Welcome to 2024 Cougs! Now that you’ve made it through winter break it’s time to get back into the groove, reminding yourself of your capacity for success here at WSU and beyond. Now, don’t get us wrong – the Spring semester can start off tough navigating the lingering cold and waiting for longer days. That’s why we’re here today to talk about how to channel motivation in the month of January through the following four steps.
Adopt a growth mindset.
To channel motivation and success, it is first critical to ensure that you’re operating from a growth, rather than a fixed, mindset. Coined by psychologist Carol Dweck, an individual with a growth mindset believes that their abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication, hard work, and learning. Individuals with this mindset are keen to embrace challenges, persist in the face of setbacks, and see effort as a path to excellence.
Set realistic goals.
While the start of the new year is a great time to consider how you’d like to develop in the future, it’s easy to get lost in the laundry list of new year’s resolutions. Rather than outlining every little thing you’d like to change try to seriously focus on goal setting. One way to do this is to think of goal setting as a personal homework assignment – one that you would take as seriously as you would something that’s graded for a class. Three questions that can help you narrow down and define your goals into something more manageable are:
- Why do you want to accomplish this?
- How would it make you feel to accomplish this?
- What would happen if you didn’t accomplish this?
Find ways to get active.
Another great way to channel motivation is by finding ways to get active and moving. Often it becomes easy to neglect our need for physical activity when we’re doing so much work mentally, but it’s important to strike a balance.
If you don’t mind the cold, one easy way to get active is by taking an extended walk in between classes or on your lunch break. If you’re not quite conditioned to the cold weather of the Palouse, there’s plenty of ways to get active and stay warm through the student recreation center which provides over 180 classes per week and is open daily from 5:30am – 10:30pm.
Whatever getting active means to you, make sure it’s something you can incorporate into your normal routine.
Rewarding yourself.
While it might seem simple, nothing quite motivates you like a good reward. Rewarding yourself is a great way to have something to look forward to and encourage you to achieve your goals. Rewards can take many forms, but the important part is that they are kept to scale and come after the work has been done. Treat yourself to your favorite beverage after a good study session but it’s probably a good idea to save the cross-country road trip as a reward for finishing out the semester strong.
While the weather might still be less than ideal and you’re waiting for sunnier days, there’s still an abundance of ways to source motivation and channel success. If you choose to adopt a growth mindset, set realistic goals, find ways to get active, and implement a system of rewards – or even just one of these things – you may just find more motivation than you’d anticipate. Altogether, following these tips will help you master motivation and establish a strong foundation for success this semester and beyond.
