My learning based life. Motivation and goal orientation Learning to Learn Training What is motivation and why we need it? Developed with the support of the EU Leonardo da Vinci Programme This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

At the end of this lesson you will learn… That human beings are influenced by their needs and motives in all the every day actions That there is a learning motivation in everyone That motives can come from ‘inside’ or/and ‘outside’ of the individual That knowing about motivation is in fact controlling an essential aspect of our life

Question What makes us wake up every day, rush to work and involve in regular routine? What makes us follow the same mundane activities day after day all through our life? From where comes the necessary energy to invest in every activity we take?

Solution! We strive to achieve something ‘good’ in our life and we are sometimes fully dedicated towards a higher goal or purpose. In that pleasure of pursuing the higher goal we normally tend to overlook the smaller pains and troubles we face in our day to day lives. Sometimes we put a lot of energy to obtain something.

Concept We say often that we always need a motive for doing an action. That is true. We all do. Motivation is an essential part of our life and it’s giving to us the necessary energy to invest in every activity we take. We also have needs. In order to accomplish them, we take sometimes dramatic action for fulfilling those needs. Let’s think of a situation when we are desperately hungry. We would try to eat anything – even if it is something that we don’t like or we haven’t eaten before! Motives and needs are essential aspects of human motivation.

Concept Human beings have also higher needs such as social needs for love and belonging, safety needs, to have self esteem and self respect, to have success and self realisation in life. Our higher needs ensure us a social successful life.

Concept All beings are set to have the need to explore, to achieve and to learn. Learning is a central aspect of human life as it occurs almost anytime anywhere from the first moment we were born. When we say we are motivated to learn we refer to our personal intention to improve abilities and to understand in order to perform well a task, a job. Learning motivation is present in every person that wants to improve abilities and to understand

Example Think of a situation when you wanted so much to see a movie then you needed to learn how to use the remote control. Once you learned it, you are capable of using it efficiently to ease your life and to enjoy the TV set. All learnable things in life follow just the same pattern. Knowing how to use a phone, a remote control or anything else involves learning first.

Key Concept All forms of motivation are central aspects that makes us move in the right way to achieve what we want. Motivation is the driver which drives us to do what we are doing. Knowing our motives is knowing where we go and why we do our actions. Knowing our motives is very important for the purpose of our lives.

Example Let’s think for a moment on how important motivation is. All people have skills, talents, intelligence – in a word - qualities. It’s like owning the world’s best car with all the parts working perfectly. The car has the capabilities to go fast with the greatest fuel efficiency. But if there I no driver or if the driver does not ignite the car and start it, the car does not even move. Motivation is like that spark for the engine. This is what makes the human engine move. You may have the best talents or acquired the best skills but it you do not have motivation you will not reach far. Motivation is like the spark for the human engine.

Concept Motivation can sometimes come from outside an individual. The motivating factors are external or outside, like rewards such as money or grades. These rewards provide satisfaction and pleasure that the task itself may not provide. This kind of motivation is everywhere around us starting from discounts or fidelity cards in the supermarket to raising salaries or offering bonuses. Motivating factors can come from ‘outside’ the individual.

Example You can experience positive motivations such as rewards and other bribery or negative motivation such as threats and blackmail. Think of a moment when you wanted to obtain a reward. External motivation can be positive or negative (reward or punishment)

Concept Motivation can come from inside the individual. At any moment we have all needed resources and we need to tap in the right kind of resources. What creates the Motivation inside is the Passion or the Interest. The moment you Live with Passion you don't need anything else you drive you. You are just driven hard to achieve the best in life. Motivating factors can come from ‘inside’ the individual.

Example Close you eyes and recall a time when you felt passion and interest in doing something. Try and feel the same way as you did during that time and intensify the feeling. I am quite sure that you too would have felt the motivation inside you. Passion and interests from inside are some powerful feelings.

Conclusion! If we know our motivation and if we use it in any aspect of our lives, we can obtain sooner and faster a successful result. The need of exploring and learning is a part of what humans are so everyone has a learning motivation. We just have to discover and use it in our best benefit. Motivation is you, moving forward. Compliments!

Lesson Learnt Motivation is an essential aspect of our life. It is giving us energy and a sense of doing successfully our activities. Always is important to think a while about the motives and the needs we have and then to take a course of action according to what we really want for having a better life. Motivation is in everyone.