Napoleon Hill said that "anything that the mind of man can conceive and believe can be achieved." But how? Is any method worth it? Probably not. However, there is one that can be useful, balanced motivation.
Balanced motivation consists, as its name suggests, in finding the balance in what motivates us. Because sometimes we believe that the real engine that moves us towards an objective is the ego or the result, and not the task itself, a fact that can cause present and future imbalances.
The importance of balanced motivation
To explain this phenomenon, we focus on the theories of the school of psychology and coaching UPAD, which have developed various techniques to ensure that, especially children, find the right motivation, and do not mistake their way and goal, which is to learn .
At the end of the day, every objective that we set out involves a series of learning that takes us to the goal. In this growth we must try to maintain a constant balance so that the experience always has a value. Here is where they differentiate between two possible paths, the orientation towards the ego and the orientation towards the task:
* The orientation towards the ego leads the individual to improve with respect to others. That is, its value is measured in relation to other people, trying to excel and be the best in each task.
* Orientation towards the task implies an improvement over oneself. That is to say, it is their own abilities that are developed at all levels, from the physical to the psychological.
* The two orientations can coexist and are compatible. In fact in most cases this coexistence occurs, although one of them is the dominant one.
The current panorama regarding the management of motivation
However, according to the experience of the UPAD, motivation oriented towards the result is currently instilled or reinforced, but not towards the ego or the task. What does this mean? That the achievement of the objective is the maximum, so that there is a tunneling effect in attention (everything that is not related to the objective is no longer important). The journey or time are resources that necessarily have to be invested, an investment that will be labeled as success or failure depending on whether we achieve that goal or not.
However, in the opinion of the UPAD experts, it would be much more positive to focus the motivation towards the task. Why? Because in this way the real objective is personal improvement. Focusing motivation towards homework means that the individual gains in self-confidence. With this personal improvement, if finally the final objective is not obtained, other secondary ones have been achieved and, in short, not of less value.
That is to say, that with this approach, and although achieving the goal is important, there are other valuable lessons that are also internalized. This is the case of perseverance, contribution to the group, constant improvement, self-evaluation, the culture of effort ... Thus, the attempt to achieve the goal, whether it is obtained or not, has been worthwhile.
"Pleasure and action make the hours seem short."
-William Shakespeare-
Managing motivations
At present, observation is important to find the motivational orientation of an individual. Thus, once we know what the objective is, it can be reinforced or reoriented if it increases the value of what has been achieved with a similar effort. Putting a practical example, we can compare this situation with a game of football, basketball or any other sport that you like. What is better: to focus on the result, however it may be, or in the execution of the task to achieve the objective?
As is evident, if we focus only on the result, the individual can think or interpret that any method is valid to achieve the goal. It can be positive, but it could also be wrong to choose the path to reach the goal.
On the other hand, if we focus on how to achieve the result, you will probably also get the goal. But to this he joins that along the way he will have acquired a good number of learnings and values
that will accompany him forever. That is, the experience will be much fuller.
What do you think? Do you think that balanced motivation is really useful? It seems evident that when it comes to learning, it is much more attractive, especially when we talk about children and young people.
"Failure is not an option. Everyone has to succeed. "
-Arnold Schwarzenegger-