Motivations and Challenge Instructions - Paper Example

Motivation can simply be defined as the underlying reason for peoples behavior. It is an inner state that pushes people to achieve specific purposes and goals. Intrinsic motivation is activated by personal pleasure, interest or enjoyment. With intrinsic motivations, energizing and the sustaining of activities is possible via the spontaneous satisfaction that springs from the decisive volitional action. The illustration of this is in behaviors entailing challenge seeking, exploration, and play that is often carried out for external rewards. Extrinsic motivation on the underhand is often caused by pressure and may lead to anxiety and low self-esteem. Reinforcement contingencies can manipulate it (Sharfaraj, 2013). Of the two types of motivation, intrinsic motivation is encouraged as an individual can sustain it over long periods. However, both may have limitations, and the best way is to balance the two motivators so that they complement each other. The power of motivation is dependent on how much one wants or needs something, the type of reward associated with the end goal, and perceived benefits of the behavior or action, of which it is often linked to peoples emotions.

Motivation influences peoples behaviors and choices. Task-related behavior is usually greatly impacted when one is faced with a challenge and has a goal to accomplish (Pinder, 2015). The desire to achieve a particular goal tends to motivate one to become more diligent, specifically about achieving the objective. Also, implicit drive tends to encourage people to make choices and work hard towards achieving a given task for the reason that they believe achieving the particular goal would bring satisfaction (Kasurkar et al. 2012). Also, an individual feeling that they are capable of achieving a given goal tends to motivate one towards its achievement.

Emotions also influence motivation. The emotions include fear, anxiety, love e.t.c. Most people tend to be motivated to work hard and achieve in areas that they love (Evans, 2016). For instance, a student will be motivated to study carefully and pass in a subject that they like or that they prefer. The reason they love the subject could be because they excel in it or they find it interesting. Fear also influences peoples motivation. Fear of failure, for instance, could motivate one to be industrious, to avoid failing. Anxiety also affects motivation. Being anxious may be the underlying reason for lack of focus in a person (Evans, 2016). It could also negatively impact ones motivation to perform a given task or tackle a challenge.

Motivations and emotions influence leisure, recreation, and play. The three are related in the sense that all are done during free time. Play refers to unplanned activities that are done for fun and without serving any particular purpose. Leisure is the free time that is available to a person after all the primary activities such as work and sleep have been done. Recreation refers to all activities that are carried out by an individual during leisure time, that does not require high commitment such as a second job or working overtime which need further commitment.

Unlike the popular notion that leisure is free time and therefore it involves one being idle, leisure entails the use of time. Motivations influence leisure in various ways. Being free from obligation is often a motivation to engage in leisure activities. Such activities usually have intrinsic value to an individual and typically provide innate satisfaction (Henle, 2016). One freely chooses to participate in leisure for personal benefits and also for the intrinsic value that is obtained from leisure.

For play, the activity itself is usually the driving force for people to engage in play rather than the outcomes. When one plays, all inhibitions are lost, and one becomes fully immersed in the fun. Also, even the simplest of games teach lessons that entail playing by the rules. Also, the fact that play and games are usually regarded as an integral component of wholesome and healthy living is a motivation to engage in the activity. When people engage in play, the motivation is often the activity itself, which is of intrinsic value and provides innate satisfaction to a person.

Recreation entails activities carried out during leisure time that serve given purposes. The motivation to engage in recreational activities is the satisfaction or the effect that it has on an individual. Most recreation activities bring about harmony and unity within an individual. It also brings about feelings of wholesomeness, satisfaction, positive self-identity, and creativeness. Recreation also satisfies cravings for pleasure. It does not necessarily have to involve play and what is most important about recreation is the outcome of the activity and its intrinsic value.

The desire for self-actualization, satisfy status and esteem needs, and social, and love needs are what motivates people to engage in leisure recreation and play (Henle, 2016). All the three activities are usually done not out of necessity, but it is normally self-initiated from ones free will. The motivation for engaging in all the three is the need to relax, rest and feel rejuvenated. It can be concluded that the motivation for the engagement in leisure, play, and recreation is usually the intrinsic value of the activities, rather than the outcome.

The challenge course that was carried out did offer an opportunity for one to experience learning, team exploration and personal growth. Some participants did overcome obstacles of increasing difficulty through group interaction and personal challenge. Also, participants had an opportunity to share their capabilities while working cooperatively with other members of the class to perceived limitations and meet initiative objectives.

Every person was involved in the activities that took place. For those who were not actively participating in the activities, they took part by offering words of encouragement and cheering on those who were taking on the obstacles. The support provided by the rest members to those taking the challenges did motivate those participating directly to strive harder towards overcoming the challenges. The participants were focused on the rewards of overcoming the obstacles, which was winning. The desire to overcome the difficulties and the resulting satisfaction did serve to motivate most people to overcome them, despite some of them being quite challenging.

Personally, I believe the experience heightened my sense of personal and collective achievement, and I learned lessons that I think would be of use for my success in future undertakings. The lessons include the importance of motivation in accomplishing a given goal and the role that a supportive team plays in motivating one to succeed. From the challenge course experience, I noted that those who were able to overcome the obstacles focused on the outcomes rather than the difficulty of the obstacle. Also, the support from the other members was also an essential factor in their success. I believe these lessons will be useful in different spheres of life to be successful.

References

Evans, P. (2016). Motivation and Emotion. [S.L.]: Psychology Press.

Henle, S. (2016). The interrelationship of leisure and play: play as leisure, leisure as play. Leisure studies in a global era. Annals Of Leisure Research, 20(4), 507-508. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2016.1229204

Kusurkar, R., Ten Cate, T., Vos, C., Westers, P., & Croiset, G. (2012). How motivation affects academic performance: a structural equation modeling analysis. Advances In Health Sciences Education, 18(1), 57-69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10459-012-9354-3

Pinder, C. (2015). Work motivation in organizational behavior. [Place of publication not identified]: Psychology Press.

Sharfaraj, M. (2013). Popular Models and Theories of Motivation: Strength and Weakness. California Business Review, 1(2), 29-38. http://dx.doi.org/10.18374/cbr-1-2.3