JUST DO IT A Discussion on Motivation
when i was young my father would always
push me
no matter the situation or the
circumstance i remember
one day my fifth grade math teacher told
me that i was not smart
and i had no hope in passing the
end-of-year exam because i was stupid
now fifth grade me at the time was
feeling embarrassed and overall
horrible of course he had to say this in
front of the whole
entire class making me feel worthless
i didn’t know what to do so i walked
around with my head down and had no
pride in who i was
that night i came crying home to my mom
and dad feeling like a disappointment
and ashamed
my mom and dad looked at me and said
stop you know who you are and you know
how much effort you put into the things
you do and you will not let some teacher
let you think any differently
you are smart and you will pass
that night we got straight to work i
studied and studied and learned more and
more and i would always push myself
and if i didn’t my dad would and don’t
get me wrong sometimes it ended up with
me being annoyed at him and wishing he
would just stop
but he said that is how you become
the best and who doesn’t want to be the
best right
i was still fearful though of what would
happen if my teacher was right
what would happen if all my hard work
was for nothing and i still ended up
disappointing my parents
looking back now i can’t thank my
parents enough for pushing me
because it has turned me into the person
i am today
fearless now this doesn’t mean i don’t
get scared or nervous because believe me
i do
but now i choose to face it head on
oh and by the way i ended up passing
highest in my class that year
by a young age we are faced with the
unknown from when we learn how to walk
talk
and swim all things that are essential
elements and will benefit us in the
future
and if not taught we would be put at a
disadvantage from all the others
as babies we weren’t given the choice to
cower fear was unknown to us back then
now we know what fear and disappointment
are
sometimes they go hand in hand with the
unknown with such a negative connotation
to the word already why this is a
surprise that people stray away from the
unknown
but by not choosing the unknown you’re
depriving yourself of new experiences
and that is exactly why exploring the
unknown is the most valuable thing you
can experience in life
we have all gone through the frustration
of having to pick a movie with our
families
one wants to watch a movie about history
the other one about comedy what about
action and at the end of the day you
waste more time
in picking the movie than actually
watching it but
one day we didn’t argue my dad put on
the movie and me at the time thinking
this was probably going to be the worst
movie ever
me after the movie let’s just say i was
in awe
i was fascinated by the movie i thought
how have i never watched this movie
before and
made me think so much about how life
works and the possibilities of what goes
on in the world
you might even know the movie it’s
called the matrix
and one of the most famous quotes from
this film is the blue
or the red pill that is the choice that
the main character neo faces
the rebel leader morpheus tells him that
if he takes the blue pill
the story will end neil will wake up in
his bed and believe whatever he wants to
believe
but he says if you take the red pill
you will remain in wonderland and i’ll
show you how far the rabbit hole goes
most of us in life would take the blue
pill we choose the illusion of certainty
day after day instead of the chaotic
truth of
change as a consequence facts become
irrelevant and misconceptions and fake
news flourish
taking the red pill will most likely
expose information
you didn’t want to know but
being uneasily doubtful is much better
than being comfortably mistaken
in the end neil picks the red pill he
figures out the truth and he finds out
that he’s been living in a manufactured
world called
the matrix from his clothes to where he
goes to work
all he sees is an illusion designed to
blind him from reality
this is a problem that many teens face
today
for example natalie has many friends
they talk all the time and they’re
always so nice to her
but one day someone comes up to her and
tells her that her friends have been
talking bad behind her back
at first she is shocked she doesn’t know
what to do should she confront her
friends or should she stay
silent in the end she decides not to
believe the truth of the matter
she’s in denial because it is easier for
her to keep on believing that they are
her friends
she is scared she is scared of what will
happen if she confronts them
she’s scared who she will hang out with
because of her fear of the unknown
natalie could have found better friends
if only she had dared to venture into
the unknown
this is not something that can only be
related to teens today
as adults it may be even harder for you
to take risks
some things that could be unknown to
adults could be how to get out of an
abusive relationship
how to ask for a promotion or more
importantly how to ask for a vacation
because we all know that’s a must need
but we start to overthink before we even
ask what if they say no what if i get
fired
what if they think i’m lazy in times
like this i like to think of nike and
don’t laugh at me okay
but just do it just do it you have
so much responsibility and let’s be
honest as adults you aren’t supposed to
make mistakes
teens and kids can make mistakes but not
you you’re supposed to be an expert at
this whole
life thing um yeah no i don’t think so
whoever told you that is probably
struggling way more than you are right
now
but that is the illusion society gives
off
society can play a really big role in
people’s decision-making
society shapes us and decides what
occupation is appropriate for us
how we should look and to whom we should
talk to society shapes us into who they
want
us to be but as evolution shows we are
starting to outgrow
society’s social norms things that were
back then are no longer
now remember that you were born with the
right to have your own beliefs and if
you let society change that you’re no
longer yourself
in past decade many experiments have
shed light on the role
of social norms in influencing
individuals decision making
for example it has been argued that
punishment and emotion are two
key factors involved with norm
compliance
so now you might be thinking that
choosing the unknown will always turn
out good right
no that is not always true but many
people do overlook a key
element learning though it may not have
been the best experience
you ended up learning so now if that
situation were ever to come back again
you know what to do the second time
around you know not to make the same
mistakes
the people that choose the safe path
wouldn’t they would keep on making the
same mistakes
over and over again the greatest enemy
of knowledge is not ignorance as the
late stephen hawking said
it is the illusion of knowledge the
illusion of knowledge closes our ears
and blocks off outside sources of
incoming experiences
don’t let pride get in the way of you
experiencing new things it’s okay not to
know how to handle a problem
i know there were many times in my life
where i didn’t know what to do and i was
afraid to make mistakes
until mr clegg a wise teacher of mine
told me
sin boldly make mistakes that is how you
will become better
what i took away from that was if you’re
willing to fail
or maybe be disappointed in the end you
will learn
so now some of you might be wanting to
take a step forward and start exploring
the unknown
while the other half of you are just
ready to leave or and hear another
talk but to those who maybe want to
start exploring the unknown
but don’t know how an article by saw in
westbrook
says the three brain regions implicated
with fear conditioning and extinction
are the amygdala
the prefrontal cortex and the
hippocampus the article also says
extinction of fear occurs when the
association between the condition
and unconditioned stimuli is broken by
repeated presentation of the conditioned
stimuli
basically what it is saying is that in
order to break your fear of the unknown
or anything in general you must repeat
it over and over again
until you are no longer triggered by it
and it becomes normal
so whenever you get the chance to
venture onto the untraveled path
take it for that is the only way to
break the fear
in the end you can’t learn how to deal
with life problems just by reading a
book
only by going out and exploring the
unknown will you truly
understand just like anamore limburg
says and yet it is the unknown with all
its disappointments and surprises that
is the most
enriching and that is precisely why
exploring the unknown is the most
valuable thing you can experience in
life
thank you