someone that has equal experience and a degree. I plan to conquer that competition through this process.

My motivation comes from multiple sources, my biggest comes from my two families: biological family that I see once in a while and my Laker family that I am surrounded by everyday. Both groups make the peak of my day when I am in the

Motivation to get somewhere in life comes from within. The question most people ask themselves is how to get there. My way of getting to where I want to be is through my drive. My drive comes in multiple forms throughout my life each and every day. My drive starts on my drive to school every morning. I turn on and blast music in the car to get me pumped up for the day. Although I've reached my destination, my drive isn't over. My drive to be the best student keeps me going throughout the school day. The drive to beat my max lifts in conditioning probes to me that my hard work has paid off. Out on the football field, my drive to be the best player out there is evident as I put everything on the line each play. Each defensive drive, the offense

What motivates me to go to college,to put hard work in,day after day, and to achieve my goals in higher education is my parents and myself. Since I started elementary school my parents have always motivated me to go to college. I was always a good student, but, when I had entered seventh grade, it all changed. I really did not care about school, i have been just whatever about school period. Then it hit me again in my junior year of high school. Freshman and sophomore I was not really interested in school and didn 't think I was going to college. My parents had a talk with me and that talk changed me. They were just asking me what am I going to do with my life if I didn 't go on with school and all this other stuff that made me think really hard. I didn 't want to make my parents think that their son was a failure, they raised a failure. I changed my ways and started doing better in school and now I am currently attending Cal State University of Los Angeles. Now they are more proud than ever, me being the first one in my family to attend a university. My parents will always be my biggest motivators.

Motivation is a very strong tool we can use to get further in life and to achieve our dreams and goals. Setting goals for ourselves is something that I consider to be very important, I believe in always pushing myself further and further in life, not only physically but mentally as well. We all have different things or tools we can use to motivate us towards our end goals. In order for us to stay motivated we have to have a goal and be driven towards achieving that goal.

In a small part, every aspect of my life motivates me to strive for my dreams. My family; parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews and nieces motivate me and push me harder to achieve my goals and aspirations. Me being the first in my family to graduate high school, and enter into college is a tremendous amount of pressure. I want to be able to prove to them that they can reach their dreams no matter how old or young, if they are determined. Mainly, I want to show them that everything is obtainable if you work for it. My boyfriend motivates me to be the best verision of myself that I can be, we both chose to go to SFA together, after I stated I wasn’t interested in going to college. He motivates me to be better, faster, stronger and more determined. He teaches me to set high goals and reach them. Lastly, my coworkers motivate me to continue to improve my already strong work ethic. As their manager, they depend on me to teach them how to succeed in our work environment. Having people look up to me motivates me to no end. I love to set examples and be a leader to show people anything is possible.

One way of maintaining that motivation to establish goals, both long and short term, that help them meet their end goal. It’s important to note that these goals should be realistically attainable and should contain a time frame. The most obvious goal in college is to graduate. However, if one simply sets their goal as graduating, they will probably have difficulty staying motivated until the end of their program. If you’ve seen the movie “What About Bob?,” you probably remember Bill Murray’s character constantly saying “baby steps” in regards to

Motivation is a very broad term that is discussed in a variety of settings. There is the motivation to perform in a business setting, the motivation to perform on the field of competition, the motivation to provide for friends and family, and the motivation to accomplish goals that have been set. These are all various motivations that any one person can be involved with at any time. According to Maslow, motivation always exists within a person and in various forms, “...motivation is constant, never ending, fluctuating, and complex, and that it is an almost universal characteristic of practically every organismic state of affairs” (Maslow, 1954). As complex as motivation seems, it is everyone’s intention to identify their personal

Motivation is the energy that fuels all thoughts and all thoughts fuel great ideas. Lakeidea has been an inspiration to me ever since I was born. When she was eighteen years of age, she moved out of the house and started her first years of college. I would ask myself “ How’d she do that?” Consequently, I’ve realized that she had a plan from the start of high school and I instantly knew that if I wanted a future like that I had to have a plan. I would ask my sister constantly “How do you prepare for college?” and her same response was always “You can never prepare for college if you actually want your future to be truly designed by you, you can only prepare yourself to take initiative, which basically means to break the rules a little bit.” My sister is not only inspiring because of her strong educational adherence but also because of her endurance. My mother was a single parent

Throughout my life, I have made many changes, taken on many challenges, and accomplished many goals. Before now, I have not spent much time or energy examining my motivations, attempting to determine how or why things turned out well, or did not. However, currently I find it necessary to do just that, as I am beginning a new chapter in my life: college. As I move through my first year of college, at the age of fifty-six, I feel I do not have the time to guess at what will lead me toward the best possible outcomes. I need to be clear on what works and what does not. I can think of two important experiences I have had in my adult life, one motivated by intrinsic values, and one by extrinsic factors. An examination of both may give me better understanding of how I can make the most of my education.