Here is a dark dialogue that I had with a friend of mine in 2021. It will open you up to the way you can find motivation to strive for excellence even when you feel like giving up. Read it up.
“See James, before getting this scholarship, I had lost my Dad.
So, it has been a tough ride for me given the fact that he didn’t leave so much behind for me
and my mum to cater to our needs — he was not rich.
Now, each time you see me study hard, I am not doing just to get grades that make me feel
good — I do it because it is low-key my only escape route from unemployability, poverty,
loneliness, depression, and even death.”
Me: That’s dark.
“Yes, James, sometimes conceptualizing the dark consequences of not doing the right things
academically could be a more powerful motivation to be focused.
Think of it this way, running a race to win a trophy is a good motivation but having a vicious
dog chase you from behind during that race is a lot more effective motivation to maintain or
even increase your pace.”
Me: I see.
“I believe that for students to be motivated they don’t just only need heaven to strive for, they
need to also conceptualize the hell that they will find themselves in if they don’t put their acts
together — when they’ve done that — they will see reasons to run away from it.
For me, that hell is the prospect of unemployability which might lead to poverty; and since the
poor have few friends, loneliness and depression might set in. When these (loneliness and
depression) are set to the extreme, sickness and death seem inevitable…
*he paused for a long
while and continued*
…I saw my father go through all these, and I don’t want to go that route.
It is the hell that I have to run away from at all cost.”
———
If you’re feeling unmotivated to study maybe it is because you’ve not taken time to picture what
the consequences of not getting your acts right academically will be.
Because if you do, you will come to grips with its terror, and then you will know that doing the right things right now isn’t just an option but a precondition for your survival in the future.
The motivation can be dark but it is effective