I heard a story on the radio yesterday that I really liked and it got me thinking about a lot of different things– specifically motivation. Apparently, a study was done on smokers who wished to quit smoking. They were placed in a group and given money at certain intervals of time as long as they were still smoke free. The catch was, if one person in the group cheated and had smoked, no one in the group earned money. According to the radio jockey, people liked earning money but they were also more motivated to succeed with the group relying on them.
I’ve looked for this experiment a few times last night and this morning and the only thing I can find close to it is the CVS experiment. You can read all about it here, but the idea is very similar.
What I didn’t like from the radio story was that the radio jockey couldn’t figure out how to adapt the strategy in the real world. As a teacher, I think I was a little more sensitive to the issue and a little more prepared with ideas on how to use this. One of the things I learned this year about my students, and about myself, was to meet each individual on their own level. I live in the south and I am smack dab in the middle of nowhere surrounded by mountains, rivers, and forests. The only radio station that gets through clearly is a radio station that broadcasts nothing but country. It wouldn’t be fair of someone to assume that my favorite music is country and that my favorite past time is sitting on the porch watching squirrels getting caught in the bug zapper. Sorry, that’s just not me.
However, you can motivate me with something I do enjoy. Ice cream. Ice cream is a good motivator for me to do anything. However, that’s an extrinsic motivator. I am doing something I probably should already be doing for myself because of an outside source. This beneficial thing you’re trying to get me to do should be something I want to do, not something I am coerced to do. However, I’m not going to wake up tomorrow and decide “Yes, I should run five miles a day because it’s good for my long term health.” I’ll need to motivate myself by offering myself a monetary reward, or even a reward of a nap when I get home.
My goal as a teacher is to start my students off by motivating them. Period. Most students I receive at the beginning of the year are motivated to check their Instagram hits and their Snap Chat level (Score? I don’t know). I want to motivate them to be better writers, to be better readers, and ultimately the best version of themselves. When they ask me why we are doing something, I can’t start out with “It’s the right thing to do”. I can’t wake up at 5:00am and tell myself I am about to go exercise because “It’s the right thing to do”. That won’t work.
However, I start with extrinsic motivators and work my way around. Soon I learn that I actually like doing the thing I groan and complain about and soon my motivation becomes my own happiness. It’s a slow process and it takes time. That’s the point of building good habits. You do something slow and steady and soon it becomes as natural as breathing… or napping… or eating ice cream. Whatever! What I’m saying is, motivation is a tricky tool and psychology is a rabbit hole of interesting information. Find what works for you and work yourself towards the goal of doing something simply because you enjoy it.
You can still do that, ya know? You can do something for no other reason than because it’s fun. Work yourself toward that way of life.
Boat Against the Current 