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Ready to be inspired? Here are 11 self-motivation examples

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What is motivation?

11 examples of self-motivation, 4 elements of self-motivation, why is self-motivation so important at work, how to show self-motivation in a job interview, what causes demotivation in the workplace, how to show self-motivation at work, something to remember: the importance of obligation.

If you’re wondering how you can achieve your goals and get inspired, self-motivation examples can help. 

The thing is, motivated people, don't just wake up in the morning and drink motivation juice. Like most of us, they probably drink coffee — but that isn’t their secret. Staying motivated takes hard work, a positive attitude , and a lot of focus. 

We can find examples of self-motivation everywhere. Think about it: To complete tasks and do your goal-setting, you need motivation. Something gets you out of bed in the morning, convinces you to turn on your coffee maker, and helps you choose an outfit. 

That might be your job, your family, or your desire to work out. And while sometimes that motivation is hard to find, we depend on it to succeed in life. 

We all need to fine-tune our motivation skills and become self-motivated to achieve our goals. We’re here to show you why self-motivation is important, some self-motivation examples, how to improve motivation at work, and more. Let's go.

Motivation is behind what you do every day. It pushes you to go to work and hit the gym. Your motivation also pushes you to accomplish your goals and complete your everyday tasks . It helps you to find your passions and learn how to manage yourself .

You should know that there are two main types of motivation : intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is all about what we want to do and relates to our values and interests — typically, self-motivation is intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation makes us act because there are external factors like rewards at stake. These rewards can be things like good grades and earning money. 

When it comes to learning , motivation is extra important. Studies have actually found that extrinsic motivation can sometimes undermine our intrinsic motivators . But without intrinsic motivations, our rewards don't always motivate us.

For example, we won't grasp the purpose of a lesson in school or a course without an internal reason. Intrinsic motivation leads to enhanced learning, creativity, wellness, and more . 

What rewards are most effective also depends on our interests or values. If we had to take a course on a subject we didn’t like, a reward of a passing grade might not be enough incentive to motivate us . But if it’s a subject we love, we’ll be inspired to learn and achieve a high grade.

What's fun about self-motivation is that it can come in all forms. It’s not just useful for our personal goals , either. Self-motivation is everywhere. However, since it covers such a broad array of areas, it's helpful to have some examples of what self-motivation is.

Here are 11 examples of self-motivation for you to think about:

• Tidying up your room when things get messy because you want it to be organized and calming
• Washing your dishes right after you use them because it’ll make your space clean
• Watering the flowers in your backyard because you’ll see how much your plants grow
• Helping your mom out with some chores without her asking because it’ll make you feel productive and supportive
• Working through a disagreement with your partner calmly because you want to be on the same page 
• Helping to boost your friend's self-esteem because you want to see them thrive
• Starting your workday on time each day because you want to create a structured routine and finish on time
• Volunteering to help out on extra projects at work because you’re happy to help where you can
• Remaining focused at work and avoiding social media because you know that social media tends to drain your energy
• Pointing out problems and providing solutions on projects because you want your work to succeed
• Working out to boost your mood because you value physical activity

Self-motivation doesn't happen as a result of wishful thinking. It happens when four important elements work together at the same time. If we have one but not the other, we'll be missing important parts of what it means to be motivated.

Here are the four elements of self-motivation:

1. Personal drive to accomplish your goals

When we discuss this element, it's all about mindset. We can have two types of mindsets: a fixed mindset or a growth mindset . With a fixed mindset, we believe that we can't change or improve, and the skills we have now are the only ones we'll ever have.

A growth mindset, on the other hand, invites challenges. It welcomes the opportunity to learn new skills , grow, and improve ourselves. A growth mindset is key when it comes to motivation.

2. A balance of optimism and resilience

Resilience is all about thinking of ways to turn negative events around. We need to think rationally and logically about our obstacles to overcome them. Our optimism is there to help out with that. It helps us develop a positive attitude and still believe in ourselves. Resiliency helps us bounce back, but optimism helps our well-being .

3. Commitment level to your goals

Our goals should be connected to our core values and what we can do to live meaningful lives. But it's not always easy to point those things out. If you find that your commitment level to your goals is poor, you might need to evaluate them.

If they’re unrealistic, you may be discouraged or disappointed when you can’t achieve them. Make sure you’re committed to reasonable, authentic goals. Try setting SMART goals to stay motivated.

4. Taking the initiative to work hard

Your dreams and goals aren't going to be achieved by anyone except yourself. Taking the initiative to put in hard work and remain focused is important if we want to stay motivated.

Sometimes we have to face things we don't want to that might be difficult, but that doesn't mean they aren't worth it. Our initiative can also bring us positive opportunities. These will allow us to experience things that wouldn't have happened unless we worked for them.

It can be challenging to remain committed to your goals all by yourself. BetterUp can help sustain your motivation levels as you continue your hard work to be your best self.

Why is self-motivation important in the workplace, and why should we set goals for self-improvement anyways? Well, for many reasons, actually. 

One of them is that we should be bringing our whole selves to work . If you have motivation outside of work, why not bring it with you to the office? Our work values will help dictate our ability to stay intrinsically motivated in the workplace. 

However, if you can’t find the spark, it might be time for a career change . Finding a job that fulfills your purpose and aligns with your values will improve your overall well-being. Plus, it’ll help you motivate yourself.

Feeling like we're making progress and accomplishing things at the end of the day is great. Your boss isn't going to tell you that you're doing good work for nothing, so we have to put effort into our jobs. When we have to do some teamwork to complete tasks, we might also rely on our motivation to get us through it if we're used to working independently. 

Motivation at work is important for business reasons as well. Studies have shown that workplaces with engaged, interested, and motivated employees are up to 43% more productive . If you aren’t interested in your work, it’s harder to do it — and do it well. 

Plus, Gallup found that in 2021, only 35% of US employees were engaged with their work . Of the disengaged employees, 74% said they were actively looking for new work . Motivation and engagement help keep employee turnover rates low and the quality of work high.

A job interview is a great place to give examples of your self-motivation. Hiring managers want to see that you're interested in the work, value what you'd be doing, and don't need to constantly be told what to do. Make sure you answer your interview questions thoughtfully and in alignment with the job description. 

Here are eight examples of describing self-motivation in a job interview:

• Talk about when you did great work because of your passion
• Give an example of when and how you overcame an obstacle independently 
• Mention your strong work ethic 
• Describe with personal anecdotes how self-motivation is a core trait of yours
• Stay optimistic with your answers
• Avoid one-word answers or examples with external motivators 
• Give an example that displays your commitment and resilience
• Admit when you've made mistakes, but highlight how they taught you important things

Knowing how to handle a motivation problem is difficult when you don't know what causes it. To keep people inspired at work and boost their motivation , it's important to identify what might cause these things to decline.

Let's review the five potential causes of employee demotivation at work:

• They're bored: When employees aren't passionate about what they're doing, they won't have a sense of accomplishment even after reaching their goals.
• They lack confidence: Without a strong leader setting a good example, employees might not know what healthy motivation looks like.
• They feel unappreciated: Employees who know that their efforts are valued and appreciated will work better than those who don't feel like their actions matter.
• They lack growth opportunities: If people know that they don't have anything else to learn or ways to grow, they won't sustain their motivation levels.
• External issues: We all have lives outside of work . The problems we face in our personal lives can carry over and impact how we work professionally.

If you already have plenty of self-motivation or want to flex your newly developed skill, there are a few good ways to do that. You can demonstrate that you're a self-motivated employee to your team members and managers with a few tips.

Give one of these six ideas a try next time you're at work:

• Smile and greet your team in the mornings
• Share suggestions on projects and listen to feedback
• Take the initiative on projects, especially when nobody else will
• Participate in professional events that are outside of your working office
• Inquire into career development opportunities
• Put in the effort to become a better leader

We've discussed self-motivation examples, why self-motivation is important, and how we can demonstrate it at work. But one last thing we're going to highlight is an obligation . It's not a type of motivation that's necessarily intrinsic or extrinsic, but it still influences us to act. 

When we feel obligated to do things, it can be from our sense of duty, ethics, and values. Our obligations can still show us how to be disciplined and follow a set routine that gets things done.

Turning your to-do list into a series of obligations might take away from the fun, but it will help you stay loyal to what you need to do. And no matter where our motivation comes from, our actions matter. Goal-setting requires us to be driven, committed, optimistic and resilient. 

We have to take the initiative when needed. Our self-motivation and sense of obligation also carry over to our professional lives. These are both important traits to demonstrate in our jobs. And they’re important to convey when we're looking for a new one. 

Next time you set your intentions and make a plan of action , don't forget your motivation. 

Find someone to help you stay accountable as you try to sustain your motivation. At BetterUp , we can help you track your progress and goal setting so that you continue to learn new skills.

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Maggie Wooll, MBA

Maggie Wooll is a researcher, author, and speaker focused on the evolving future of work. Formerly the lead researcher at the Deloitte Center for the Edge, she holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from Princeton University and an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. Maggie is passionate about creating better work and greater opportunities for all.

10 examples of principles that can guide your approach to work

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How to Stay Motivated on Your Self-improvement Journey

Eight tips to master momentum on the roller coaster of personal development..

Posted March 25, 2024 | Reviewed by Hara Estroff Marano

• What Is Motivation?
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• Self-improvement can be an unpredictable, wild ride.
• To keep motivated, embrace the challenges and triumphs along the way.
• Both your personal and professional lives can benefit from self-improvement.

Self-improvement allows us to better ourselves both personally and professionally. It involves a conscious effort to enhance skills, knowledge, habits, and overall well-being. Although it's good to strive for self-improvement, motivation can sometimes take work. Self-improvement can be an unpredictable, thrilling experience, much like riding a roller coaster.

Highs, lows, challenges, and triumphs come from striving for personal development and growth. Lke roller coasters, self-improvement journeys also contain difficult moments. Along the way, challenges, obstacles, and pitfalls may threaten progress and test motivation to continue.

Eight Tips to Navigate Your Self-Improvement Journey

• Progress in nonlinear: Progress in any endeavor often involves periods during which growth appears to stall or plateau despite continued effort. Plateauing can be frustrating, but it is a natural part of the process. Setbacks or obstacles may cause regression or delays in progress. Never expect a straightforward path to success. Accepting that progress is non-linear means you can approach your goals with patience, resilience , and adaptability while staying motivated.
• External factors influence growth: The people we interact with daily, including family, friends, peers, and mentors, can profoundly influence our growth. Supportive relationships and positive role models can encourage personal development, while negative influences or lack of support can hinder progress and motivation. Socioeconomic factors, such as income level, employment opportunities, and access to resources, can also significantly impact the ability to grow and thrive.
• Setbacks are learning opportunities: Viewing setbacks as learning opportunities involves reframing challenges as stepping stones to growth rather than seeing them as barriers to success. By embracing setbacks with a growth mindset , you can cultivate resilience, deepen self-awareness, and gain a better understanding of your circumstances.
• Face your fears: Facing your fears with resilience can result in positive outcomes. Studies show that people who face their fears and stressors are motivated to put forth more effort to resolve problems or grow, and they tend to perform better. Challenges like facing your fears also foster personal self-discovery and growth. I've found that it's best to resist the immediate fight/flee/freeze response and use mindfulness strategies to calm your mind and promote a relaxed and collaborative problem-solving atmosphere.
• Balance is key: Balancing personal growth involves seeking continuous improvement while also accepting yourself for who you are and practicing self-compassion. Your health and personal relationships are the foundation of prosperity; unless you are protective of them, your career and financial accomplishments could come tumbling down. Developing a plan for work-life balance and well-being is critical to finding sustainable success.
• Celebrate every step and enjoy the journey: Acknowledge and appreciate your progress, no matter how small or incremental it may seem. Think of different ways to celebrate your achievement to motivate you to continue your chosen path of self-improvement. Celebrating achievements doesn't have to be extravagant or costly. It can be as simple as giving yourself a high-five or informally getting together with supportive friends.
• Embrace life's complexity: Accept and appreciate life's intricate, multifaceted nature rather than seek simplistic, black-and-white interpretations. Acknowledge the diversity of experiences, perspectives, and emotions that make up the human experience.
• Focus on progress, not perfection: If you keep waiting for something to be perfect (like your athletic performance, business plan, or resume), you may never put it out in the world. At some point, it has to be good enough, and you have to pull the trigger. Perfectionism reduces productivity and fuels performance anxiety ; it can be a real roadblock to success. In my therapeutic practice, clients with perfectionism commonly experience depression , obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorder , workaholism, extreme religiosity , and psychological rigidity (black-and-white thinking).

Not only does self-improvement contribute to overall well-being and happiness , but it's also a valuable asset for your career. Employers appreciate employees' commitment to self-improvement, as it demonstrates initiative, motivation, and a drive for excellence. Self-improvement also fosters a sense of empowerment and control over your life while on the roller coaster of self-improvement. A great byproduct is increased motivation, confidence , self-esteem , and a positive self-image .

LePine, J. A., Podsakoff, N. P., & LePine, M. A. (2005). A meta-analytic test of the challenge stressor–hindrance stressor framework: An explanation for inconsistent relationships among stressors and performance. Academy of management journal , 48 (5), 764-775.

Spinks, N. (2004). Work-life balance: achievable goal or pipe dream?. The Journal for Quality and Participation , 27 (3), 4.

Kenny, D.T., Davis, P. & Oates, J. (January 2004). Music performance anxiety and occupational stress amongst opera chorus artists and their relationship with state and trait anxiety and perfectionism. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 18, no. 6: 757-777, doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2003.09.004.

Sassaroli, S. et al. Perfectionism in depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and eating disorders. (June 2008). Behaviour Research and Therapy 46, no. 6: 757-765, doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2008.02.007

Joyce Marter, LCPC, is a psychotherapist, entrepreneur, mental health thought leader, national speaker, and author.

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Home » Personal growth » What is self-motivation?

How to self-motivate

What goal are you working toward right now? Maybe it’s getting in better shape or advancing in your career. Perhaps it’s discovering how to be a better romantic partner or parent to your children. Whatever the goal, think about why you haven’t reached it yet. What’s holding you back?

The answers that first come to mind might be external factors. You don’t have the time. You don’t have the skills. You don’t have the money. While these things might play a role in your lack of progress , what it really comes down to is a lack of self-motivation . When you’re driven and resourceful, you can accomplish anything you set your mind to – as long as you have the willpower to achieve it .

