Dec 08 2007
Study Motivation
Assalamulaykum
Diging out the motivation to study at times (unless you got an exam the next morning or in a few hours!) can be hard at times, so reading through Psychology: An Internationl Perspective, I came across this:
Some advice from Eyseneck: (you know this sounds alot like what we did with Ustad Muhammad in Discover U)
The best type of motivation is goal setting, and the most effective forms of goal setting are as follows:
- You must set yourself a goal that is hard but achievable.
- You need to commit yourself as fully as possible to attaining the goal, perhaps by telling other people about it.
- You should focus on goals that can be achieved within a reasonable period of time (e.g. no more than a few weeks). A long term goal needs to be broken down into a series of short term goals.
- You should set yourself clear goals, and avoid very vague goals such as simply “doing well”.
- You should obtain feedback on how well you aremoving towards your goal (e.g. checking progress with a friend or teacher)
- You should feel pleased whenever you achieve a goal. However, avoid complacency and set yourself a slightly higher goal for the future.
- You should try to learn from failure by being very honest about the reasons why you failed: Was it really “just bad luck”?
Remember: Set realistic medium-term goals, setting impossible goals are more likely to reduce than increase motivation.
From a personal view (not just cos im an organisation freak) this is very effective if you take into account the 7 points, organisation in every aspect of life brings about a sense of peace and lets you get on with your work without constantly wondering “what next” or “have I forgotten something?”.
It reminds me of the hadith:
“Calmness and patient deliberation is from Allah and haste is from Shaytaan”
I remember my ustadah saying when teaching, in regards to the tafseer of this hadith, that when you make a plan for something don’t rush into it, but carefully look at all avenues, then go into it.
Duas Requested
Ma’assalam

