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Why Motivation is like our Neurons and Nerves

Hey guys!

Halfway through the first week of getting back into the routine of university and my interest has been quite piqued!

We’re getting a lot deeper into some of the content including A&P and it’s a whole lot of fun!

Right now, university is packed to non-COVID safe levels I’d say. Lucky my state has no COVID cases. There are many many first-year students walking around campus getting used to the university lifestyle and vibes.

They’re riding the motivation wave too! Staying around late past uni classes to experience more of the uni culture (I can say this since I’m usually at uni late myself).

And I find that I’m riding the same wave right now, because I’m having fun, but I have to realise that this short (but welcome) spurt of motivation will pass soon enough.

Recently I learnt about eudaimonic vs hedonic happiness (part of positive psychology) from a new friend I made on Clubhouse!

Right now I’m happy to take on this burst of hedonic happiness and short-term motivation but I need to ensure that I’m prioritising my eudaimonic well-being in the future when the motivation drops low.

My understanding of having a state of ‘happiness’ is having lots of eudaimonic happiness but also allowing bursts of hedonic happiness, wherever possible.

Too much hedonic happiness leads to the once awe-inspiring things becoming the new normal.

I feel it should be the same with motivation.

Imagine the resting potential being our resting level of motivation.

We should always have a flame of inherent motivation within us for those long-terms goals but welcome the short bursts. This resting level should be high enough so that when we have ‘hyperpolarisation’ events where our motivation drops below our normal level, we won’t hit rock bottom (and hit the x-axis).

And when we have those moments that make us reach that ‘peak action potential’, we welcome them willingly but remember that we’ll always come back to our resting potential.

Think about the ways that you can raise your resting potential of motivation.

Who imagined I had the nerve to relate motivation to nerves haha, I’ll see myself out!

See you guys next week,
Archer xx