What is self-motivation?

Most self-motivation definitions consider how you can find the ability to do what needs to be done without influence from other people or situations. Self-motivation is encouraging yourself to continue making progress toward a goal even when it feels challenging. It’s turning your shoulds into musts. 

Think of some of the most successful people you know. Are they the smartest people you’ve ever met? The wealthiest? Chances are, they’re not – but they are the most motivated to succeed. As Tony Robbins says, “The one common denominator of all successful people is their hunger to push through their fears.” When you have enough hunger, you can easily learn how to self-motivate to meet the goals you’ve set your mind and focus on.

Boost your focus and motivation with Tony’s priming method

Why is self-motivation essential?

The ability to self-motivate is the only sure-fire way to achieve your goals and get everything you want in life. You won’t always have parents, teachers or bosses to direct your energy or provide external motivations. You need to cultivate and draw on inner strength – a deep confidence in yourself that is completely unaffected by outside events and experiences. When you have this type of belief in yourself , you’ll be unstoppable.

Self-motivation is also essential to finding a fulfilling career – and to acing job interviews. The question “Are you self-motivated?” often comes up during the interview process, and it’s not always easy to answer. Employers ask this to see if you’re a good culture fit and if you’ll be enthusiastic about the work you’ll be doing. To be prepared, think of a few examples: times that you felt especially motivated about your work or when you set a big goal and achieved it with self-motivation . You’ll demonstrate your passion and make a connection with the interviewer.

What drives self-motivation?

So, why do so many people find themselves lacking motivation? The truth is that self-motivation techniques all come down to your psychology. First, you have to clearly know what it is you want. Why do you want to improve your connection with your partner ? Is it so you can deepen the trust and love between you, ultimately creating a healthy relationship and long-lasting bond? Think of the reason why you want to succeed and turn to this when things seem tough and you need help with self-motivation .

Then, you need to assess the emotion and meaning you’re attaching to your successes and failures.

When you face a setback, do you tell yourself you’re not good enough to succeed? If so, it’s time to seriously change your psychology. To truly answer the question “ What is self-motivation ?,” you need to be in the mindset that you’re already motivated. When it’s time to self-motivate, think of the positive state you want to be in to get things done. How does your body feel when you’re motivated? Where are your energy levels? What messages are you conveying with your body language?

By tapping into the positive state that you associate with self-motivation , you’ll be able to self-motivate more easily and often.

13 self-motivation techniques for reaching your goals

1) take responsibility for your life.

Self-motivation is often difficult because it comes from you. If you don’t take care of the underlying issues that keep you from making progress, you can fall back on blaming others for your failure. In some cases, you can rely on external factors and friends for motivation, but at the end of the day, you’re the one who has to put in the work. You’re the one who must take charge of your life.

2) Find your why

Tony often says that, “People are not lazy. They simply have impotent goals – that is, goals that do not inspire them.” Before you can learn how to self-motivate , you need to find your why . You need a compelling purpose that goes beyond material things or climbing the career ladder. Why do you want to build a business? It likely goes back to the ability to do what you want, when you want and with whom you want – the true definition of success . Connect your goals back to your purpose and you’ll never lack self-motivation .

3) Reevaluate your goals

  Tony also says, “At any moment, the decision you make can change the course of your life forever.” If you’re focused on your vision and purpose, but you’re still not feeling inspired, you may need to make a decision to go in a new direction. In other words, if your why isn’t motivating you, then you may need a new why. Reevaluate your blueprint for your life and don’t hesitate to create new goals. As long as you’re making progress, you’re ahead of everyone who isn’t making an effort.  

4) Create empowering beliefs

The only limitations in our lives are the ones we put on ourselves. If you don’t have enough self-motivation , it comes down to one reason: you don’t see yourself as a self-motivated person. Change your negative beliefs into positive ones by conditioning your mind and creating empowering beliefs . Catch yourself when you think negatively about yourself and transform that self-talk so that it motivates you instead of holding you back.

5) Learn better time management strategies

Sometimes the key to self-motivation is having the necessary time-management tools and strategies under your belt. How are you managing your time? Find ways to stop procrastinating and start making progress, like chunking, the Rapid Planning Method TM and N.E.T. time (No Extra Time time).

6) Create a massive action plan

Self-motivation techniques can be as straightforward as creating a massive action plan : writing down what it is you want, identifying your purpose behind it and creating a series of steps to help you reach your goal. Once you have your plan documented, you can refer to this for additional motivation when things get challenging along the way.

7) Look to the success of others

Turning to inspirational quotes for motivation or looking toward a mentor for advice can help you on your path to success. Read more about famous role models or leaders you look up to and see how they utilize self-motivation . You may be able to pick up some t echniques or gain some inspira tion as you read about their strategies and struggles.

8) Use the power of music

Our brains are hardwired to respond to music . Tapping into the types of beats and rhythms that boost your mood and energy levels is a great way to get yourself out of a slump and more focused on the task at hand. Always have a pair of earbuds and your favorite playlist nearby so you can harness the power of music when you need a jolt of self-motivation .

9) Schedule outdoors time

Even the most energized people will eventually get run down if they spend too much time in cramped spaces with artificial light . When learning how to self-motivate to reach your goals, don’t make the mistake of burning the midnight oil and staying confined to your office. Getting outside and spending time in nature every day is a perfect way to take a break, boost energy and replenish your self-motivation .

10) Banish multitasking

You may think that working on three projects at the same time is the best way to get things done and that your self-motivation will soar when you can simultaneously check multiple to-dos off your list. You’re wrong. Multi-tasking diminishes focus , and as Tony says , where focus goes, energy flows. Select the most important task you need to work on and concentrate solely on that until you’ve accomplished what you need to, then move on to the next one.

 11) Get moving

Self-motivation becomes much easier when you’re already in motion. It doesn’t matter whether you are figuring out how to self-motivate toward working out, tackling your tasks at work or preparing for that big presentation; the more you move, the more energy you will have. Movement doesn’t have to be limited to the gym. You can easily incorporate movement throughout your day by taking the stairs, walking around your home while on the phone or incorporating these desk exercises into your day .

12) Visualize your self-motivation

Having trouble taking those first steps toward a goal? Visualize yourself as already active in that part of your life, when the goal is achieved. Use this priming exercise first thing in the morning: When you do this, you bridge that gap from inaction to action just by priming yourself for success.

13) Focus on gratitude

It can be very difficult to learn how to self-motivate when you get caught up in negativity. Focus on gratitude and adopt an abundance mindset . Be thankful for all the good things in your life and steer your focus from all the things you wish you had. Stop comparing yourself to others and understand that life is happening for you , not to you. The more you look at everything good in your life, the more of it you will attract and the easier it will be to self-motivate to attract even more.

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Self-motivation is, in its simplest form, the force that drives you to do things.

The topic of self-motivation, however, is far from simple. People can be motivated by many things, both internal and external, such as desire to do something, love of someone, or need for money. Usually, motivation is a result of several factors.

The ability to motivate yourself—self-motivation—is an important skill. Self-motivation drives people to keep going even in the face of set-backs, to take up opportunities, and to show commitment to what they want to achieve.

This page explains more about this essential area, part of emotional intelligence .

What is Motivation?

Motivation is what pushes us to achieve our goals, feel more fulfilled and improve our overall quality of life.

Understanding and developing your self-motivation can help you to take control of many other aspects of your life.

Motivation is one of the three areas of personal skills that are integral to the concept of emotional intelligence.

Daniel Goleman, the author of several seminal books on Emotional Intelligence, identified four elements that make up motivation:

Personal drive to achieve , the desire to improve or to meet certain standards;

Commitment to personal or organisational goals;

Initiative , which he defined as ‘readiness to act on opportunities’; and

Optimism , the ability to keep going and pursue goals in the face of setbacks. This is also known as resilience.

To improve self-motivation, it is therefore helpful to understand more about these individual elements.

The Elements of Self-Motivation

1. Personal drive to achieve

You could think of a personal drive to achieve as ambition, or perhaps personal empowerment. However, it is also worth thinking about it in terms of mindset.

There are two types of mindset, fixed and growth.

Those with a fixed mindset believe that talent is ingrained, and that we cannot change our level of ability.

Those with a growth mindset believe that they can improve their skills through hard work and effort.

Research shows that those who believe that they can improve—that is, who have a growth mindset —are far more likely to achieve in whatever sphere they choose. A growth mindset is therefore an important element in a personal drive to succeed.

For more about this, see our page on Mindsets .

Other elements of personal drive include being organised , particularly being good at time management , and avoiding distractions .

2. Commitment to goals

There is considerable evidence, even if much of it is anecdotal, that goal-setting is important to our general well-being.

If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.

Albert Einstein

You should set goals beyond your reach so you always have something to live for.

The greater danger for most of us isn’t that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.

Michelangelo

It certainly makes sense that ‘ if you aim at nothing, it is easy to achieve it’ , and that most of us need something in our lives to aim towards. Having an awareness of where you wish to be, and an understanding of how you plan to get there, is a vital part of staying motivated.

For more about how to set good goals, see our page on Setting Personal Goals .

3. Initiative

Initiative is, effectively, the ability to take advantage of opportunities when they occur.

It is all too easy to hesitate, and then the opportunity may be gone. However, the old sayings ‘ look before you leap ’ and ‘ fools rush in where angels fear to tread’ have a lot of truth in them. It is also important to think things through and ensure that you are making the right decision for you.

Initiative can therefore be considered as a combination of courage and good risk management:

Risk management is necessary to ensure that you identify the right opportunities to consider, and that they have the appropriate level of risk for you; and

Courage is necessary to overcome the fear of the unknown inherent in new opportunities.

4. Optimism or resilience

Optimism is the ability to look on the bright side, or think positively. Resilience is the ability to ‘bounce back’ after a setback, or keep positive in the face of challenges. The two are closely related, although not exactly the same.

Resilient people use their ability to think as a way to manage negative emotional responses to events. In other words, they use positive or rational thinking to examine, and if necessary, overcome reactions that they understand may not be entirely logical. They are also prepared to ask for help if necessary—as well as to offer their own help generously to others in need.

See our pages on Resilience and Positive Thinking for more.

Types of Motivators: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivators

In thinking about self-motivation, it is helpful to understand what motivates you to do things.

There are two main types of motivators: ‘intrinsic’ and ‘extrinsic’.

In their simplest form you can think about these two types of motivation as:

Intrinsic = related to what we want to do.

Extrinsic = related to what we have to do.

A more detailed definition is:

Intrinsic : To perform an action or task based on the expected or perceived satisfaction of performing the action or task. Intrinsic motivators include having fun, being interested and personal challenge.

Extrinsic : To perform an action or task in order to attain some sort of external reward, including money, power and good marks or grades.

Different people are motivated by different things and at different times in their lives. The same task may have more intrinsic motivators at certain times and more extrinsic motivators at others, and most tasks have a combination of the two types of motivation.

John works because he has to pay his mortgage and feed himself and his family. He gets no satisfaction from his job and there is no chance of promotion. John’s motivators are purely extrinsic.

Sally works because she loves what she does, she gets enormous satisfaction and self-fulfilment from her work. Sally has enough money put away that she does not need to work, she owns her house outright and can afford to buy what she wants when she wants it. Sally’s motivators are purely intrinsic.

Clearly Sally and John are at different ends of the self-motivation spectrum. Most people, however, fall somewhere in the middle.

Most people do have to work in order to earn money, but at the same time they also find their day-to-day work life rewarding or satisfying in other intrinsic ways—job satisfaction and the chance to socialise with colleagues, for example.

We all have a tendency to work better when we love what we are doing.

It’s easier to get out of bed in the morning, we are happier in our work, and happier in general.

Research shows that this is particularly important when we’re under stress. It’s much easier to cope with stress and long hours if we generally enjoy the work. Intrinsic motivators therefore plays a big part in self-motivation for most of us.

The Importance of Obligation

What about if a task has neither intrinsic nor extrinsic motivators?

The obvious conclusion is that we are unlikely to do it, because it will be pointless.

We all know it doesn’t always work like that. There is a further issue: feelings of obligation .

Obligation motivators are not strictly either intrinsic or extrinsic but can still be very powerful. Obligation comes from our personal ethics and sense of duty, what is right and what is wrong.

For more about this, you may want to read our page about Goodness: learning to use your ‘moral compass’ .

You may feel obliged to go to a party because you were invited by somebody you know – there will be no obvious extrinsic or intrinsic benefit to you attending but you may worry that you will offend or upset your friend if you don’t go.  You are more likely to enjoy the party, however, if you go with a positive and open attitude, expecting it to be fun. This adds an intrinsic motivator: fun and enjoyment.

Further Reading from Skills You Need

The Skills You Need Guide to Personal Development

Learn how to set yourself effective personal goals and find the motivation you need to achieve them. This is the essence of personal development, a set of skills designed to help you reach your full potential, at work, in study and in your personal life.

The second edition of or bestselling eBook is ideal for anyone who wants to improve their skills and learning potential, and it is full of easy-to-follow, practical information.

One Step at a Time…

Becoming self-motivated, or even just improving your self-motivation a little, will not happen overnight.

There are many skills involved, and you cannot expect to develop them all instantly. However, a better understanding of the elements of motivation, and particularly how they fit together, should help to increase your skills. Just remember, Rome was not built in a day: think about making progress over a long period of time and in small steps.

Continue to: Setting Personal Goals How Self-Motivated are You? Quiz

See also: Motivation Skills for Teachers Perseverance How to Write a To-Do List

The Vital Importance and Benefits of Motivation

Otherwise, we would have been born as a sloth or a panda bear (no offense to these lovely creatures).

It is in our nature to strive, to want, and to move in a direction of something we desire and deem valuable.

Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.

William James

This article explains the reasons why understanding human motivation is important and well worth the time spent on learning to increase it. It lists many benefits of healthy motivation and distinguishes the types of motivation that are more effective in dealing with our complex and rapidly changing environment.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Goal Achievement Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients create actionable goals and master techniques to create lasting behavior change.

This Article Contains:

Why is motivation important, benefits of motivation, extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation.

• Self-Motivation

A Motivational Quote

11 top motivational videos, a take-home message.

Why is it important to understand motivation? Why do we care about what people want and why they want it? How about because it can improve our lives.

