Intrinsic motivation: Ignite the self-motivation to study and the satisfaction to continue

Concentration for study material comes naturally with pure love, curiosity, fascination, and personal relevance toward the content, or you have to depend on external rewards like marks, praises, and desirable outcomes like professional independence, good college, better job prospects, respect in society, avoiding shame, etc.

A burning desire emerging from within you is called intrinsic motivation. That motivation stems from the joy of learning what you love, the love of knowledge, the satisfaction of progressing, etc. Intrinsic motivation depends on your values & wishes. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation stems from external rewards like marks, praise, ego boost, and outcomes like social respect.

With intrinsic motivation, you increase focus because you want to focus. External rewards can also be powerful, but they may change, and once your attitude toward the reward changes, you undermine intrinsic motivation. This is called “motivational crowding-out^[13]” – if you are intrinsically motivated to study, seeking external rewards can actually interfere with and disrupt your motivation to study.

High motivational intensity, such as a deep-seated desire, narrows attention (makes it razor-sharp), and low motivational intensity, such as simple liking and pleasantness, broadens attention (big picture) according to the motivational dimension model of affect^[14].

That means: If you are not very motivated but ok to do the work, start planning first. And if you really love the work, start with details. Doing otherwise might break your focus.

Whether your concentration power is good or bad, intrinsic motivation will improve it.

What if there is no intrinsic motivation and no desirable external reward? This is the point where most people fail to concentrate and then procrastinate, only to have guilt, regret, stress, and anxiety. These are moments when you have to bite the pain of your work and finish it. This is now a game of emotional tolerance.

These tips will create a relationship between you and your study material.

Tips to increase the motivation to study

• Find relatable “hooks” in your study material so you care about the material.
• Look for relevance in your material so you know it will be useful.
• Ask someone passionate about a subject you dislike why they like it; it shifts your perspective.
• Focus on the reward you get after learning something you dislike