Personal Reflection on Motivation

Motivation is a complex phenomenon that can be difficult to define. It also applies to a large number of different situations and factors. It is an internal process and as such it cannot be directly observed by a third party. Researchers can indirectly observe motivation through the consequences of an individual's actions, but the actual processes that motivation represents cannot be known directly -- only the behaviors that are a result of the process of motivation.

Therefore it is difficult to know precisely what constitutes the process of motivation inside someone's mind. Motivation is the internal process that describes someone's level of ambition that leads them to display behaviors that are direct at some goal or objective. Because there is an objective or goal that is set, at least part of the process is consciously designed. For example, people have to consciously set a goal which in most cases takes a level of thought and consideration.

However, it is also possible to have some goals that are not really the result of a conscious or rational process. For example, if you are hungry then you might automatically set a goal of quenching this hunger with a lunch or dinner. The goal would be partly rational and partly out of human instinct. I think the same kind of process occurs from more complex and challenging goals as well.

For example, if a person had a desire to complete a graduate degree then the source of the motivation towards that end could represent both a rational and thought-out process of weighing the costs and benefits of such an action. However, it could also represent an extension of an inner drive that wasn't as focused. For example, an individual could have a general sense that they want to do more to improve their lives. Another consideration when thinking about motivation is that it can occur on different levels.

Using the same example of an individual pursing a graduate degree, the individual could be entirely motivated at a higher level such as finishing their degree, but not as motivated on a more tactical level. For example, the person might have every intention to do well in school and finish their degree, but have an effective lack of motivation that is necessary to finish a particular assignment. Thus, thinking about what motivation is requires some consideration of the scale in which it occurs on.

This scale could include high-level goals as well as more practical daily objectives. I can think of many cases in my life in which the high level motivation towards a high level goal was not consistent with my motivation to complete lower level objectives that were necessary for the bigger goal. For example, you can feel motivated however it many not actually reach the point in which it creates the behaviors that are necessary to complete the goal that you feel motivated towards.

For example, even though you feel like completing college is a good objective.