Understanding motivation gives us many valuable insights into human nature. It explains why we set goals, strive for achievement and power, why we have desires for psychological intimacy and biological sex, why we experience emotions like fear, anger, and compassion.

Learning about motivation is valuable because it helps us understand where motivation comes from, why it changes, what increases and decreases it, what aspects of it can and cannot be changed, and helps us answer the question of why some types of motivation are more beneficial than others.

Motivation reflects something unique about each one of us and allows us to gain valued outcomes like improved performance, enhanced wellbeing, personal growth, or a sense of purpose. Motivation is a pathway to change our way of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

Finding ways to increase motivation is crucial because it allows us to change behavior, develop competencies, be creative, set goals, grow interests, make plans, develop talents, and boost engagement. Applying motivational science to everyday life helps us to motivate employees, coach athletes, raise children, counsel clients, and engage students.

The benefits of motivation are visible in how we live our lives. As we are constantly responding to changes in our environment, we need motivation to take corrective action in the face of fluctuating circumstances. Motivation is a vital resource that allows us to adapt, function productively, and maintain wellbeing in the face of a constantly changing stream of opportunities and threats.

I have learned from my mistakes, and I am sure I can repeat them exactly.

There are many health benefits of increased motivation. Motivation as a psychological state is linked to our physiology. When our motivation is depleted, our functioning and wellbeing suffer.

Some studies show that when we feel helpless in exerting control for example, we tend to give up quickly when challenged (Peterson, Maier, & Seligman, 1993). Others have proven than when we find ourselves coerced, we lose access to our inner motivational resources (Deci, 1995).

High-quality motivation allows us to thrive, while its deficit causes us to flounder. Societal benefits of increased motivation are visible in greater student engagement, better job satisfaction in employees, flourishing relationships, and institutions.

But unhealthy fluctuations in motivation also explain addiction, gambling, risk-taking, and excessive internet usage. The motivation that underlies addictive behaviors shares the neurological underpinning associated with dopamine centric rewards system and tricky inner working of the pleasure cycle.

This makes it challenging and often difficult to change behavior in situations involving addiction. See our article on Motivational Interviewing to learn more about the stages of change and motivational interviewing techniques practitioners use to motivate clients to change unwanted behaviors.

The distinction between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation goes back to Deci and Ryan’s (2008) Self-Determination Theory of motivation.

Extrinsic motivation involves engaging in an activity because it leads to a tangible reward or avoids punishment.

Intrinsic motivation involves doing something because it is both interesting and deeply satisfying. We perform such activities for the positive feelings they create. Studies have consistently shown that intrinsic motivation leads to increased persistence, greater psychological wellbeing, and enhanced performance.

Deci and Ryan (2008) assume that humans are naturally self-motivated, curious, and interested, but the right conditions must be in place to be intrinsically motivated.

The three basic and universal psychological needs of autonomy, relatedness, and competence are foundational for human flourishing and optimal motivation, according to Susan Fowler (2019).

Satisfying the need for autonomy, relatedness, and competence leads to engaged, passionate individuals doing high-quality work in any domain. Therefore, we share tips and ideas for building the ideal working environment to promote intrinsic motivation.

Is any source of motivation more potent or more effective in motivating people than the other? Are people primarily motivated by internal motives or by external rewards, or are people driven equally by internal and external triggers?

Human motives are complex, and as social creatures, we are embedded into our environment, and social groups are often an important source of influence through the presence of rewards and considerations of potential consequences of our choices on those around us.

Self-Determination Theory (SDT) explains how external events like rewards or praise sometimes produce positive effects on motivation, but at other times can be quite detrimental (Ryan & Deci, 2008). The hidden cost of certain types of rewards is that they undermine intrinsic motivation by decreasing the sense of autonomy and competence.

There is a tradeoff between satisfying and undermining the need for competence when we offer rewards (Reeve, 2018). This form of extrinsic motivation also can undermine our sense of autonomy since rewards are used for both purposes: to control behavior and to affirm someone of their level of competence. We want to reward in a way that encourages competence without threatening the sense of autonomy.

My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition.

Indira Gandhi

Rewards should be reserved for activities that are not interesting and should be given when not expected. Praise is preferable to monetary rewards, for example, as it supports psychological needs and is of more lasting value (Reeve, 2018).

Similarly to rewards, imposed goals were found to narrow focus and impair creativity. Studies show that imposed goal setting increases unethical behavior and risk-taking, narrows focus, and decreases cooperation, intrinsic motivation, and creativity. This is an excellent example of goals gone wild (Pink, 2009).

Much of contemporary research shows that intrinsic motivation is more effective more often and of more enduring value. In some circumstances, however, extrinsic motivation may be more appropriate, as in the case of uninteresting activities.

It is also possible to make use of incentives more effective by encouraging people to identify with it and integrate it into their sense of self (Reeve, 2018). To give an example of identifying and integrating extrinsic motives respectively would be like describing the difference between saying: “ I do this because it’s the right thing to do ” versus “ I do this because I am a good person. ”

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Intrinsic motivation is inherent in the activities we perform for pure enjoyment or satisfaction. We engage in intrinsically motivated behavior because we want to experience the activity for its own sake. Unlike extrinsically motivated behavior, it is freely chosen (Deci, & Ryan, 1985).

Intrinsic motivation can be driven by curiosity, which is linked to a desire to know and motivates us to learn and explore our environment for answers (Loewenstein, 1994). Intrinsic motivation can also come from the need to actively interact and control our environment. The effectance motivation theory explains how intrinsic motivation drives us to develop competence (White, 1959).

Finally, Allport’s concept of the functional autonomy of motives explains how behavior originally performed for extrinsic reasons can become something to perform for its own sake (1937).

Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.

William Jennings Bryan

When it comes to intrinsic motivation, it is important to distinguish between activities that are intrinsically motivating and the development of what Csikszentmihalyi calls autotelic self (1975, 1988). The term autotelic is derived from the Greek word auto, which means self and telos meaning goal.

Intrinsic activities are self-contained because performing them is a reward in itself. The autotelic experience produced by an intrinsic activity makes us pay attention to what we are engaged in for its own sake and away from consequences. When the experience is intrinsically rewarding, life is justified in the present and not tied to some hypothetical future gain.

The most important characteristic of the autotelic experience is its intrinsically motivated nature. Professor Csíkszentmihályi, who coined the terms flow, defined this optimal experience as a pursuit of enjoyable, interesting activities for the sake of the experience itself, where the satisfaction derived from the action itself is the motivational factor (1990).

An autotelic self actively seeks out intrinsically motivating activities. A person who is said to have an autotelic personality values opportunities where she or he can experience complete absorption in the tasks at hand. They transform the self by making it more complex. A complex self has these five characteristics:

• Clarity of goals
• Self as the center of control
• Choice and knowing that life is not happening to you
• Commitment and care for what you are doing
• Challenge and increased craving for novelty (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975, 1988).

Autotelic self, according to Csikszentmihalyi, tends to create order out of chaos because it sees a tragedy as an opportunity to rise to the occasion and tends to focus all the psychic energy on overcoming the challenge created by the defeat (1990). Cultivating autotelic personality is, therefore, a worthwhile endeavor as it breeds resilience.

Falko and Engeser, in their recent study on motivation and flow, used the term activity related motivation as a substitute for intrinsic motivation to speak more specifically to the “Extended Cognitive Model of Motivation” (2018).

They measured various activity-related incentives in qualitative and quantitative ways and found the experience of flow to represent one of the most intensely studied. Positive incentives stemming from learning goal orientation, experience of competence, interest, and involvement lead to us engaging in activities purely for the enjoyment of it (Falko & Engeser, 2018).

Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.

Seneca, 4 B.C.–A.D. 65

Professor Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi, who developed the theory of flow, argues that happiness depends on inner harmony, not on the control we can exert over our environment or circumstances, and therefore describes flow as an optimal state of being that brings order to consciousness.

He discovered, in his years of research into creativity and productivity and interviews with people who were deemed successful in a wide range of professions and many of whom were Nobel Prize winners, that the secret to their optimal performance was their ability to enter the flow state frequently and deliberately.

They would describe feeling a sense of competence and control, a loss of self-consciousness, and such intense absorption in the task at hand that they would lose track of time.

Many of the most accomplished and creative people are at their peak when they experience “ a unified flowing from one moment to the next, in which we feel in control of our actions, and in which there is little distinction between self and environment; between stimulus and response; or between past, present, and future ” (Csíkszentmihályi, 1997, p. 37).

The contemporary research on motivation shows that intrinsic motivation that originates from internal motives is often experienced as more immediate and potent than extrinsic motivation.

Today we know that intrinsic motivation affects the quality of behavior more, such as school work, while extrinsic motivation influences the quantity of behavior more (Deckers, 2014).

It has also been shown that intrinsically motivated goal pursuit has greater long-term outcomes because it satisfies our psychological needs for autonomy and competence, and in turn, creates more positive states which reinforce the positive feedback loop and increase the likelihood of repetition (Reeve, 2018).

Self-motivation

No one knows more about self-motivation that the authors of self-determination theory . Based on the assumption that we have an innate tendency for personal growth toward psychological integration, the self-determination theory of Ryan and Deci proposed that all behavior can be understood as lying along a continuum of external regulation, or heteronomy and true self-regulation, or autonomy (2008).

Ryan and Deci distinguish varying degrees of external motivation based on the level of autonomy present while engaging in the desired behavior. On one end, there is the external regulation of behavior where rewards are used purely to control behavior, and compliance occurs to avoid consequences and is defined as one where there is no autonomy present.

They explain that while external regulation, as in the form of rewards, can control behavior, it does not constitute motivation per se.

In all human affairs there is always an end in view—of pleasure, or honor, or advantage.

Polybius, 125 B.C

We can also be motivated by the avoidance of guilt and by the need to build self-esteem. This form of self-regulation of behavior is characterized by low autonomy and a language of “ I should ” and “ I have to .”

When we are motivated by the contingencies related to our self-esteem and impose pressures on ourselves for fear of shame or failure, we are said to have introjected regulation. This form of regulation, while more effective than external motivation, remains ambivalent and unstable because it is accompanied by inner conflict, tension, and negative emotions (Ryan & Deci, 2008).

These are closely related to what is known in wellbeing research as prevention focus orientation, where emotional regulation is driven by security needs and avoidance (Kahneman, Diner, & Schwartz, 1999).

When we consciously accept behavior as important, and when we truly value the outcome, this provides strong incentives and leads to identification. This more self-determined form of regulation is particularly important when it comes to the maintenance of behaviors that involve activities that are not inherently interesting or enjoyable.

When we identify with the regulation AND coordinate with other core values and believes, we are said to have the most autonomous form of extrinsic motivation – integrated regulation. This form of regulation occurs when those values become a part of the self and become congruent with one’s sense of identity.

That leads to the most positive and enduring outcomes of external motivation because a person has archived full autonomy (Reeve, 2018).

This form of regulation is very much like intrinsic motivation because we engage in the behavior willingly. It is entirely self-determined, but unlike intrinsic motivation, it does not have to involve activities that are enjoyable or interesting. This is particularly important to behavioral change in clinical settings where the level of internalization and integration for non-intrinsically motivated behavior is required.

It is never too late to be what you might have been.

George Eliot

When it comes to self-motivation in behavioral change, the autonomy versus control orientation can also play a role in maintaining behavioral change over time. Autonomy-oriented individuals generally succeed in maintaining their long-term changes in behavior (e.g., weight loss, smoking cessation), whereas control-oriented individuals generally fail to maintain such behavior change over time.

Autonomy causality orientation is closely linked to prevention focus orientation, where emotional regulation is driven by the possibility of positive outcomes and approach motivation (Kahneman, Diner, & Schwartz, 1999).

Autonomy-oriented individuals see everything in their environment and their responses to it as a matter of their own choice, and this perspective can be empowering and a great source of intrinsic motivation.

They tend to scan their environment for opportunities, they take initiative, set their own goals, and they take an equal interest in their environment as well as their own inner experience. They have an internal locus of control and behave with a strong sense of volition. They understand that their focus determines their reality, and they have a sense of shaping their destiny (Reeve, 2018).

Autonomy causality orientation characterizes individuals with a specific mindset where they rely on internal guides to regulate behavior in contrast to those who are control-oriented and attend to external guides like social queues and environmental incentives — this locus of control effects motivation and perseverance.

When we feel our behavior is something we initiate and regulate, we can make and sustain changes. This is in contrast to those, who at the other end of the spectrum, take on the victim of circumstances mentality (Reeve, 2018).

See our blog post 19 Best Books on Self-Discipline and Self-Control .

Everybody Knows: You can’t be all things to all people. You can’t do all things at once. You can’t do all things equally well. You can’t do all things better than everyone else. Your humanity is showing just like everyone else’s.

So: You have to find out who you are, and be that. You have to decide what comes first, and do that. You have to discover your strengths, and use them. You have to learn not to compete with others, Because no one else is in the contest of *being you*.

Then: You will have learned to accept your own uniqueness. You will have learned to set priorities and make decisions. You will have learned to live with your limitations. You will have learned to give yourself the respect that is due. And you’ll be a most vital mortal.

Dare To Believe: That you are a wonderful, unique person. That you are a once-in-all-history event. That it’s more than a right, it’s your duty, to be who you are. That life is not a problem to solve, but a gift to cherish. And you’ll be able to stay one up on what used to get you down.

17 Tools To Increase Motivation and Goal Achievement

These 17 Motivation & Goal Achievement Exercises [PDF] contain all you need to help others set meaningful goals, increase self-drive, and experience greater accomplishment and life satisfaction.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

There are dozens of motivational videos and channels on YouTube, but unfortunately we could not list them all. Instead, we picked a few we see as top motivational videos.

In order to achieve great things, you must first believe in yourself and then have a dream big enough to motivate you.

2. The Last Lecture

Even if faced with terminal cancer, it’s possible to find and celebrate the joy in your life.

3. Remember Me

When all is said and done, being human, exactly who you are, is more amazing than all the technology in the world.

Don’t let yourself be hypnotized by technology. Be in the moment and experience the wonder of direct connections.

5. Why We Do What We Do

If you understand why you’re motivated and inspired, it’s easier to become motivated and inspired. Tony Robbins explains it all.

6. Amazing Grace

The classic spiritual hymn rendered a cappella by the amazing and always creative Jesse Campbell.

