What makes us motivated? What does it take for one to have motivation? What drives us to be motivated?
I've been asking this question to myself for as long as I can rememebr. Through my years of playing the piano I've gone through many stages of motivation. There were many times were I did not want to practice at all but literally forced myself (or bribed myself?) to get to the piano, set a timer, and go. There were other times I couldn't wait to practice, I craved practice, it was a "natural high" to sit at the piano for hours and really work on technique/repertoire/etc. At this point in my life, things have changed yet again. I'm teaching K-6 music in a poverty stricken, high violence area. Yes, I'm teaching music, which is a blessing in and of itself with all the budget cuts and teacher layoffs, but my problems with teaching there have more to do with motivating my students rather than the content itself. I have lost some of my own motivation to practice the piano because I have "nothing" to practice for. I want my piano students to have a teacher who is "on her game," who actively plays with ensembles, who practices for the absolute joy of having the ability to make this gorgeous music in the first place.
In order to be highly motivated we must have goals, and have a high desire for whatever it is we are being motivated to do. I recently read Carol Dweck's "Mindset." A mindset is basically how you view yourself: your intelligence, talents, personality traits, etc. She writes about the growth mindset verses the fixed mindset. In fixed mindset, a person has beliefs about themself that he/she thinks cannot be changed. On the other hand, someone with a growth mindset, understands that while we are all individuals and may have been born with certain qualities or talents, these can all be developed over time. This is where motivation comes in. If we train ourselves to have a growth mindset, to believe that hardwork and dedication pays off, to believe that when we follow our dreams and our hearts (even through the hard times and probably many tears!) we can do whatever we set our minds to. We need to teach our students to have a growth mindset as well as modeling a growth mindset for them.
There have been countless times were I have been motivated to practice only to reach a certain goal (a jury, recitals, concerto etc.) Goals are most definitely important, there is no doubt about that. For me, I need to stop making goals that have dead-lines. I will motivate myself to practice because I want to be a better pianist, because I want to be a role-model for my students, because I believe that we can always grow and learn. I deserve to allow myself time alone with my instrument - time to think, reflect, play, feel, and give thanks.
