By: Justin Duncan and Andrew Mbachap

19th December, 2022.

For every young person in Nigeria, the attainment of success is a venture full of distractions which to a large extent turn out to be challenges that impede the quest for personal development and achievement of set goals. Hence, the need for self-motivation cannot be over emphasized as these challenges cut across all phases of life. In other climes, it is obtainable to see a 25 years old person achieving the highest level of success in their chosen career, but the case is entirely different in Nigeria. A 40 years old person can still be struggling to reach the pinnacle of their dreams because the system seems unfavorable. In most cases these people are susceptible to giving up in the pursuit of their dreams. This underscores the need for every young person to have self-motivation skills. Because in the face of daunting challenges and distractions, self-motivation is the mechanism that keeps a man on his feet and grants him the ability to believe in his own self and navigates through these challenges and distractions.

By its scope, self-motivation is a drive that is propelled from one undying desire to attend a specific goal bubbling up from within. Self-motivation is the ability to drive oneself to take initiative and action to pursue goals and complete tasks. It’s an inner drive to take action to create and to achieve. It’s what pushes you to keep going on tasks, especially those you’re pursuing because you want to, not because someone told you to. simply put, self-Motivation is simply the force driving your behavior. It’s the “why” behind everything you do, and the reason you might take up a cause, commit to an action, or work toward a goal. Everything we do is motivated by some combination of conscious and unconscious need or desire. When we talk about self-motivation, we are going beyond basic motives. What we really mean is the ability to follow through on making a positive change in life without giving up. Self-motivation requires that you believe in yourself, stay inspired, and keep going despite setbacks.

Lack of self-motivation skills among the youths has devastating consequences on the society. In Nigeria today, a significant proportion of our youth population lacks self-motivation skills. This problem is largely due to the dysfunctional systems we operate. Take for instance, the annual strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and lack of employment opportunities after graduation have inflicted a serious damage on the morale of many undergraduates in pursuing academic excellence or goals which has seen them yielding to the “education is a scam” syndrome. The youths feel hopeless and uncertain about the future. As result of that they become distracted by other fruitless ventures that have no value to them as individuals or the society at large. This by extension is what has given rise to the social vices like; cybercrime (yahoo), kidnapping, money rituals, prostitution and so on among the youths.

One of the fundamental questions often times neglected by many youths is; How can one stay motivated in the midst of these uncertainties and confronting challenges?
First of all, creating a life of simplicity in regards to self-motivation will keep distractions at bay and prevent you from feeling overwhelmed, especially during times of challenges. Simplicity allows space in our heads and hearts to become creative and grow through challenges. Instead of trying to pursue many goals at once, choose your area of focus. This will not only help simplify focus but will enable you to direct all your talents towards your most important goal. Aim to become extremely good in one area, instead of half-heartedly working in many areas at once. In essence, do not be “Jack of all trade and master of none”.

Also, take a look at the larger goal and consider the small steps to achieve it. Break all things into small, digestible chunks so you can celebrate wins. As you celebrate, you’ll trigger dopamine release in your brains, an important chemical to maintain motivation. Demarcating the process can help sectionalize a large goal into doable tasks so you can celebrate the small wins as you hit them. It’s a common habit of successful people and works well to make large goals more attainable. This is because result has the tendency of catalyzing greater actions which in turn culminates into success.

Most importantly, it is fundamental that you inculcate mindset of using failure as a learning curve. When you don’t see progress as quickly as you expect, or you hit a rock in your plans, the feeling of frustration is the first step towards giving up. As obstacles pile up, frustration becomes despair, and you may tell yourself, “This goal is not attainable.”

Barthelomew (2011) opines that, besides exploring the positive effects of competence satisfaction, recent studies have begun to examine the negative effects of competence frustration. Competence frustration refers to feelings of failure or inadequacy, and doubt over one’s own abilities. Therefore, it is important to get motivated by oneself than waiting for other as it’s impacts leaves lasting remarks.

By: Justin Duncan and Andrew Mbachap
Diploma students of NTA tv college Jos Nigeria

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Self-motivation; A determining factor to success.