7. Never Quit

Regardless of the obstacles that life throws your way, if you continue to pursue your dreams you will get results.

8. The Surprising Science of Happiness

Dan Gilbert challenges the idea that we’ll be miserable if we don’t get what we want and explains how to feel truly happy even when things don’t go as planned.

9. Unbroken

Dedication to your goals keeps you moving forward, even if you encounter obstacles.

10. How Bad Do You Want It?

Sometimes it’s just a matter of wanting success so badly that you’ll do whatever it takes to win.

11. Excuses

Even if you’ve got an uphill battle to fight, you keep fighting. Because if you just give up, you’ve lost.

Context matters, and it is not a question of which type of motivation is more important, but instead, awareness of where we lack the necessary balance to create the ideal catalyst for goal achievement.

The significant problems of today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking that created them.

Albert Einstein

External events can become prompts for the desired behavior and can help to reinforce it, but to notice those we need to be in positive mental and emotional states, away from the sense of learned helplessness, as defined by Dr. Martin Seligman .

Often our goals must also represent something of value to us and satisfy our psychological needs as defined by Ryan and Deci’s self-determination theory, especially to create the energy necessary to persist (Reeve, 2018).

Do you have a story of your ideal catalyst for goal pursuit? Share it with us here.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Goal Achievement Exercises for free .

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• Csíkszentmihályi, M. (1997). Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life . New York, NY: Basic Books.
• Deci, E. L., Olafsen, A. H., & Ryan, R. M. (2017). Self-determination theory in work organizations: State of the science . Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior.
• Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2008). Self-determination theory: A macrotheory of human motivation, development, and health.  Canadian psychology/Psychologie canadienne, 49(3) , 182.
• Deckers, L. (2014). Motivation: Biological, psychological, and environmental (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
• DeCatanzaro, D. A. (1999). Motivation and emotion: Evolutionary, physiological, developmental, and social perspectives . Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
• Edwards, D. C. (1999). Motivation and emotion: Evolutionary, physiological, cognitive, and social influences . Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
• Ferguson, E. D. (2000). Motivation: A biosocial and cognitive integration of motivation and emotion . Oxford University Press, New York.
• Fowler, S. (2019). Master your motivation: Three scientific truths for achieving your goals. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
• Franken, R. E. (2006). Human motivation (6th ed.). Wadsworth Thomson Learning, Belmont, CA.
• Gallwey, W. T., Hanzelik, E., & Horton, J. (2009). The Inner Game of Stress: Outsmart Life’s Challenges and Fulfill Your Potential [Kindle iOS version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com
• Gollwitzer, P. M. & Bargh, J. A. (1996). The psychology of action: Linking cognition and motivation to behavior . Guilford Press, New York/
• Gorman (*). Motivation and emotion
• Heckhausen, J. & Dweck, C. S. (1998). Motivation and self-regulation across the life span . Cambridge University Press, New York.
• Kahneman, D., Diener, E., & Schwartz, N. (1999). Well-Being: Foundations of Hedonic Psychology . New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
• Nunez, R. & Freeman, W. J. (1999). Reclaiming cognition: The primacy of action, intention, and emotion . Imprint Academic, Thorverton, UK.
• Peterson, C., Maier, S. F., & Seligman, M. E. P. (1993). Learned Helplessness: A Theory for the Age of Personal Control . New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
• Petri, H. L., & Govern, J. M. (2013). Motivation: Theory, research, and applications (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
• Reeve, J. (2015). Understanding motivation and emotion (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
• Sansone, C. & Harackiewicz, J. M. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: The search for optimal motivation and performance . Academic Press, San Diego, CA.
• Sheldon, K. M. (Ed.) (2010). Current directions in motivation and emotion . Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
• Wagner, H. (1999). The psychobiology of human motivation . Routledge, New York.

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The article is well-thought! I appreciate the content which has nourished me a lot. Good bless that intelligence!

I am in absolute awe – fantastic culmination of fields of study to deliver a hard punching, thought provoking article👌Inspiring!

Good article. Keep it up!

Greetings! Great explanation i learned about the meaning of motivation wonderful words. Regards mentor.

Excellent description or explanation or importance of motivation thanks beata spider love you from Kashmir…

This is great!!! Thanks!!!

Everyone needs motivation, the way you explained the benefits of motivation is great. Nicely written and well explained. Good work.

This collection of videos is immensely valuable! I was glad to be reminded of the power of the autotelic self. As I deliver my lectures from home this week, the topic of resilience in the face of adversity has been a continuous theme in our discussions. How timely to receive this wonderful resource, thank you Beata. 🙂

Good stuff. Keep me posted.

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Motivation Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on motivation.

Everyone suggests other than the person lack motivation, or directly suggests the person remain motivated. But, no one ever tells what is the motivation of how one can stay motivated. Motivation means to face the obstacle and find an inspiration that helps you to go through tough times. In addition, it helps you to move further in life.

Meaning of Motivation

Motivation is something that cannot be understood with words but with practice. It means to be moved by something so strongly that it becomes an inspiration for you. Furthermore, it is a discipline that helps you to achieve your life goals and also helps to be successful in life .

Besides, it the most common practice that everyone does whether it is your boss in office or a school teacher or a university professor everyone motivates others in a way or other.

Role of Motivation

It is a strong tool that helps to get ahead in life. For being motivated we need a driving tool or goal that keeps us motivated and moves forward. Also, it helps in being progressive both physically and mentally.

Moreover, your goal does not be to big and long term they can be small and empowering. Furthermore, you need the right mindset to be motivated.

Besides, you need to push your self towards your goal no one other than you can push your limit. Also, you should be willing to leave your comfort zone because your true potential is going to revel when you leave your comfort zone.

Types of Motivation

Although there are various types of motivation according to me there are generally two types of motivation that are self- motivation and motivation by others.

Self-motivation- It refers to the power of someone to stay motivated without the influence of other situations and people. Furthermore, self-motivated people always find a way to reason and strength to complete a task. Also, they do not need other people to encourage them to perform a challenging task.

Motivation by others- This motivation requires help from others as the person is not able to maintain a self-motivated state. In this, a person requires encouragement from others. Also, he needs to listen to motivational speeches, a strong goal and most importantly and inspiration.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Importance of Motivation

Motivation is very important for the overall development of the personality and mind of the people. It also puts a person in action and in a competitive state. Furthermore, it improves efficiency and desire to achieve the goal. It leads to stability and improvement in work.

Above all, it satisfies a person’s needs and to achieve his/her goal. It helps the person to fight his negative attitude. The person also tries to come out of his/her comfort zone so that she/ he can achieve the goal.

To conclude, motivation is one of the key elements that help a person to be successful. A motivated person tries to push his limits and always tries to improve his performance day by day. Also, the person always gives her/his best no matter what the task is. Besides, the person always tries to remain progressive and dedicated to her/his goals.

FAQs about Motivation Essay

Q.1 Define what is motivation fit. A.1 This refers to a psychological phenomenon in which a person assumes or expects something from the job or life but gets different results other than his expectations. In a profession, it is a primary criterion for determining if the person will stay or leave the job.

Q.2 List some best motivators. A.2 some of the best motivators are:

• Inspiration
• Fear of failure
• Power of Rejection
• Don’t pity your self
• Be assertive
• Stay among positive and motivated people
• Be calm and visionary

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Home — Essay Samples — Psychology — Personality Psychology — Motivation

Essays on Motivation

🌟 the importance of writing a motivation essay 📝.

Motivation is like that extra sprinkle of magic dust that gives us the boost we need to achieve our goals and dreams ✨✨. It's the driving force behind our actions and the fuel that keeps us going when things get tough. Writing an essay about motivation allows us to delve deeper into this fascinating topic and explore its various aspects. So, why not grab your pen (or keyboard) and let's dive into the world of motivation! 💪📚

🔍 Choosing the Perfect Motivation Essay Topic 🤔

When it comes to choosing a topic for your motivation essay, there are a few things to consider. First, think about what aspect of motivation you find most intriguing. Is it personal motivation, motivation in the workplace, or maybe the psychology behind motivation? Once you have a general idea, narrow it down further to a specific angle that interests you the most.

💡 Motivation Argumentative Essay 💪📝

An argumentative essay on motivation requires you to take a stance and provide evidence to support your viewpoint. Here are ten exciting topics to get those creative juices flowing:

• The role of intrinsic motivation in academic success
• The impact of extrinsic rewards on employee motivation
• Does social media affect motivation levels in teenagers?
• The connection between motivation and self-esteem
• How does motivation differ between genders?
• The influence of music on motivation levels
• Does money truly motivate people in the workplace?
• The effects of positive reinforcement on motivation
• The link between motivation and mental health
• How does goal-setting impact motivation?

🌪️ Motivation Cause and Effect Essay 📝

In a cause and effect essay, you explore the reasons behind certain motivations and their outcomes. Here are ten thought-provoking topics to consider:

• The causes and effects of procrastination on motivation
• How does a lack of motivation impact academic performance?
• The relationship between motivation and success in sports
• The effects of parental motivation on children's achievements
• How does motivation affect mental well-being?
• The causes and effects of burnout on motivation levels
• The impact of motivation on work-life balance
• How does motivation affect creativity and innovation?
• The causes and effects of peer pressure on motivation
• The relationship between motivation and goal attainment

💬 Motivation Opinion Essay 💭📝

In an opinion essay, you express your personal thoughts and beliefs about motivation. Here are ten intriguing topics to spark your imagination:

• Is self-motivation more effective than external motivation?
• Are rewards a necessary form of motivation?
• Should schools focus more on intrinsic motivation?
• The role of motivation in achieving work-life balance
• Is motivation a learned behavior or innate?
• The impact of motivation on personal growth and development
• Does motivation play a significant role in overcoming obstacles?
• Is fear an effective motivator?
• The role of motivation in maintaining a healthy lifestyle
• Can motivation be sustained in the long term?

📚 Motivation Informative Essay 🧠📝

An informative essay on motivation aims to educate and provide valuable insights. Here are ten fascinating topics to explore:

• The psychology behind motivation and its theories
• How to stay motivated in challenging times
• The impact of motivation on personal and professional success
• Motivation techniques for achieving fitness goals
• The role of motivation in leadership and management
• Motivation in the context of mental health and well-being
• The history of motivation research and key figures
• Motivation strategies for students and educators
• Motivation and its connection to creativity and innovation
• Motivation in different cultural and societal contexts

📜 Thesis Statement Examples 📜

Here are a few thesis statement examples to inspire your motivation essay:

• 1. "Motivation, whether intrinsic or extrinsic, plays a pivotal role in driving individuals towards achieving their goals and aspirations."
• 2. "This essay explores the multifaceted nature of motivation, examining its psychological underpinnings, societal influences, and practical applications."
• 3. "In a world filled with challenges and opportunities, understanding the mechanisms of motivation empowers individuals to overcome obstacles and reach new heights of success."

📝 Introduction Paragraph Examples 📝

Here are some introduction paragraph examples for your motivation essay:

• 1. "Motivation is the driving force behind human actions, the invisible hand that propels us toward our goals. It is the spark that ignites the fire of determination within us, pushing us to overcome obstacles and realize our dreams."
• 2. "In a world where challenges often outnumber opportunities, motivation serves as the compass guiding us through life's intricate maze. It is the unwavering belief in our abilities and the fuel that keeps our ambitions burning bright."
• 3. "Picture a world without motivation—a world where dreams remain unfulfilled, talents remain hidden, and aspirations remain dormant. Fortunately, we do not live in such a world, and this essay delves into the profound impact of motivation on human lives."

🔚 Conclusion Paragraph Examples 📝

Here are some conclusion paragraph examples for your motivation essay:

• 1. "As we conclude this journey through the realm of motivation, let us remember that it is the driving force behind our accomplishments, the cornerstone of our achievements. With unwavering motivation, we can surmount any obstacle and turn our aspirations into reality."
• 2. "In the grand tapestry of human existence, motivation weaves the threads of determination, perseverance, and success. This essay's culmination serves as a testament to the enduring power of motivation and its ability to shape our destinies."
• 3. "As we bid farewell to this exploration of motivation, let us carry forward the knowledge that motivation is not just a concept but a potent force that propels us toward greatness. With motivation as our guide, we can continue to chase our dreams and conquer new horizons."

The Puzzle of Motivation Analysis

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Motivation and Its Various Types

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Learning Styles and Motivation Reflection 

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Motivation is what explains why people or animals initiate, continue or terminate a certain behavior at a particular time. Motivational states are commonly understood as forces acting within the agent that create a disposition to engage in goal-directed behavior.

There are four main tyoes of motivation: Intrinsic, extrinsic, unconscious, and conscious.

Theories articulating the content of motivation: Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Herzberg's two-factor theory, Alderfer's ERG theory, Self-Determination Theory, Drive theory.

Relevant topics

• Growth Mindset
• Procrastination

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10 Personal Statement Essay Examples That Worked

What’s covered:, what is a personal statement.

• Essay 1: Summer Program
• Essay 2: Being Bangladeshi-American
• Essay 3: Why Medicine
• Essay 4: Love of Writing
• Essay 5: Starting a Fire
• Essay 6: Dedicating a Track
• Essay 7: Body Image and Eating Disorders
• Essay 8: Becoming a Coach
• Essay 9: Eritrea
• Essay 10: Journaling
• Is Your Personal Statement Strong Enough?

Your personal statement is any essay that you must write for your main application, such as the Common App Essay , University of California Essays , or Coalition Application Essay . This type of essay focuses on your unique experiences, ideas, or beliefs that may not be discussed throughout the rest of your application. This essay should be an opportunity for the admissions officers to get to know you better and give them a glimpse into who you really are.

In this post, we will share 10 different personal statements that were all written by real students. We will also provide commentary on what each essay did well and where there is room for improvement, so you can make your personal statement as strong as possible!

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized. 

Personal Statement Examples

Essay example #1: exchange program.

The twisting roads, ornate mosaics, and fragrant scent of freshly ground spices had been so foreign at first. Now in my fifth week of the SNYI-L summer exchange program in Morocco, I felt more comfortable in the city. With a bag full of pastries from the market, I navigated to a bus stop, paid the fare, and began the trip back to my host family’s house. It was hard to believe that only a few years earlier my mom was worried about letting me travel around my home city on my own, let alone a place that I had only lived in for a few weeks. While I had been on a journey towards self-sufficiency and independence for a few years now, it was Morocco that pushed me to become the confident, self-reflective person that I am today.

