Kostic's View on MOTIVATION and Success
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Tips for Learning and Academic Skills Improvment * Some Suggestions for Problem Solving
(!) "I do not want to give you a fish, I want to teach you how to fish!"
It is much more beneficial to understand general concept (theory) than to memorize particular problems. Solving problems should help you better understand theory so that you can then solve any other problem. If we can not solve a problem that "proves" we do not fully understand "theory." The key is UNDERSTANDING, NOT REMEMBERING!
If you think theory is boring, that means you are not truly interested in understanding.
Excitement is a sign of your motivation. The best way to spread excitement to the learners is by the teacher being excited about the subject himself or herself.
www.coachwooden.com : "Always try to be the very best that you can be. Learn from others, yes. But don't just try to be better than they are. You have no control over that. Instead try, and try very hard, to be the best that you can be. That you have control over. Maybe you'll be better than someone else and maybe you won't. That part of it will take care of itself."
[A student's comment; Dan, Vince]
The best instructor's teaching portfolio and a state-of-the-art laboratory (sometimes gather dust and rust) will mean a little per se for students' learning, if they are not motivated. Having the best exercise book and video DOES NOT mean at all that one will succeed, exercise properly and regularly. What is needed for a success is the MOTIVATION, the conscious and, very importantly, subconscious feel for a need and purpose. Usually an enthusiastic instructor is a better motivator than other learning aids. Wisely using all available resources is the best: in the right proportion/amount, at the right time and place, to the right people, for the right purpose… The magic word is RIGHT and nobody knows what it is, we have to try-and-see, to experiment, and do our best.
The motivation begins with curiosity, self-esteem, being aware of reality, and trust:
To be motivated a student needs answers to the following questions:
- "Can I do it?"
- "I may never need it?
- "If I have a different instructor…"
The following comments may help in answering the above questions:
- Of course you can! The hardest things in life to learn are how to WALK and TALK and we did it. We are able to accomplish much more than what we think we can. We only need to really want it, and I mean subconsciously. We are all about equally intelligent, because we all survive. If I "know more math and less music" than most of the people, it does not mean that I am more smart for math and less for music. It means that I have been somehow more motivated to learn math than music. And I know that I have spent a lot of time learning math, and very little, if any, for music.
- You are right, BUT! Many things we teach you at school you may not need "as is" later. However, whatever you learn in school is, directly and for sure indirectly, useful for your life later. By learning, you will be developing your general mental and analytical skills and be able to adapt and apply learned techniques and knowledge to solve your problems, in your life or work later. You will become more matured and knowledgeable how to adapt and extrapolate the skills you've learned for your own benefit, the better and happier living. If you agree with the above, that whatever you have to learn will be either directly useful for you, or indirectly will exercise your brain, the way physical exercise develops your muscles, you'll be more motivated. After all, it is true across the life-facets. For example, the basketball players do not practice basketball for fun only, they exercise weight-lifting, running, and other hard things they often do not like. Use analogies, your imagination and creativity. I am sure you got my point.
- Luckily for you, we are all different! There is no absolute truth! Nothing is perfect! The only absolute "thing" is that everything is relative! These things you should have been learning in college at the first place. Those who are not aware of the above are narrow-minded and prejudice. An institution of the highest learning should provide such educational, learning, and living environment in order to broaden students' outlook, encourage independence and self-confidence, promote mutual differences and tolerance, and respect for other cultures. Everyone is unique and special, and deserves attention and respect. You and your instructor are not perfect. By being exposed to many different instructors ("good and bad") you will gain different experiences and be able to choose what you like and you think is the best for you. Open-minded pursue for truth and knowledge is the best way for the betterment of our/your life. Proclaiming the truth is the proof of blindness, arrogance and mediocrity. Don't make quick judgment, keep your mind open!
