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What is Motivation? Essay

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Motivation is the “why” behind our behaviors. Behavior that is usually goal-oriented. The forces that lie beneath motivation can be biological, social, emotional or cognitive in nature. There are, indeed, a plethora of inducements that cause us to act the way we act and do the things we do. They include things like quenching our thirst, reading to gain knowledge, studying to ace an exam, surpassing quotas and meeting deadlines for a promotion, etc. According to Kendra Cherry’s article on “WHAT IS MOTIVATION”, there are three components of motivation: activation, persistence and intensity. Activation is the decision to initiate a behavior. Persistence is the continued effort toward a goal even though obstacles may exist. Intensity is the …show more content…

I strongly believe that motivation is pre-positioned on what we believe - our convictions. Therefore, in order to know if our motives are right we have to know ourselves, examine ourselves, know what our convictions are, and have the courage to stand by them.
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. In the book “DRIVE - the surprising truth about what motivates us”, Daniel Pink says that people will not do a better job if they’re offered a reward. They will do a better job if given the opportunity to work on their own time, be creative and do good. He states, “The secret to high performance and satisfaction is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, learn and create new things and to do better by ourselves and our world”. He speaks about a whole new way that companies should look at human motivation. The book discusses three main components of motivation- autonomy, mastery and purpose. Autonomy describes how people want to be

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