As a child, my parents pressured me to achieve perfect grades, master my swim strokes, and discover interesting hobbies like playing the oboe and learning to pick locks. I felt compelled to live my life according to their wishes. Of course, this pressure was not a wholly negative factor in my life –– you might even call it support. However, the constant presence of my parents’ hopes for me overcame my own sense of desire and led me to become quite dependent on them. I pushed myself to get straight A’s, complied with years of oboe lessons, and dutifully attended hours of swim practice after school. Despite all these achievements, I felt like I had no sense of self beyond my drive for success. I had always been expected to succeed on the path they had defined. However, this path was interrupted seven years after my parents’ divorce when my dad moved across the country to Oregon.

I missed my dad’s close presence, but I loved my new sense of freedom. My parents’ separation allowed me the space to explore my own strengths and interests as each of them became individually busier. As early as middle school, I was riding the light rail train by myself, reading maps to get myself home, and applying to special academic programs without urging from my parents. Even as I took more initiatives on my own, my parents both continued to see me as somewhat immature. All of that changed three years ago, when I applied and was accepted to the SNYI-L summer exchange program in Morocco. I would be studying Arabic and learning my way around the city of Marrakesh. Although I think my parents were a little surprised when I told them my news, the addition of a fully-funded scholarship convinced them to let me go.

I lived with a host family in Marrakesh and learned that they, too, had high expectations for me. I didn’t know a word of Arabic, and although my host parents and one brother spoke good English, they knew I was there to learn. If I messed up, they patiently corrected me but refused to let me fall into the easy pattern of speaking English just as I did at home. Just as I had when I was younger, I felt pressured and stressed about meeting their expectations. However, one day, as I strolled through the bustling market square after successfully bargaining with one of the street vendors, I realized my mistake. My host family wasn’t being unfair by making me fumble through Arabic. I had applied for this trip, and I had committed to the intensive language study. My host family’s rules about speaking Arabic at home had not been to fulfill their expectations for me, but to help me fulfill my expectations for myself. Similarly, the pressure my parents had put on me as a child had come out of love and their hopes for me, not out of a desire to crush my individuality.

As my bus drove through the still-bustling market square and past the medieval Ben-Youssef madrasa, I realized that becoming independent was a process, not an event. I thought that my parents’ separation when I was ten had been the one experience that would transform me into a self-motivated and autonomous person. It did, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t still have room to grow. Now, although I am even more self-sufficient than I was three years ago, I try to approach every experience with the expectation that it will change me. It’s still difficult, but I understand that just because growth can be uncomfortable doesn’t mean it’s not important.

What the Essay Did Well

This is a nice essay because it delves into particular character trait of the student and how it has been shaped and matured over time. Although it doesn’t focus the essay around a specific anecdote, the essay is still successful because it is centered around this student’s independence. This is a nice approach for a personal statement: highlight a particular trait of yours and explore how it has grown with you.

The ideas in this essay are universal to growing up—living up to parents’ expectations, yearning for freedom, and coming to terms with reality—but it feels unique to the student because of the inclusion of details specific to them. Including their oboe lessons, the experience of riding the light rail by themselves, and the negotiations with a street vendor helps show the reader what these common tropes of growing up looked like for them personally. 

Another strength of the essay is the level of self-reflection included throughout the piece. Since there is no central anecdote tying everything together, an essay about a character trait is only successful when you deeply reflect on how you felt, where you made mistakes, and how that trait impacts your life. The author includes reflection in sentences like “ I felt like I had no sense of self beyond my drive for success, ” and “ I understand that just because growth can be uncomfortable doesn’t mean it’s not important. ” These sentences help us see how the student was impacted and what their point of view is.

What Could Be Improved

The largest change this essay would benefit from is to show not tell. The platitude you have heard a million times no doubt, but for good reason. This essay heavily relies on telling the reader what occurred, making us less engaged as the entire reading experience feels more passive. If the student had shown us what happens though, it keeps the reader tied to the action and makes them feel like they are there with the student, making it much more enjoyable to read. 

For example, they tell us about the pressure to succeed their parents placed on them: “ I pushed myself to get straight A’s, complied with years of oboe lessons, and dutifully attended hours of swim practice after school.”  They could have shown us what that pressure looked like with a sentence like this: “ My stomach turned somersaults as my rattling knee thumped against the desk before every test, scared to get anything less than a 95. For five years the painful squawk of the oboe only reminded me of my parents’ claps and whistles at my concerts. I mastered the butterfly, backstroke, and freestyle, fighting against the anchor of their expectations threatening to pull me down.”

If the student had gone through their essay and applied this exercise of bringing more detail and colorful language to sentences that tell the reader what happened, the essay would be really great. 

Table of Contents

Essay Example #2: Being Bangladeshi-American

Life before was good: verdant forests, sumptuous curries, and a devoted family.

Then, my family abandoned our comfortable life in Bangladesh for a chance at the American dream in Los Angeles. Within our first year, my father was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. He lost his battle three weeks before my sixth birthday. Facing a new country without the steady presence of my father, we were vulnerable — prisoners of hardship in the land of the free. We resettled in the Bronx, in my uncle’s renovated basement. It was meant to be our refuge, but I felt more displaced than ever. Gone were the high-rise condos of West L.A.; instead, government projects towered over the neighborhood. Pedestrians no longer smiled and greeted me; the atmosphere was hostile, even toxic. Schoolkids were quick to pick on those they saw as weak or foreign, hurling harsh words I’d never heard before.

Meanwhile, my family began integrating into the local Bangladeshi community. I struggled to understand those who shared my heritage. Bangladeshi mothers stayed home while fathers drove cabs and sold fruit by the roadside — painful societal positions. Riding on crosstown buses or walking home from school, I began to internalize these disparities. During my fleeting encounters with affluent Upper East Siders, I saw kids my age with nannies, parents who wore suits to work, and luxurious apartments with spectacular views. Most took cabs to their destinations: cabs that Bangladeshis drove. I watched the mundane moments of their lives with longing, aching to plant myself in their shoes. Shame prickled down my spine. I distanced myself from my heritage, rejecting the traditional panjabis worn on Eid and refusing the torkari we ate for dinner every day. 

As I grappled with my relationship with the Bangladeshi community, I turned my attention to helping my Bronx community by pursuing an internship with Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda. I handled desk work and took calls, spending the bulk of my time actively listening to the hardships constituents faced — everything from a veteran stripped of his benefits to a grandmother unable to support her bedridden grandchild.

I’d never exposed myself to stories like these, and now I was the first to hear them. As an intern, I could only assist in what felt like the small ways — pointing out local job offerings, printing information on free ESL classes, reaching out to non-profits. But to a community facing an onslaught of intense struggles, I realized that something as small as these actions could have vast impacts. Seeing the immediate consequences of my actions inspired me. Throughout that summer, I internalized my community’s daily challenges in a new light. I began to stop seeing the prevalent underemployment and cramped living quarters less as sources of shame. Instead, I saw them as realities that had to be acknowledged, but could ultimately be remedied. I also realized the benefits of the Bangladeshi culture I had been so ashamed of. My Bangla language skills were an asset to the office, and my understanding of Bangladeshi etiquette allowed for smooth communication between office staff and its constituents. As I helped my neighbors navigate city services, I saw my heritage with pride — a perspective I never expected to have.

I can now appreciate the value of my unique culture and background, and of living with less. This perspective offers room for progress, community integration, and a future worth fighting for. My time with Assemblyman Sepulveda’s office taught me that I can be a change agent in enabling this progression. Far from being ashamed of my community, I want to someday return to local politics in the Bronx to continue helping others access the American Dream. I hope to help my community appreciate the opportunity to make progress together. By embracing reality, I learned to live it. Along the way, I discovered one thing: life is good, but we can make it better.

This student’s passion for social justice and civic duty shines through in this essay because of how honest it is. Sharing their personal experience with immigrating, moving around, being an outsider, and finding a community allows us to see the hardships this student has faced and builds empathy towards their situation. However, what really makes it strong is that they go beyond describing the difficulties they faced and explain the mental impact it had on them as a child: Shame prickled down my spine. I distanced myself from my heritage, rejecting the traditional panjabis worn on Eid and refusing the torkari we ate for dinner every day. 

The rejection of their culture presented at the beginning of the essay creates a nice juxtaposition with the student’s view in the latter half of the essay and helps demonstrate how they have matured. They use their experience interning as a way to delve into a change in their thought process about their culture and show how their passion for social justice began. Using this experience as a mechanism to explore their thoughts and feelings is an excellent example of how items that are included elsewhere on your application should be incorporated into your essay.

This essay prioritizes emotions and personal views over specific anecdotes. Although there are details and certain moments incorporated throughout to emphasize the author’s points, the main focus remains on the student and how they grapple with their culture and identity.  

One area for improvement is the conclusion. Although the forward-looking approach is a nice way to end an essay focused on social justice, it would be nice to include more details and imagery in the conclusion. How does the student want to help their community? What government position do they see themselves holding one day? 

A more impactful ending might look like the student walking into their office at the New York City Housing Authority in 15 years and looking at the plans to build a new development in the Bronx just blocks away from where the grew up that would provide quality housing to people in their Bangladeshi community. They would smile while thinking about how far they have come from that young kid who used to be ashamed of their culture. 

Essay Example #3: Why Medicine

I took my first trip to China to visit my cousin Anna in July of 2014. Distance had kept us apart, but when we were together, we fell into all of our old inside jokes and caught up on each other’s lives. Her sparkling personality and optimistic attitude always brought a smile to my face. This time, however, my heart broke when I saw the effects of her brain cancer; she had suffered from a stroke that paralyzed her left side. She was still herself in many ways, but I could see that the damage to her brain made things difficult for her. I stayed by her every day, providing the support she needed, whether assisting her with eating and drinking, reading to her, or just watching “Friends.” During my flight back home, sorrow and helplessness overwhelmed me. Would I ever see Anna again? Could I have done more to make Anna comfortable? I wished I could stay in China longer to care for her. As I deplaned, I wondered if I could transform my grief to help other children and teenagers in the US who suffered as Anna did.

The day after I got home, as jet lag dragged me awake a few minutes after midnight, I remembered hearing about the Family Reach Foundation (FRF) and its work with children going through treatments at the local hospital and their families. I began volunteering in the FRF’s Children’s Activity Room, where I play with children battling cancer. Volunteering has both made me appreciate my own health and also cherish the new relationships I build with the children and families. We play sports, make figures out of playdoh, and dress up. When they take on the roles of firefighters or fairies, we all get caught up in the game; for that time, they forget the sanitized, stark, impersonal walls of the pediatric oncology ward. Building close relationships with them and seeing them giggle and laugh is so rewarding — I love watching them grow and get better throughout their course of treatment.

Hearing from the parents about their children’s condition and seeing the children recover inspired me to consider medical research. To get started, I enrolled in a summer collegelevel course in Abnormal Psychology. There I worked with Catelyn, a rising college senior, on a data analysis project regarding Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Together, we examined the neurological etiology of DID by studying four fMRI and PET cases. I fell in love with gathering data and analyzing the results and was amazed by our final product: several stunning brain images showcasing the areas of hyper and hypoactivity in brains affected by DID. Desire quickly followed my amazement — I want to continue this project and study more brains. Their complexity, delicacy, and importance to every aspect of life fascinate me. Successfully completing this research project gave me a sense of hope; I know I am capable of participating in a large scale research project and potentially making a difference in someone else’s life through my research.

Anna’s diagnosis inspired me to begin volunteering at FRF; from there, I discovered my desire to help people further by contributing to medical research. As my research interest blossomed, I realized that it’s no coincidence that I want to study brains—after all, Anna suffered from brain cancer. Reflecting on these experiences this past year and a half, I see that everything I’ve done is connected. Sadly, a few months after I returned from China, Anna passed away. I am still sad, but as I run a toy truck across the floor and watch one of the little patients’ eyes light up, I imagine that she would be proud of my commitment to pursue medicine and study the brain.

This essay has a very strong emotional core that tugs at the heart strings and makes the reader feel invested. Writing about sickness can be difficult and doesn’t always belong in a personal statement, but in this case it works well because the focus is on how this student cared for her cousin and dealt with the grief and emotions surrounding her condition. Writing about the compassion she showed and the doubts and concerns that filled her mind keeps the focus on the author and her personality. 

This continues when she again discusses the activities she did with the kids at FRF and the personal reflection this experience allowed her to have. For example, she writes: Volunteering has both made me appreciate my own health and also cherish the new relationships I build with the children and families. We play sports, make figures out of playdoh, and dress up.

Concluding the essay with the sad story of her cousin’s passing brings the essay full circle and returns to the emotional heart of the piece to once again build a connection with the reader. However, it finishes on a hopeful note and demonstrates how this student has been able to turn a tragic experience into a source of lifelong inspiration. 

One thing this essay should be cognizant of is that personal statements should not read as summaries of your extracurricular resume. Although this essay doesn’t fully fall into that trap, it does describe two key extracurriculars the student participated in. However, the inclusion of such a strong emotional core running throughout the essay helps keep the focus on the student and her thoughts and feelings during these activities.

To avoid making this mistake, make sure you have a common thread running through your essay and the extracurriculars provide support to the story you are trying to tell, rather than crafting a story around your activities. And, as this essay does, make sure there is lots of personal reflection and feelings weaved throughout to focus attention to you rather than your extracurriculars. 

Essay Example #4: Love of Writing

“I want to be a writer.” This had been my answer to every youthful discussion with the adults in my life about what I would do when I grew up. As early as elementary school, I remember reading my writing pieces aloud to an audience at “Author of the Month” ceremonies. Bearing this goal in mind, and hoping to gain some valuable experience, I signed up for a journalism class during my freshman year. Despite my love for writing, I initially found myself uninterested in the subject and I struggled to enjoy the class. When I thought of writing, I imagined lyrical prose, profound poetry, and thrilling plot lines. Journalism required a laconic style and orderly structure, and I found my teacher’s assignments formulaic and dull. That class shook my confidence as a writer. I was uncertain if I should continue in it for the rest of my high school career.

