Motivation > Dedication
We have entered into February of 2019 and going into this month, some of us have succeeded and some have failed in something that we have set out to do. January seemed like the month where the majority of us were trying something new; a lot of the people I came across were trying "dry January". In watching people attempt "dry January", there were varied results. A few succeeded in completing a whole month without drinking alcohol, some failed on the very last day, others failed after a couple of weeks, and there were also failures after the first day.
Those that succeeded will claim that it was due to their dedication to the cause and those that failed, lacked dedication. This is a justifiable reason; dedication is an important factor in a person's success. However, after watching people succeed in achieving goals, fail in achieving goals, and also people strive towards their goal; I think that the most important factor in providing a slither of a chance at success, more important than dedication, is motivation.
Motivation is defined as the desire to do something or the reasoning behind someone's actions and dedication is defined as a persons commitment. The role that motivation plays is that it determines the amount of effort we put into a task. If we consider an athlete in training; if the athlete is motivated then we can guarantee 100% effort in their training. If the athlete is unmotivated, we are guaranteed not to get 100% effort in their training. We will talk about why this is importance of effort in training later on.
Now, if we consider two different athletes; one athlete attends training sessions seven times a week and the athlete attends training sessions four times a week, who is more dedicated? Obviously the athlete that attends training seven times a week is considered more dedicated. Now, if we consider that the athlete that attends four times a week puts in maximum effort every training session and the athlete attending seven sessions a week puts in very little effort every session, then it is highly likely that the athlete attending fewer sessions will be more successful even though they would be considered less dedicated.
We can now say that, especially in sport, effort is a bigger determining factor of success than dedication. As we know that motivation determines effort, motivation is a more important factor than dedication. How does this apply outside of sport? If we consider our heavy drinking students that attempted "dry January"; many will agree that it was a challenge to resist the urge to drink. Those that succeeded; I can safely say that there was something motivating you to not drink or go out every single day. And those that failed, it is very likely that you attempted it just for the sake of it and on that one day where you were unmotivated, you thought "screw this! I'm having a drink".
To those who are looking to set yourselves long term goals, it is imperative that you are always motivated so you have the greatest chance of achieving your goal.
Those that succeeded will claim that it was due to their dedication to the cause and those that failed, lacked dedication. This is a justifiable reason; dedication is an important factor in a person's success. However, after watching people succeed in achieving goals, fail in achieving goals, and also people strive towards their goal; I think that the most important factor in providing a slither of a chance at success, more important than dedication, is motivation.
Motivation is defined as the desire to do something or the reasoning behind someone's actions and dedication is defined as a persons commitment. The role that motivation plays is that it determines the amount of effort we put into a task. If we consider an athlete in training; if the athlete is motivated then we can guarantee 100% effort in their training. If the athlete is unmotivated, we are guaranteed not to get 100% effort in their training. We will talk about why this is importance of effort in training later on.
Now, if we consider two different athletes; one athlete attends training sessions seven times a week and the athlete attends training sessions four times a week, who is more dedicated? Obviously the athlete that attends training seven times a week is considered more dedicated. Now, if we consider that the athlete that attends four times a week puts in maximum effort every training session and the athlete attending seven sessions a week puts in very little effort every session, then it is highly likely that the athlete attending fewer sessions will be more successful even though they would be considered less dedicated.
We can now say that, especially in sport, effort is a bigger determining factor of success than dedication. As we know that motivation determines effort, motivation is a more important factor than dedication. How does this apply outside of sport? If we consider our heavy drinking students that attempted "dry January"; many will agree that it was a challenge to resist the urge to drink. Those that succeeded; I can safely say that there was something motivating you to not drink or go out every single day. And those that failed, it is very likely that you attempted it just for the sake of it and on that one day where you were unmotivated, you thought "screw this! I'm having a drink".
To those who are looking to set yourselves long term goals, it is imperative that you are always motivated so you have the greatest chance of achieving your goal.
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