I have found the concepts we have been studying in
Inquiry class quite interesting. I think
learning about them and trying to apply them to my life, both in and out of
school will benefit me in the future. I
have found myself comparing what I am learning about motivation, delayed
gratification, and persistence, to my life, and to what kind of person I
believe I am. As the weeks have gone on,
I am realizing how all of these concepts are closely related to each other.
For example in my reading this week, Angela
Duckworth talks about grit, as in the following quote:
She
believes grit can wax and wane in response to experiences. In addition, people
might be gritty about some things and not others. “You
can see a child be exceptionally self-disciplined about their basketball
practicing, and yet when you see them in math class, they give up at the
slightest frustration," says Duckworth.
In a previous blog
about delayed gratification, I wrote about how it is easier to have
willpower/motivation to wait for something that you really want. If something
means enough to you or you want it bad enough, I feel it is easier to be
motivated to either accomplish it, or to wait for it, then if it is something
that is not as personally important. The
following quote speaks of self-control, which to me, is the same as willpower,
and similar to persistence.
In the short term, self-control is a limited resource. But over the long
term, it can act more like a muscle. Tierney cites one study in which students
were asked to watch their posture for a week. At the end of the week, those
students performed better on self-control tasks — tasks that had nothing to do
with sitting up straight — than students who had not been exercising control
all week.
So when it comes to willpower, if practice doesn't make perfect, then at
least it makes progress. Tierney says people who exercise their willpower
frequently often have better self-control — observant religious people, are a
good example, he says. "Most religions have prayers you say, exercises,
meditations you do, all those things build up that self-control."
I believe that the
more persistent you are, the more you practice and perform methods of self-control,
and willpower, the easier it is to put it into practice to use in your daily
life. I have learned that it is
beneficial to me to put some of these ideas in play in regards to my school
work. I have to be able to plan my time
accordingly, in order to get all of my school work done in a timely manner. I have been trying, and having some success
in getting my work done earlier. I have
been scheduling time into my schedule to complete these tasks. It is very tempting sometimes to take the time
that I had put aside to do school work, to go do something that sounds better,
with my friends. I have to summon the
willpower to say no, and stay and finish my work. I know that as the deadline approaches, if have the work completed, I will be much happier, and more relaxed that I am not
under pressure to rush at the last minute.