Despite my misgivings, I decided that I couldn’t make a final decision on whether to quit journalism until I had some experience working for a paper outside of the classroom. The following year, I applied to be a staff reporter on our school newspaper. I hoped this would help me become more self-driven and creative, rather than merely writing articles that my teacher assigned. To my surprise, my time on staff was worlds away from what I experienced in the journalism class. Although I was unaccustomed to working in a fast-paced environment and initially found it burdensome to research and complete high-quality stories in a relatively short amount of time, I also found it exciting. I enjoyed learning more about topics and events on campus that I did not know much about; some of my stories that I covered in my first semester concerned a chess tournament, a food drive, and a Spanish immersion party. I relished in the freedom I had to explore and learn, and to write more independently than I could in a classroom.

Although I enjoyed many aspects of working for the paper immediately, reporting also pushed me outside of my comfort zone. I am a shy person, and speaking with people I did not know intimidated me. During my first interview, I met with the basketball coach to prepare for a story about the team’s winning streak. As I approached his office, I felt everything from my toes to my tongue freeze into a solid block, and I could hardly get out my opening questions. Fortunately, the coach was very kind and helped me through the conversation. Encouraged, I prepared for my next interview with more confidence. After a few weeks of practice, I even started to look forward to interviewing people on campus. That first journalism class may have bored me, but even if journalism in practice was challenging, it was anything but tedious.

Over the course of that year, I grew to love writing for our school newspaper. Reporting made me aware of my surroundings, and made me want to know more about current events on campus and in the town where I grew up. By interacting with people all over campus, I came to understand the breadth of individuals and communities that make up my high school. I felt far more connected to diverse parts of my school through my work as a journalist, and I realized that journalism gave me a window into seeing beyond my own experiences. The style of news writing may be different from what I used to think “writing” meant, but I learned that I can still derive exciting plots from events that may have gone unnoticed if not for my stories. I no longer struggle to approach others, and truly enjoy getting to know people and recognizing their accomplishments through my writing. Becoming a writer may be a difficult path, but it is as rewarding as I hoped when I was young.

This essay is clearly structured in a manner that makes it flow very nicely and contributes to its success. It starts with a quote to draw in the reader and show this student’s life-long passion for writing. Then it addresses the challenges of facing new, unfamiliar territory and how this student overcame it. Finally, it concludes by reflecting on this eye-opening experience and a nod to their younger self from the introduction. Having a well-thought out and sequential structure with clear transitions makes it extremely easy for the reader to follow along and take away the main idea.

Another positive aspect of the essay is the use of strong and expressive language. Sentences like “ When I thought of writing, I imagined lyrical prose, profound poetry, and thrilling plot lines ” stand out because of the intentional use of words like “lyrical”, “profound”, and “thrilling” to convey the student’s love of writing. The author also uses an active voice to capture the readers’ attention and keep us engaged. They rely on their language and diction to reveal details to the reader, for instance saying “ I felt everything from my toes to my tongue freeze into a solid block ” to describe feeling nervous.

This essay is already very strong, so there isn’t much that needs to be changed. One thing that could take the essay from great to outstanding would be to throw in more quotes, internal dialogue, and sensory descriptors.

It would be nice to see the nerves they felt interviewing the coach by including dialogue like “ Um…I want to interview you about…uh…”.  They could have shown their original distaste for journalism by narrating the thoughts running through their head. The fast-paced environment of their newspaper could have come to life with descriptions about the clacking of keyboards and the whirl of people running around laying out articles.

Essay Example #5: Starting a Fire

Was I no longer the beloved daughter of nature, whisperer of trees? Knee-high rubber boots, camouflage, bug spray—I wore the garb and perfume of a proud wild woman, yet there I was, hunched over the pathetic pile of stubborn sticks, utterly stumped, on the verge of tears. As a child, I had considered myself a kind of rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes, who was serenaded by mourning doves and chickadees, who could glide through tick-infested meadows and emerge Lyme-free. I knew the cracks of the earth like the scars on my own rough palms. Yet here I was, ten years later, incapable of performing the most fundamental outdoor task: I could not, for the life of me, start a fire. 

Furiously I rubbed the twigs together—rubbed and rubbed until shreds of skin flaked from my fingers. No smoke. The twigs were too young, too sticky-green; I tossed them away with a shower of curses, and began tearing through the underbrush in search of a more flammable collection. My efforts were fruitless. Livid, I bit a rejected twig, determined to prove that the forest had spurned me, offering only young, wet bones that would never burn. But the wood cracked like carrots between my teeth—old, brittle, and bitter. Roaring and nursing my aching palms, I retreated to the tent, where I sulked and awaited the jeers of my family. 

Rattling their empty worm cans and reeking of fat fish, my brother and cousins swaggered into the campsite. Immediately, they noticed the minor stick massacre by the fire pit and called to me, their deep voices already sharp with contempt. 

“Where’s the fire, Princess Clara?” they taunted. “Having some trouble?” They prodded me with the ends of the chewed branches and, with a few effortless scrapes of wood on rock, sparked a red and roaring flame. My face burned long after I left the fire pit. The camp stank of salmon and shame. 

In the tent, I pondered my failure. Was I so dainty? Was I that incapable? I thought of my hands, how calloused and capable they had been, how tender and smooth they had become. It had been years since I’d kneaded mud between my fingers; instead of scaling a white pine, I’d practiced scales on my piano, my hands softening into those of a musician—fleshy and sensitive. And I’d gotten glasses, having grown horrifically nearsighted; long nights of dim lighting and thick books had done this. I couldn’t remember the last time I had lain down on a hill, barefaced, and seen the stars without having to squint. Crawling along the edge of the tent, a spider confirmed my transformation—he disgusted me, and I felt an overwhelming urge to squash him. 

Yet, I realized I hadn’t really changed—I had only shifted perspective. I still eagerly explored new worlds, but through poems and prose rather than pastures and puddles. I’d grown to prefer the boom of a bass over that of a bullfrog, learned to coax a different kind of fire from wood, having developed a burn for writing rhymes and scrawling hypotheses. 

That night, I stayed up late with my journal and wrote about the spider I had decided not to kill. I had tolerated him just barely, only shrieking when he jumped—it helped to watch him decorate the corners of the tent with his delicate webs, knowing that he couldn’t start fires, either. When the night grew cold and the embers died, my words still smoked—my hands burned from all that scrawling—and even when I fell asleep, the ideas kept sparking—I was on fire, always on fire.

This student is an excellent writer, which allows a simple story to be outstandingly compelling. The author articulates her points beautifully and creatively through her immense use of details and figurative language. Lines like “a rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes, who was serenaded by mourning doves and chickadees,” and “rubbed and rubbed until shreds of skin flaked from my fingers,” create vivid images that draw the reader in. 

The flowery and descriptive prose also contributes to the nice juxtaposition between the old Clara and the new Clara. The latter half of the essay contrasts elements of nature with music and writing to demonstrate how natural these interests are for her now. This sentence perfectly encapsulates the contrast she is trying to build: “It had been years since I’d kneaded mud between my fingers; instead of scaling a white pine, I’d practiced scales on my piano, my hands softening into those of a musician—fleshy and sensitive.”

In addition to being well-written, this essay is thematically cohesive. It begins with the simple introduction “Fire!” and ends with the following image: “When the night grew cold and the embers died, my words still smoked—my hands burned from all that scrawling—and even when I fell asleep, the ideas kept sparking—I was on fire, always on fire.” This full-circle approach leaves readers satisfied and impressed.

There is very little this essay should change, however one thing to be cautious about is having an essay that is overly-descriptive. We know from the essay that this student likes to read and write, and depending on other elements of her application, it might make total sense to have such a flowery and ornate writing style. However, your personal statement needs to reflect your voice as well as your personality. If you would never use language like this in conversation or your writing, don’t put it in your personal statement. Make sure there is a balance between eloquence and your personal voice.

Essay Example #6: Dedicating a Track

“Getting beat is one thing – it’s part of competing – but I want no part in losing.” Coach Rob Stark’s motto never fails to remind me of his encouragement on early-morning bus rides to track meets around the state. I’ve always appreciated the phrase, but an experience last June helped me understand its more profound, universal meaning.

Stark, as we affectionately call him, has coached track at my high school for 25 years. His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running. When I learned a neighboring high school had dedicated their track to a longtime coach, I felt that Stark deserved similar honors.

Our school district’s board of education indicated they would only dedicate our track to Stark if I could demonstrate that he was extraordinary. I took charge and mobilized my teammates to distribute petitions, reach out to alumni, and compile statistics on the many team and individual champions Stark had coached over the years. We received astounding support, collecting almost 3,000 signatures and pages of endorsements from across the community. With help from my teammates, I presented this evidence to the board.

They didn’t bite. 

Most members argued that dedicating the track was a low priority. Knowing that we had to act quickly to convince them of its importance, I called a team meeting where we drafted a rebuttal for the next board meeting. To my surprise, they chose me to deliver it. I was far from the best public speaker in the group, and I felt nervous about going before the unsympathetic board again. However, at that second meeting, I discovered that I enjoy articulating and arguing for something that I’m passionate about.

Public speaking resembles a cross country race. Walking to the starting line, you have to trust your training and quell your last minute doubts. When the gun fires, you can’t think too hard about anything; your performance has to be instinctual, natural, even relaxed. At the next board meeting, the podium was my starting line. As I walked up to it, familiar butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Instead of the track stretching out in front of me, I faced the vast audience of teachers, board members, and my teammates. I felt my adrenaline build, and reassured myself: I’ve put in the work, my argument is powerful and sound. As the board president told me to introduce myself, I heard, “runners set” in the back of my mind. She finished speaking, and Bang! The brief silence was the gunshot for me to begin. 

The next few minutes blurred together, but when the dust settled, I knew from the board members’ expressions and the audience’s thunderous approval that I had run quite a race. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough; the board voted down our proposal. I was disappointed, but proud of myself, my team, and our collaboration off the track. We stood up for a cause we believed in, and I overcame my worries about being a leader. Although I discovered that changing the status quo through an elected body can be a painstakingly difficult process and requires perseverance, I learned that I enjoy the challenges this effort offers. Last month, one of the school board members joked that I had become a “regular” – I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Just as Stark taught me, I worked passionately to achieve my goal. I may have been beaten when I appealed to the board, but I certainly didn’t lose, and that would have made Stark proud.

This essay effectively conveys this student’s compassion for others, initiative, and determination—all great qualities to exemplify in a personal statement!

Although they rely on telling us a lot of what happened up until the board meeting, the use of running a race (their passion) as a metaphor for public speaking provides a lot of insight into the fear that this student overcame to work towards something bigger than themself. Comparing a podium to the starting line, the audience to the track, and silence to the gunshot is a nice way of demonstrating this student’s passion for cross country running without making that the focus of the story.

The essay does a nice job of coming full circle at the end by explaining what the quote from the beginning meant to them after this experience. Without explicitly saying “ I now know that what Stark actually meant is…” they rely on the strength of their argument above to make it obvious to the reader what it means to get beat but not lose. 

One of the biggest areas of improvement in the intro, however, is how the essay tells us Stark’s impact rather than showing us: His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running.

The writer could’ve helped us feel a stronger emotional connection to Stark if they had included examples of Stark’s qualities, rather than explicitly stating them. For example, they could’ve written something like: Stark was the kind of person who would give you gas money if you told him your parents couldn’t afford to pick you up from practice. And he actually did that—several times. At track meets, alumni regularly would come talk to him and tell him how he’d changed their lives. Before Stark, I was ambivalent about running and was on the JV team, but his encouragement motivated me to run longer and harder and eventually make varsity. Because of him, I approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running.

Essay Example #7: Body Image and Eating Disorders

I press the “discover” button on my Instagram app, hoping to find enticing pictures to satisfy my boredom. Scrolling through, I see funny videos and mouth-watering pictures of food. However, one image stops me immediately. A fit teenage girl with a “perfect body” relaxes in a bikini on a beach. Beneath it, I see a slew of flattering comments. I shake with disapproval over the image’s unrealistic quality. However, part of me still wants to have a body like hers so that others will make similar comments to me.

I would like to resolve a silent issue that harms many teenagers and adults: negative self image and low self-esteem in a world where social media shapes how people view each other. When people see the façades others wear to create an “ideal” image, they can develop poor thought patterns rooted in negative self-talk. The constant comparisons to “perfect” others make people feel small. In this new digital age, it is hard to distinguish authentic from artificial representations.

When I was 11, I developed anorexia nervosa. Though I was already thin, I wanted to be skinny like the models that I saw on the magazine covers on the grocery store stands. Little did I know that those models probably also suffered from disorders, and that photoshop erased their flaws. I preferred being underweight to being healthy. No matter how little I ate or how thin I was, I always thought that I was too fat. I became obsessed with the number on the scale and would try to eat the least that I could without my parents urging me to take more. Fortunately, I stopped engaging in anorexic behaviors before middle school. However, my underlying mental habits did not change. The images that had provoked my disorder in the first place were still a constant presence in my life.

By age 15, I was in recovery from anorexia, but suffered from depression. While I used to only compare myself to models, the growth of social media meant I also compared myself to my friends and acquaintances. I felt left out when I saw my friends’ excitement about lake trips they had taken without me. As I scrolled past endless photos of my flawless, thin classmates with hundreds of likes and affirming comments, I felt my jealousy spiral. I wanted to be admired and loved by other people too. However, I felt that I could never be enough. I began to hate the way that I looked, and felt nothing in my life was good enough. I wanted to be called “perfect” and “body goals,” so I tried to only post at certain times of day to maximize my “likes.” When that didn’t work, I started to feel too anxious to post anything at all.  

Body image insecurities and social media comparisons affect thousands of people – men, women, children, and adults – every day. I am lucky – after a few months of my destructive social media habits, I came across a video that pointed out the illusory nature of social media; many Instagram posts only show off good things while people hide their flaws. I began going to therapy, and recovered from my depression. To address the problem of self-image and social media, we can all focus on what matters on the inside and not what is on the surface. As an effort to become healthy internally, I started a club at my school to promote clean eating and radiating beauty from within. It has helped me grow in my confidence, and today I’m not afraid to show others my struggles by sharing my experience with eating disorders. Someday, I hope to make this club a national organization to help teenagers and adults across the country. I support the idea of body positivity and embracing difference, not “perfection.” After all, how can we be ourselves if we all look the same?

This essay covers the difficult topics of eating disorders and mental health. If you’re thinking about covering similar topics in your essay, we recommend reading our post Should You Talk About Mental Health in College Essays?

