Motivating yourself
One of the most important factors in effective learning is a high level of motivation.
Motivation will carry you through when things get tough. It is important to know why you are undertaking a course of study and what your desired goals are.
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What is your motivation? |
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How to strengthen motivation? |
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It is a valuable exercise to look at your motivation for taking a course of study
Rate your reasons for taking a course in nursing 10 [very important] 5 [quite important] 0 [not important]
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10
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5
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0
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To realise a long held ambition |
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To improve my opportunities for a professional career |
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To further my current job prospects |
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To prove to myself I can go to university |
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To prove to my family that I can go to university |
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To improve my prospects of earning a higher salary |
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To make up for missed opportunities in my youth |
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To get qualifications |
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To get more self esteem |
Your personal ,motivation may not be in the table, so write your own if necessary. Complete the following sentence 'My principal motivation for becoming a nurse is............' and leave it in a place you can see easily.
It may prove an inspiration when times get tough.
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Motivation can be strengthened by the following:• goal setting - setting yourself and writing down achievable goals for yourself over the coming year
• making assertions - telling yourself every day that you are successful in achieving your goals
• modelling - finding a mentor you can model yourself on, what makes them successful practitioners, how do they cope?
• internal visualisations - these effectively harness the unconscious to help us achieve our goals.
Try some of these visualisation in a darkened room with your eyes closed:
New Room
Picture the room you will be in in one year's time. Look around you. What are doing? What are wearing? Who is with you? Visualise where you want to be and who with. Now try the same in three years timeRemoving obstacles
Picture a stony road ahead of you. Are the stones large or small? How much are blocking your way? Visualise yourself picking up and moving aside the stones. When the path is clear, picture yourself walking down it.