Why are you in school? Why did you pick your chosen major? How does that major fit in with the life you see yourself having after college?
What is your motivation?
When I was younger, I thought I wanted to be a nurse. My motivation was all the nurses that I knew in my life. I loved the white uniforms, and I pictured myself wearing that smart-looking nurses cap while sitting at a hospital front desk answering questions for harried family members.
As I got older, the desire to become a nurse was motivated by the limited information I had gleaned about the career itself. I wanted to help people and make lots of money while doing it, all while having to work only three days a week and being able to spend the rest of my time reading books and going on expensive vacations.
When I learned that dissecting a cat was one of the first things I would have to do even before setting foot in my first nursing class, I became motivated to pursue another passion: writing.
My passion for writing has been there since I got my first diary at the age of 6. I have been the family storyteller for as long as anyone can remember; my ability to remember the details of even the most innocuous story has made me a family historian of sorts, and my original motivation for writing was just that – to be a storyteller.
My love for sharing stories, ideas and information eventually grew into a full-fledged hobby of being an information curator. Not only could I tell the stories, but I could recite the facts surrounding them and direct people toward further investigation of the topic if they so desired.
As I near the end of my undergraduate academic career and prepare to move on to the next stage in life, I realize that my passion to share and dissect information for the masses has grown into a motivation all of its own.
I think of it as something of a social service. Each time I see someone post a link to a supposed news article on Facebook, I vet it, and I am usually able to find out within two or three clicks whether the story has any merit or not.
When someone presents a statement as fact, I am able to either agree with their thesis or point out the flaws in it.
The skills I have learned in my journalism classes will be with me throughout my life. I have gone from simply wanting to be a writer to wanting to be a source of information and a means of verification when it comes to the truth.
We live in the world of the perpetual propaganda machine. There is always going to be misinformation out there, and there will always be a need for someone to sift through it and clarify the facts, and I want that person to be me; that is my motivation.
As you continue down your path that will lead you to your later life, take time to self-evaluate. Decide if your motivation is meaningful for you. Does it give you a purpose?
There are many factors that can play a part in our personal motivation, and it is important to be sure that we are motivated by the right things.
Lack of motivation can lead to us being stuck in a rut or otherwise not progressing.
Finding your motivation is like finding your purpose; when you know why, the how will come very easily.
