7 Motivational Quotes to Brighten Your Day
Words are free for us to make, string together, and dispense with but there are times in life when only the right words can make us feel better. We know what we want to hear or say but the right words simply don’t come to mind. It is in these times that motivational quotes prove their worth. Motivational quotes summarize everything we feel, expect, and believe in. We use them to be inspired and become better.
Be more motivated today, tomorrow, and for the other days to come with the carefully chosen motivational quotes below.
Focus on remedies, not faults – Jack Nicklaus
Mistakes are so difficult to forget while the good things in life have an ephemeral existence in our minds. But why should we let our minds dwell on mistakes? What good can it do? The only time we should think about our faults is for the purpose of learning from them. Upon achieving that, we should focus next on remedies and move on.
Anger and haste hinder good counsel. – English Proverb
Motivational quotes shouldn’t be exclusively used for creating happy thoughts and feelings. They should also be used to get rid of unhappy ones and give way for something nicer, warmer, and brighter. Anger is one such emotion and you can use the motivational quote below to remind yourself how futile and destructive anger can be.
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
There are many ways to apply this quote to our lives. If you have a goal, mere wanting is inadequate. You must have a burning desire for it. For that matter, enthusiasm isn’t something to be embarrassed about. A world-weary outlook on life may be considered fashionable but some, but such affectations won’t make you any happier. Be glad you have something to be excited about for these are the things that make life worthwhile.
Every man is the architect of his own fortune – Sallus
Do not blame God or anyone else for your misfortune. It is useless to do so. You need to strive above all things because it is your life and everything that happens to you is within your power. True enough, some things can’t be achieved overnight but if you work hard enough and believe in yourself, you will get what you want no matter what obstacles you’re facing.
When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid. – Audre Lorde
Don’t waste time dwelling on your fears and insecurities. Rather, concentrate on discovering your strengths and finding out the best way to put them to use in order to achieve your goals. When you do that, you’ll become too busy to ever remember to be afraid.
Practice hope. As hopefulness becomes a habit, you can achieve a permanently happy spirit. – Norman Vincent Peale
Yes, hope is something everyone knows and understands but it’s not something everyone can do and do repeatedly. Hope takes practice. Moreover, it requires constant practice because it’s the only path to happiness. In that line, do remember another important motivational quote, from Horace this time: Never despair!
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? – Vincent Van Gogh
Explaining this quote would be made easier with the use of yet another quote: courage is not defined by the absence of fear but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.
A Look At Intrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic motivation is when an individual is motivated by internal factors, as opposed to external factors.
Examples of intrinsic motivation would be doing something because you feel it is the moral and ethical thing to do; doing something because you know it will benefit others or doing something because it brings you pleasure and joy.
The latter is common in regards to an enjoyable pastime or a hobby.
It is believed that intrinsic motivation is far stronger than extrinsic motivation however there are times when extrinsic motivation can become stronger because it displaces intrinsic motivation.
This is known as the overjustification effect. For example this occurs when you begin doing something for intrinsic reasons and then are offered monies or another type of reward for doing it that overrides the reason you started doing it in the first place.
In many cases when this happens, a person loses interest in the activity once the reward is taken away. The key is to not offer large extrinsic rewards for something that is meant to be motivated intrinsically (in other words, from within).
Intrinsic motivation has been widely studied by researchers in the realm of education since the start of the 1970s and their findings have been that when students are intrinsically motivated to do well in school, they tend to perform better, make higher marks and they also tend to enjoy the material they are learning a great deal more.
A man named Bernard Weiner created a theory known as the “Attribution Theory” and he looked at such things as the orientation of goals and the locus of control (internal and external).
As an aside, an internal locus of control is when a person believes that they have control over what happens to them whereas an external locus of control means that a person believes that control is outside of themselves and has more to do with extraneous factors as opposed to their own actions.
According to Bernard Weiner, students are much more likely to possess intrinsic motivation in their studies if they feel that their educational achievements have more to do with their own efforts as opposed to anything else.
As well students will experience intrinsic motivation if they feel that they play a paramount role in attaining their own personal educational goals as opposed to feeling as those it has more to do with luck or simply a “roll of the dice.” Finally when students have motivation that comes from within they will work harder to completely understand and master a given subject as opposed to simply learning the work at hand so they can pass a test or exam and then forgetting it afterwards.
Keep in mind that intrinsic motivation holds no promise of rewards for students as opposed to extrinsic motivation, which is all about rewards.
Many decades of research has given rise to a theory known as “Goal Theory” which has shown that intrinsic motivation in some communities and groups is altruistic in nature as the desire to help others and contribute to the greater whole is the number one motivator.
When a person appeals to the common good or does something based on a moral obligation or commitment to others this is when intrinsic motivation is shown to be alive and well in the world.