The short answer is that, yes, you can talk about mental health, but it can be risky. If you do go that route, it’s important to focus on what you learned from the experience.

The strength of this essay is the student’s vulnerability, in excerpts such as this: I wanted to be admired and loved by other people too. However, I felt that I could never be enough. I began to hate the way that I looked, and felt nothing in my life was good enough. I wanted to be called “perfect” and “body goals,” so I tried to only post at certain times of day to maximize my “likes.”

The student goes on to share how they recovered from their depression through an eye-opening video and therapy sessions, and they’re now helping others find their self-worth as well. It’s great that this essay looks towards the future and shares the writer’s goals of making their club a national organization; we can see their ambition and compassion.

The main weakness of this essay is that it doesn’t focus enough on their recovery process, which is arguably the most important part. They could’ve told us more about the video they watched or the process of starting their club and the interactions they’ve had with other members. Especially when sharing such a vulnerable topic, there should be vulnerability in the recovery process too. That way, the reader can fully appreciate all that this student has overcome.

Essay Example #8: Becoming a Coach

”Advanced females ages 13 to 14 please proceed to staging with your coaches at this time.” Skittering around the room, eyes wide and pleading, I frantically explained my situation to nearby coaches. The seconds ticked away in my head; every polite refusal increased my desperation.

Despair weighed me down. I sank to my knees as a stream of competitors, coaches, and officials flowed around me. My dojang had no coach, and the tournament rules prohibited me from competing without one.

Although I wanted to remain strong, doubts began to cloud my mind. I could not help wondering: what was the point of perfecting my skills if I would never even compete? The other members of my team, who had found coaches minutes earlier, attempted to comfort me, but I barely heard their words. They couldn’t understand my despair at being left on the outside, and I never wanted them to understand.

Since my first lesson 12 years ago, the members of my dojang have become family. I have watched them grow up, finding my own happiness in theirs. Together, we have honed our kicks, blocks, and strikes. We have pushed one another to aim higher and become better martial artists. Although my dojang had searched for a reliable coach for years, we had not found one. When we attended competitions in the past, my teammates and I had always gotten lucky and found a sympathetic coach. Now, I knew this practice was unsustainable. It would devastate me to see the other members of my dojang in my situation, unable to compete and losing hope as a result. My dojang needed a coach, and I decided it was up to me to find one.

I first approached the adults in the dojang – both instructors and members’ parents. However, these attempts only reacquainted me with polite refusals. Everyone I asked told me they couldn’t devote multiple weekends per year to competitions. I soon realized that I would have become the coach myself.

At first, the inner workings of tournaments were a mystery to me. To prepare myself for success as a coach, I spent the next year as an official and took coaching classes on the side. I learned everything from motivational strategies to technical, behind-the-scenes components of Taekwondo competitions. Though I emerged with new knowledge and confidence in my capabilities, others did not share this faith.

Parents threw me disbelieving looks when they learned that their children’s coach was only a child herself. My self-confidence was my armor, deflecting their surly glances. Every armor is penetrable, however, and as the relentless barrage of doubts pounded my resilience, it began to wear down. I grew unsure of my own abilities.

Despite the attack, I refused to give up. When I saw the shining eyes of the youngest students preparing for their first competition, I knew I couldn’t let them down. To quit would be to set them up to be barred from competing like I was. The knowledge that I could solve my dojang’s longtime problem motivated me to overcome my apprehension.

Now that my dojang flourishes at competitions, the attacks on me have weakened, but not ended. I may never win the approval of every parent; at times, I am still tormented by doubts, but I find solace in the fact that members of my dojang now only worry about competing to the best of their abilities.

Now, as I arrive at a tournament with my students, I close my eyes and remember the past. I visualize the frantic search for a coach and the chaos amongst my teammates as we competed with one another to find coaches before the staging calls for our respective divisions. I open my eyes to the exact opposite scene. Lacking a coach hurt my ability to compete, but I am proud to know that no member of my dojang will have to face that problem again.

This essay begins with an in-the-moment narrative that really illustrates the chaos of looking for a coach last-minute. We feel the writer’s emotions, particularly her dejectedness, at not being able to compete. Starting an essay in media res  is a great way to capture the attention of your readers and build anticipation for what comes next.

Through this essay, we can see how gutsy and determined the student is in deciding to become a coach themselves. She shows us these characteristics through their actions, rather than explicitly telling us: To prepare myself for success as a coach, I spent the next year as an official and took coaching classes on the side.  Also, by discussing the opposition she faced and how it affected her, the student is open and vulnerable about the reality of the situation.

The essay comes full circle as the author recalls the frantic situations in seeking out a coach, but this is no longer a concern for them and their team. Overall, this essay is extremely effective in painting this student as mature, bold, and compassionate.

The biggest thing this essay needs to work on is showing not telling. Throughout the essay, the student tells us that she “emerged with new knowledge and confidence,” she “grew unsure of her own abilities,” and she “refused to give up”. What we really want to know is what this looks like.

Instead of saying she “emerged with new knowledge and confidence” she should have shared how she taught a new move to a fellow team-member without hesitation. Rather than telling us she “grew unsure of her own abilities” she should have shown what that looked like by including her internal dialogue and rhetorical questions that ran through her mind. She could have demonstrated what “refusing to give up” looks like by explaining how she kept learning coaching techniques on her own, turned to a mentor for advice, or devised a plan to win over the trust of parents. 

Essay Example #9: Eritrea

No one knows where Eritrea is.

On the first day of school, for the past nine years, I would pensively stand in front of a class, a teacher, a stranger  waiting for the inevitable question: Where are you from?

I smile politely, my dimples accentuating my ambiguous features. “Eritrea,” I answer promptly and proudly. But I  am always prepared. Before their expression can deepen into confusion, ready to ask “where is that,” I elaborate,  perhaps with a fleeting hint of exasperation, “East Africa, near Ethiopia.”

Sometimes, I single out the key-shaped hermit nation on a map, stunning teachers who have “never had a student  from there!” Grinning, I resist the urge to remark, “You didn’t even know it existed until two minutes ago!”

Eritrea is to the East of Ethiopia, its arid coastline clutches the lucrative Red Sea. Battle scars litter the ancient  streets – the colonial Italian architecture lathered with bullet holes, the mosques mangled with mortar shells.  Originally part of the world’s first Christian kingdom, Eritrea passed through the hands of colonial Italy, Britain, and  Ethiopia for over a century, until a bloody thirty year war of Independence liberated us.

But these are facts that anyone can know with a quick Google search. These are facts that I have memorised and compounded, first from my Grandmother and now from pristine books  borrowed from the library.

No historical narrative, however, can adequately capture what Eritrea is.  No one knows the aroma of bushels of potatoes, tomatoes, and garlic – still covered in dirt – that leads you to the open-air market. No one knows the poignant scent of spices, arranged in orange piles reminiscent of compacted  dunes.  No one knows how to haggle stubborn herders for sheep and roosters for Christmas celebrations as deliberately as my mother. No one can replicate the perfect balance of spices in dorho and tsebhi as well as my grandmother,  her gnarly hands stirring the pot with ancient precision (chastising my clumsy knife work with the potatoes).  It’s impossible to learn when the injera is ready – the exact moment you have to lift the lid of the mogogo. Do it too  early (or too late) and the flatbread becomes mangled and gross. It is a sixth sense passed through matriarchal  lineages.

There are no sources that catalogue the scent of incense that wafts through the sunlit porch on St. Michael’s; no  films that can capture the luminescence of hundreds of flaming bonfires that fluoresce the sidewalks on Kudus  Yohannes, as excited children chant Ge’ez proverbs whose origin has been lost to time.  You cannot learn the familiarity of walking beneath the towering Gothic figure of the Enda Mariam Cathedral, the  crowds undulating to the ringing of the archaic bells.  I have memorized the sound of the rains hounding the metal roof during kiremti , the heat of the sun pounding  against the Toyota’s window as we sped down towards Ghinda , the opulent brilliance of the stars twinkling in a  sky untainted by light pollution, the scent of warm rolls of bani wafting through the streets at precisely 6 o’clock each day…

I fill my flimsy sketchbook with pictures from my memory. My hand remembers the shapes of the hibiscus drifting  in the wind, the outline of my grandmother (affectionately nicknamed a’abaye ) leaning over the garden, the bizarre architecture of the Fiat Tagliero .  I dice the vegetables with movements handed down from generations. My nose remembers the scent of frying garlic, the sourness of the warm tayta , the sharpness of the mit’mt’a …

This knowledge is intrinsic.  “I am Eritrean,” I repeat. “I am proud.”  Within me is an encyclopedia of history, culture, and idealism.

Eritrea is the coffee made from scratch, the spices drying in the sun, the priests and nuns. Eritrea is wise, filled with ambition, and unseen potential.  Eritrea isn’t a place, it’s an identity.

This is an exceptional essay that provides a window into this student’s culture that really makes their love for their country and heritage leap off the page. The sheer level of details and sensory descriptors this student is able to fit in this space makes the essay stand out. From the smells, to the traditions, sounds, and sights, the author encapsulates all the glory of Eritrea for the reader. 

The vivid images this student is able to create for the reader, whether it is having the tedious conversation with every teacher or cooking in their grandmother’s kitchen, transports us into the story and makes us feel like we are there in the moment with the student. This is a prime example of an essay that shows , not tells.

Besides the amazing imagery, the use of shorter paragraphs also contributes to how engaging this essay is. Employing this tactic helps break up the text to make it more readable and it isolates ideas so they stick out more than if they were enveloped in a large paragraph.

Overall, this is a really strong essay that brings to life this student’s heritage through its use of vivid imagery. This essay exemplifies what it means to show not tell in your writing, and it is a great example of how you can write an intimate personal statement without making yourself the primary focus of your essay. 

There is very little this essay should improve upon, but one thing the student might consider would be to inject more personal reflection into their response. Although we can clearly take away their deep love and passion for their homeland and culture, the essay would be a bit more personal if they included the emotions and feelings they associate with the various aspects of Eritrea. For example, the way their heart swells with pride when their grandmother praises their ability to cook a flatbread or the feeling of serenity when they hear the bells ring out from the cathedral. Including personal details as well as sensory ones would create a wonderful balance of imagery and reflection.

Essay Example #10: Journaling

Flipping past dozens of colorful entries in my journal, I arrive at the final blank sheet. I press my pen lightly to the page, barely scratching its surface to create a series of loops stringing together into sentences. Emotions spill out, and with their release, I feel lightness in my chest. The stream of thoughts slows as I reach the bottom of the page, and I gently close the cover of the worn book: another journal finished.

I add the journal to the stack of eleven books on my nightstand. Struck by the bittersweet sensation of closing a chapter of my life, I grab the notebook at the bottom of the pile to reminisce.

“I want to make a flying mushen to fly in space and your in it” – October 2008

Pulling back the cover of my first Tinkerbell-themed diary, the prompt “My Hopes and Dreams” captures my attention. Though “machine” is misspelled in my scribbled response, I see the beginnings of my past obsession with outer space. At the age of five, I tore through novels about the solar system, experimented with rockets built from plastic straws, and rented Space Shuttle films from Blockbuster to satisfy my curiosities. While I chased down answers to questions as limitless as the universe, I fell in love with learning. Eight journals later, the same relentless curiosity brought me to an airplane descending on San Francisco Bay.

“I wish I had infinite sunsets” – July 2019

I reach for the charcoal notepad near the top of the pile and open to the first page: my flight to the Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes. While I was excited to explore bioengineering, anxiety twisted in my stomach as I imagined my destination, unsure of whether I could overcome my shyness and connect with others.

With each new conversation, the sweat on my palms became less noticeable, and I met students from 23 different countries. Many of the moments where I challenged myself socially revolved around the third story deck of the Jerry house. A strange medley of English, Arabic, and Mandarin filled the summer air as my friends and I gathered there every evening, and dialogues at sunset soon became moments of bliss. In our conversations about cultural differences, the possibility of an afterlife, and the plausibility of far-fetched conspiracy theories, I learned to voice my opinion. As I was introduced to different viewpoints, these moments challenged my understanding of the world around me. In my final entries from California, I find excitement to learn from others and increased confidence, a tool that would later allow me to impact my community.

“The beauty in a tower of cans” – June 2020

Returning my gaze to the stack of journals, I stretch to take the floral-patterned book sitting on top. I flip through, eventually finding the beginnings of the organization I created during the outbreak of COVID-19. Since then, Door-to-Door Deliveries has woven its way through my entries and into reality, allowing me to aid high-risk populations through free grocery delivery.

With the confidence I gained the summer before, I took action when seeing others in need rather than letting my shyness hold me back. I reached out to local churches and senior centers to spread word of our services and interacted with customers through our website and social media pages. To further expand our impact, we held two food drives, and I mustered the courage to ask for donations door-to-door. In a tower of canned donations, I saw the value of reaching out to help others and realized my own potential to impact the world around me.

I delicately close the journal in my hands, smiling softly as the memories reappear, one after another. Reaching under my bed, I pull out a fresh notebook and open to its first sheet. I lightly press my pen to the page, “And so begins the next chapter…”

The structuring of this essay makes it easy and enjoyable to read. The student effectively organizes their various life experiences around their tower of journals, which centers the reader and makes the different stories easy to follow. Additionally, the student engages quotes from their journals—and unique formatting of the quotes—to signal that they are moving in time and show us which memory we should follow them to.

Thematically, the student uses the idea of shyness to connect the different memories they draw out of their journals. As the student describes their experiences overcoming shyness at the Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes and Door-to-Door Deliveries, this essay can be read as an Overcoming Obstacles essay.

At the end of this essay, readers are fully convinced that this student is dedicated (they have committed to journaling every day), thoughtful (journaling is a thoughtful process and, in the essay, the student reflects thoughtfully on the past), and motivated (they flew across the country for a summer program and started a business). These are definitely qualities admissions officers are looking for in applicants!

Although this essay is already exceptionally strong as it’s written, the first journal entry feels out of place compared to the other two entries that discuss the author’s shyness and determination. It works well for the essay to have an entry from when the student was younger to add some humor (with misspelled words) and nostalgia, but if the student had either connected the quote they chose to the idea of overcoming a fear present in the other two anecdotes or if they had picked a different quote all together related to their shyness, it would have made the entire essay feel more cohesive.

