Motivation and Its Psychological Properties

Zig Ziglar once said, “ People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing…that’s why we recommend it daily.” Everyday our emotions, motives, or instincts provide the fuel for motivation. Motivations can be found in the basic innate needs of survival, to thrill seeking and reward gratification; nevertheless, these daily things reinforce motivation on a day-to-day basis. Motivation and its psychological properties are very profound in my life. My knowledge of psychology is seen with my intrinsic, extrinsic, and achievement motivation, which is ongoing in my life, in pursuit of my career goals.

There has never been a time that I can remember, where I never loved the medical field. From an early age, I had toys related to medical industry instead of dolls. There was always this intrinsic motivation to do things for my own personal enjoyment. I pretended to be a doctor with my toy medical bag with my grandma just because I enjoyed playing in this manner. As and adult, and rather recently, I purchase medical books to read and learn for the fun of it. I realized that the coloring anatomy book that I purchased a few weeks ago fits this intrinsic motivation perfectly. I love drawing and painting, and doing this with human anatomy was a joy for me, with the added benefit of learning at the same time. Watching the television, Grey’s Anatomy is another intrinsic motivation, because I enjoy the drama, the comedy, and how they portray the medical field. I have learned that I do not do any of these things because I have to, or to get a certain reward after, but because I fully enjoy doing these for personal fun.

When it comes to being motivated to gain an award or avoid punishment, I learned it what I am currently doin...

... middle of paper ...

...ely turned into extrinsic motivation when I wanted to achieve that degree. I still enjoy on my free time reading manuals, articles, new stories, and newsletters from hospitals all fulfill my drive to learn.

This course was a real eye opener for me to see how much of my life can relate back to psychology. I have a better understanding of how things happened, and what they mean personally to me. The major thing that was close to my heart was my drives and motivations. This is something that I see in my everyday life from intrinsic motivations of the fun of learning, to extrinsic motivations to earn good grades, and achievement motivation of getting a doctoral degree. Zigler was correct and that in order to maintain that initial motivation you have to reinforce it on a daily basis. Once I reach my goals, it will be exciting to see where my motivation takes me next.