My next two things that I learned in College are not mutually exclusive, so please forgive me if I overlap several times.
Hard work: Difficult but necessary
I really don't want to talk about this one. I really do not feel like working to write this section of my blog.....
These are the things we say to ourselves all of the time. Some things may be worth doing, but we do not want to take the time to work really hard on them. Yet the reality is, humanity goes nowhere when hard work is absent. It has been said that "we stand on the shoulders of giants". This is phrase is largely true. Our lives are benefited everyday from great minds such as Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford. However, this phrase could be changed to something like this: "we stand on the shoulders of some giants, yet more importantly on the heads of many stacked ants." Now, I am no professional at making new quotes (that last one may have hurt some ears in the process), but my point is, while we are benefited from the great work of really smart people, we also have benefits from many hard workers whom we have not heard of before. Like these said ants, the hard workers before us have little control of how we use the benefits provided by them, but we nevertheless benefit from them. Hard work, I am realizing, is not only a healthy way to run your own life, but a healthy way to protect and benefit the lives of those who come after you. It is easy to get caught up in feelings, but the fact is, sometimes you have to "just do it". I may have a term paper that is due in two weeks, and I may not feel like doing it, but in the end, working hard at it is the only way to solve the problem, unless, of course, you want a really bad grade. Although motivation may be hard to come by, expecting things to get done without hard work is an unrealisticmindset. And if you are searching for motivation, take this advice:
Self-Motivation is overrated
So far, I feel that college has been one of the most productive times of my life in many ways. I am around brilliant professors who have a firm handle on their professional, spiritual, and intellectual lives. I get to meet people from all over America and from other countries, giving me new perspectives. Through lots of hard work, I am one eighth of the way towards my college degree. That is a primary reason why I look back on my first semester of college with satisfaction.
There are a lot of self-help books out there that aim to motivate the public to gain some self-motivation (kinda ironic, huh?). As I think about college, I was seldom motivated by myself. I was motivated by teachers, tests, homework, and grades. For me, motivation seldom comes through myself. Sure, I may have the occasional off-day where I have a substantial amount of self-motivation, but most of the time, I fully understand what I should be doing yet am unmotivated to do anything. However, motivation and prodding from others is generally beneficial. For example, take one of my goals I had for Christmas break: doing some more blogging. However, as I said before, self-motivation is hard to come by. Solution: write a very rough draft, send it to an English major friend at LeTourneau, and get some other friends excited about your upcoming blogs.
I say that others-motivation is much more beneficial than self-motivation. There are 2 reasons why I think this: (1) We often have a natural tendency to be lazy and (2) it is easy for us to boss other people around. Of course, the counter to this is that we do not like to be bossed around, and can get very angry if someone rubs us the wrong way. When motivating others and being motivated by others, the motivaters need to be careful with their words, and the motivated need to develop a thick skin at times. If both the motivator and the motivated can do this, the self-help book economy may not be supported, but humanity will get things done more efficiently and effectively.
P.S. If you haven't noticed yet, I am a little of a productivity freak.
No comments:
Post a Comment