Where to Get Your Personal Statement Edited

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If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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Essays About Motivation Leads to Success: Top 5 Examples

If you’re writing an essays about motivation leads to success; you will be inspired by our guide’s essay examples and prompts. 

Motivation is the ultimate key to success. The journey toward any goal is always fraught with hardships that tempt you to quit. But with the right motivation, you can keep sight of your goals and make it to your finish line. The search to find the source of people’s motivation and how to sustain its momentum has been a favorite subject among psychologists and management experts. This interest has engendered several motivation theories applied across society, whether at home, school, or work.

Read on for great essays and prompts on motivation leading to success, and find yourself filled with the motivation to get your essay done.

5 Top Essay Examples

1. the power of positive self-talk by teri karjala, 2. the goldilocks rule: how to stay motivated in life and business by james clear, 3. caffeine, exercise and the brain: how ‘doping’ with psychoactive drugs can boost motivation by ian mcmahan, 4. how to motivate your problem people by nigel nicholson, 5. how to overcome self-doubt and a lack of motivation by leo babauta, 9 helpful writing prompts on essays about motivation leads to success, 1. what motivates you, 2. rewards as tools for motivation, 3. how to develop self-motivation, 4. maslow’s hierarchy of needs, 5. motivating children to succeed, 6. using motivation to succeed in fitness, 7. creating a motivationing atmosphere at home, 8. rejection as a powerful driver for motivation, 9. motivating team members.

“Powerful and positive self-talk can change your entire mindset, which can affect your actions. That, in turn, can have a massive impact on how successful you are on any journey you take or any obstacle you face.”

Practicing positive self-talk can help turn self-doubt into concrete positive actions toward your goals. There are several ways to establish a habit of positive self-talk that will fuel our motivation. Such habits include steps as simple as changing how we address ourselves and physical activities, such as exercising and volunteering for social activities. 

“It is hard to imagine a situation that would strike fear into the hearts of more people than performing alone on stage and failing to get a single laugh. And yet Steve Martin faced this fear every week for eighteen years.”

The essay chronicles the success of American comedian Steve Martin, offering an excellent example of someone who has applied the so-called Goldilock’s Rule. Goldilock’s Rule states that people’s motivation is at its peak when they face manageable challenges. Psychologists also add that immediately receiving positive feedback will also motivate people to work their way to success with more determination than ever.

“When motivation is low and perceived effort high, the couch wins. So if a cup of tea or coffee can get you out and exercising, Marcora’s research suggests it’s worth a try.”

This article describes how your fitness and body toning goals would have been easier by keeping motivated. It also describes the quick fix that could eradicate psychological barriers to exercise: the mildly stimulating “drug” called caffeine.

Looking for more? Check out these essays about personal growth .

“Everyone knows that good managers motivate with the power of their vision, the passion of their delivery, and the compelling logic of their reasoning. Add in the proper incentives, and people will enthusiastically march off in the right direction.”

By coaxing problem employees to do better, managers are not only demotivating them further but are stoking the fire in an already dysfunctional relationship. This is the last thing managers would like to do if they still want to unlock employees’ intrinsic motivation and channel it toward the company’s goals. Before seeing problem employees as the main cause of the problem, managers must look inward and be more flexible in setting goals.

“It can be hard to get moving when you are stuck. This is how I felt in 2005 when I couldn’t change any of my habits. It was really hard to motivate myself when I didn’t think I would succeed, when I felt horrible about myself. But I took one small step, and it felt good.”

We all have that day when a lack of motivation strikes us. This article reassures us that experiencing sluggishness and self-doubt is okay. But instead of wallowing in self-pity, we can still make that bad day count by taking a small step and changing our perception of ourselves and the world around us.

What motivates you to wake up early to get to school, do your homework, or study intently for an exam? In this essay, write about the factors that figure in your motivation equation. Next, enumerate your techniques or attempts to build motivation for your goals. How do you deal with a low motivation level on a bad day? Do you take some rest or force your effort? Finally, share with your readers how much you have progressed in building motivation and what more you want to achieve.

Several studies have uncovered the enormous benefits of rewards in motivating people. First, delve into these studies and discover the scientific explanation behind the effects of rewards on people’s motivation and success. Then, write about the kinds of rewards that have proven effective. Finally, write about rewards you have received that fuelled you to improve yourself and your outlook to add a personal touch.

Self-motivation is a strong sense of motivation that comes from within a person rather than from external factors. This essay focuses on activities and habits that can empower your readers to be self-motivated. For example, it is proven that a deep and daily reflection of goals keeps one focused on following a routine built for that goal, regardless of the difficulties.

Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory is the most popular motivation theory. So, elaborate Maslow’s theory, which proposes that a person has to fulfill five basic needs to keep motivated — physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization. Also discuss the motivation theories derived from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, such as Alderfer’s ERG Theory, Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory, and McLelland’s Acquired Needs Theory, among others. Explore how they relate with each other or even pick out which improvised theory best captures and works with your situation at school or work.

Adults at home and school have a big role in instilling in children the importance of motivation as the key to success. For this essay, share the motivational methods your parents and teachers employ to help you keep motivated. Then, assess how these methods effectively or ineffectively build your inner sense of motivation. 

Many of us might have added fitness goals into our New Year’s resolution. And most might have deferred it or abandoned it altogether. Provide your readers with tips on how they can conquer laziness and hit the gym. Of course, the most challenging part is staying motivated in this routine. So compile tried and tested techniques from wellness and fitness experts, and encourage your readers to chronicle their fitness journey so they can appreciate their progress over time. 

This may be a challenge for parents who are working from home. Once parents feel the weight of the responsibilities at home, their motivation for work tends to slip away. So, provide recommendations on how working parents can set healthy boundaries between housework and professional work to deliver on their priority tasks. 

Now, if you want your essay to cater to students, you could also write your experience in distance learning – if any – during the pandemic. Talk about your challenges, strategies for overcoming them, and recommendations to enhance students’ motivation in distance learning. 

Several success stories are made possible because of rejection. For your essay, learn how popular figures embraced rejection. How did they harness it to generate the energy they need to reach their dreams? Finally, offer your readers, particularly those who may be experiencing rejection, some encouraging words to help them get through such trying times. 

How do you deal with uncooperative team members? Unfortunately, some team leaders just allow such instances to pass. But for leaders determined to uplift their team members’ motivation, what can they do? For your essay, offer proven practical approaches to help members align with team goals. Use case studies from the experiences of long-time leaders and managers.

For more writing tips, learn about persuasive writing . Also, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers to ensure your piece is error-free.

Yna Lim is a communications specialist currently focused on policy advocacy. In her eight years of writing, she has been exposed to a variety of topics, including cryptocurrency, web hosting, agriculture, marketing, intellectual property, data privacy and international trade. A former journalist in one of the top business papers in the Philippines, Yna is currently pursuing her master's degree in economics and business.

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ESSAY SAUCE

FOR STUDENTS : ALL THE INGREDIENTS OF A GOOD ESSAY

How to motivate yourself

There are tons of different ways to increase your motivation. it is always important to be motivated in whatever you do. However people often think that some people are just more motivated than others, this is true but only because these people WANT to be more motivated.

If you want to really boost your productivity and really thinking like a smart student here are a few tips to help yourself get more motivated.

Stay motivated!

Set yourself some realistic goals

The first step to being more motivated is to set yourself a task to do! People are much more motivated to complete small tasks rather than large daunting tasks, so split up a big task into lots of smaller ones. It is important to set realistic goals, don’t trying to ask too much of yourself. When you complete a goal make sure you note it, nothing is more motivating than seeing how far you have come already.

Set goals for your own learning

Try to see which concepts you can learn to help you with your work. if you have a big task that needs doing try doing some reading around the subject, and see what you can learn before hand to make your work better and easier to do. Learning goals help motivate you about your subject and true student thinking requires a thirst for knowledge.

Make sure all your goals are SMART goals

Make sure you know what completing the task will do for you

It is always important to see the bigger picture. When you draw up a set of tasks make sure you know how completing each task will benefit you. This is a great way to motivate yourself, it makes the task seem more important and it actually seems like less work, if the benefit to you is much better than the work you have to put into the task. Completing a task will be a lot more enjoyable too!

Keep a positive attitude

When starting any task it is important to remember ant tasks you finished in the past. Just by knowing that you have finished a similar task can increase your motivation. Or if you have to do a task that requires you to use a skill that you are proficient in, remember that you are good at it! It will help increase your motivation and improve your attitude.

Carry on positive self talking

Remember to always tell yourself that you can do it! A strong internal positive voice is one of the best ways to motivate yourself. If it helps do not be afraid to say it out loud, remember you have to motivate yourself.

Remember, your work is what yields results, do not forget to put the most work you can into something!

Use study techniques

It is always useful to use certain study techniques, there are different techniques for different types of learners. I would recommend the  Feynman technique as a good method for studying and understanding your work – see below.

The Feynman technique

Richard Feynman was an accomplished scientist, known for his amazing ability to absorb information at an astounding rate. Feynman would often reach the same conclusion as a student of a subject after a brief explanation of the course material, even though the student had been studying the same material for a much longer time. How did he do it? Well Feynman used a technique that is now dubbed the Feynman Technique . It’s a great way to absorb information quickly and teach yourself a subject and comprehend the subject in a lot of depth in a short amount of time. This is a great skill to have when studying at university. You can use this technique to help you better understand a topic before a test, to make sure that you can answer any questions thrown at you, its much better than cramming before an exam.

The first step is to choose the concept you wish to learn about. Firstly get a blank piece of paper and jot down the subject you are trying to learn right at the top of it. I like to write it using a different coloured pen, but do it whichever way you find makes it stand out to you. Now all you have to do is teach it to yourself. Try to imagine that you are teaching someone who has never studied what you are trying to teach. Use very simple terminology in your notes and try to add diagrams where you can. Doing this will not only re-enforce anything you have already learnt but it will also point out anything you do not fully understand! Throughout the procedure, keep asking yourself questions about what you are writing about. If a question comes to you that you do not know the answer to go away and learn what you need to know from a textbook or ask your lecturer. Keep going back to the material until you can answer your question yourself. Don’t be afraid to say to yourself or anyone that is trying to explain to you that you don’t understand it.

One of the most important tips when using this technique is to use the SIMPLEST language that you can. Try to stay away from terms specific to the subject you are trying to learn about. For example I study Economics and when explaining something to myself using this technique I always try to stay away from using lengthy terms like aggregate demand (even though I know what it means) and instead I say the entire demand within the economy. Also I always like to use analogies. The human brain is configured to better understand stories rather than processes, so I always try to make an analogy for something I am trying to learn. Try using it when taking notes in your next lecture and see if you feel that you better understand the subject that was taught!

Derren Brown’s Tricks of the Mind is also excellent for memory techniques that really work!

Monitor your learning

It is important to keep track of what you have done and what you have learnt. This is a great way to see how far you have come and how you have developed as a student. Remember it is always important to look back and see what you have come from and the mistakes you have made along the way. Also it would be a great idea to test yourself constantly.

Look at the mistakes you have made

What we do right is only half the story. We all make mistakes and the best way to learn is to learn what you did wrong before. See any mistakes you made in tests you have done and make sure you go back and make sure you can answer them! The key to being a smart student is to learn from the mistakes you have made and not to repeat them.

I hope these tips have given you the tools to motivate yourselves and do the best you can. I also hope that you can now see that everyone makes mistakes, every smart student sees what they did wrong and ensures they never make the same mistake again.

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Home / Essay Samples / Psychology / Child Development / Motivation

Motivation Essay Examples

Attribution theory in organizational behavior.

Attribution theory, a prominent concept in social psychology, has significant implications in organizational behavior. This psychological framework explores how individuals attribute causes to behavior, events, and outcomes, and its application in the workplace helps us understand employee motivation, performance, and interpersonal dynamics. In this essay,...

The Necessity of Self-motivation

'You can motivate by fear. And you can motivate by reward. But both of these methods are only temporary. The only lasting thing is self-motivation.' - Homer Rice. In self motivation essays authors usually share pure tips how to motivate yourself, but they sometimes forget...

What Motivates You in Life - the Biggest Dreams

I will excel in my studies throughout my college education to ensure the fulfillment of my dream to be a leader in the industry of eco-friendly products and goods. I chose to write what motivates you in life essay to show what can be motivation...

What Motivates Me: a Personal Reflection

Every individual is driven by unique motivations that shape their aspirations, decisions, and actions. Understanding what motivates us provides insight into our passions, values, and goals. In this essay, I will reflect on what motivates me and delve into the factors that ignite my drive...

Personal Experience of Helping Someone: What Drives Me to Do This

My task for this paper was to 'narrate your personal experience of helping someone', that is the main topic for this paper. Here my personal experience of helping will be introduced. Then, the motivations of helping and the reason why I would be the only...

An Ideal Learning Community: Plc and Teacher Empowerment

Usually teachers are habituated to perform his or her duties individually within the work place. But in the last decade of twenty century this old approach turn into modern approach that is more effective for the teacher professional development through creating collaboration, sharing ideas and...

Motivation in Learning Second Language

Motivation is a process that makes people determined to achieve their goals. It totally depends on the firmness of our decisions. Theories about motivation explains about the efforts of the people to achieve their desired things. Many motivational speakers give their views differently about motivation...

My Motivation to Get Summer Program in China

“Seeing something once is better than hearing about it a hundred times. Doing something once is better than seeing it a hundred times. ” This adage by Lisa See is what I’ve been a strong believer of and live by. Having the privilege of travelling...

Motivation in Second Language Learning: a Historical Overview

The concept of motivation always regarded in human societies particularly for scholars and educational experts.  In this paper, we review the theoretical perspectives that have been submitted over the past 4 decades and associated with language acquisition, this review also covers the important results of...

Theories of Motivation: Analysis of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Hertzberg’s Two Factor Theory

Numerous psychologists have contributed to the theories of motivation which most organizations use as a tool to aid in efficiency and effectiveness of employees. The theory of motivation can be approached from various perspective, however, they all share common factors that there is a link...

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About Motivation

Motivation is the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. It is what causes you to act, whether it is getting a glass of water to reduce thirst or reading a book to gain knowledge. Motivation involves the biological, emotional, social, and cognitive forces that activate behavior.

There are four main tyoes of motivation: Intrinsic, extrinsic, unconscious, and conscious.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Herzberg's two-factor theory, Alderfer's ERG theory, Self-Determination Theory, Drive theory.

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