Motives For Success

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

It has long been noted that different people, performing similar actions, can be guided by different motives. For example, one goes to university to satisfy the thirst for knowledge, the other - to have a prestigious job in the future, and the third - just to keep up with his comrades. From what motives motivate a person, his success largely depends. Acting out of inertia or for the company, it is difficult to count on high achievements.

Any human impulse can be described from the point of view of what general goal it is aimed at - achievement or avoidance. Let's say a person wants to start a family to connect with a loved one or not to be left alone. Of course, in the first case, there are more chances for a harmonious and happy family life. Avoiding troubles colors the attitude in minor tones, generates anxiety and anxiety, which interfere with the enjoyment of life.

If you analyze our aspirations, you will notice that this or that motive is predominant for any of us. Some people live for the sake of achievement: they want something good to happen in their life. And therefore a person does everything possible, bringing the desired event closer. Others, on the other hand, are constantly afraid that something unpleasant will happen. Their every step is aimed at preventing danger. Even if it succeeds, one is not satisfied.

As one of the important characteristics of a personality, psychologists call the level of aspirations. It is determined by the degree of difficulty of those tasks that a person sets for himself. This phenomenon was studied using an interesting experiment. The subjects were offered a set of tasks that allegedly differed in complexity; it was allowed to choose any. But since it was said that a limited time was allowed for the solution, the experimenter could arbitrarily interrupt the work and say that the problem was not solved, or, conversely, patiently wait for a successful solution. During the experiment, interesting patterns emerged. It turned out that success almost always prompts you to choose the next harder task, and failure, on the contrary, makes it easier. But the following individual characteristics of the choice also came to light. Achievement-oriented people initially chose the average difficulty level, and then relentlessly sought to surpass it. People inclined to avoid trouble chose the easiest tasks, the least threatened with failure, or … the most difficult: after all, probable failure can be justified by the maximum complexity. The first unsuccessful attempt was not very unsettled, they continued to increase their efforts. The second, after the defeat, gave up and reduced their claims to a minimum.

Much the same happens in everyday life. Some are either content with crumbs, or dreaming of the clearly unrealizable. Others set realistic goals and move towards achieving them.

The world around us is full of contradictions and problems. However, these problems are perceived by some as a threat, and by others as a source of constructive solutions. We admit to ourselves: is it not precisely the distorted motivation that is the cause of our mental troubles? If so, then it is never too late to change the situation. Of course, learning to look at the world differently is impossible in one day. However, the very awareness of the problem is the first step towards its solution.