* Nothing is as important as we think it is. *
Some motivational Quotations:
See also www.motivational-well-being.com *
A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying. - B.F. Skinner, American psychologist (b. 1904)
A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done. - Ralph Lauren, American designer (b. 1939)
A man can be destroyed but not defeated. - Ernest Hemingway, American writer (b. 1899)
A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties. - Harry Truman, American President (b. 1884)
Act quickly, think slowly. - Greek proverb
Any failure will tell you success is nothing but luck. - Anonymous
Anybody with a little guts and the desire to apply himself can make it, he can make anything he wants to make of himself. - Willie Shoemaker, American jockey (b. 1931)
Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm. - Abraham Lincoln, American President (b.1809)
But to look back all the time is boring. Excitement lies in tomorrow. - Natalia Makarova, Russian ballerina (b. 1940)
Do a little more each day than you think you possibly can. - Lowell Thomas, American politician, author (b. 1923)
Do not make yourself so big, you are not so small. - Jewish proverb
Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly. - St. Frances De Sales, French bishop, author (b. 1859)
Do the right thing. - Spike Lee, African-American film director (b. 1957)
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. - Jesus of Nazareth
Don't go around saying the world owes you a living; the world owes you nothing, it was here first. - Mark Twain, American humorist (b. 1835)
Either find a way, or make one. - Hannibal, Carthaginian general (b. 247 BC)
Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement. - Henry Ford, American industrialist (b. 1863)
Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him. - Aldous Huxley, English writer (b. 1894)
Facing it, always facing it, that's the way to get through. Face it. - Joseph Conrad, British author (b. 1857)
Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. - Henry Ford, American industrialist (b. 1863)
Getting your house in order and reducing the confusion gives you more control over your life. Personal organization somehow releases or frees you to operate more effectively. - Larry King, American TV host (b. 1933)
Give me a lever long enough and a prop strong enough. I can single-handedly move the world. - Archimedes, Greek mathematician
Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly. - Langston Hughes, African-American poet (b. 1902)
I can't imagine a person becoming a success who doesn't give this game of life everything he's got. - Walter Cronkite, American broadcast journalist (b. 1916)
I have been poor and I have been rich. Rich is better. - Sophie Tucker, American singer (b. 1884)
I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain, what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an "honest man." Your honesty influences others to be honest. - George Washington, American President ((b. 1732))
I learned the value of hard work by working hard. - Sr. Margaret FitzPatrick, American educator (b. 1951)
If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mousetrap than his neighbor, though he build his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door. - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American writer (b. 1803)
If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful after all. - Michelangelo, Italian sculptor, painter, architect (b. 1475)
If you are poor, though you dwell in the busy marketplace, no one will inquire about you; if you are rich, though you dwell in the heart of the mountains, you will have distant relatives. - Chinese proverb
If you do it right 51 percent of the time you will end up a hero. - Alfred P. Sloan, Former Chairman General Motors (b. 1875)
If you do not believe in yourself, very few other people will. - Anonymous
If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is not the falling down but the staying down. - Mary Pickford, American actress (b. 1893)
I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. - Thomas Jefferson, American President (b. 1743)
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. - Albert Einstein, Scientist, Nobel laureate (b. 1879)
It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped. - Anthony Robbins, American author and speaker (b. 1960)
Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong. - Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (b. 1918)
Just what you want to be, you will be in the end. - Justin Hayward, British songwriter, musician (b. 1946)
Man is what he believes. - Anton Chekov, Russian author (b. 1860)
Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius. - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, British author (b. 1859)
No man is ever whipped until he quits in his own mind. - Napoleon Hill, motivational writer (b. 1883)
No one knows what he can do till he tries. - Publilius Syrus, Roman writer (b. c100 BC)
Nothing great has ever been accomplished without enthusiasm. - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American writer (b. 1803)
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. - Calvin Coolidge, American President (b. 1872)
One man with courage makes a majority. - Andrew Jackson, American President (b. 1829)
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. - Confucius, Chinese philosopher and teacher (b. 551)
Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, "Make me feel important." Not only will you succeed in sales, you will succeed in life. - Mary Kay Ash, Founder, Mary Kay Cosmetics (b. 1915)
Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. - George Bernard Shaw, British playwright (b. 1856)
Real success is not on the stage, but off the stage as a human being, and how you get along with your fellow man. - Sammy Davis, Jr., American entertainer (b. 1925)
Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. - Charles Dickens, English novelist (b. 1812)
Remember, a dead fish can float downstream, but it takes a live one to swim upstream. - W. C. Fields, American comic actor (b. 1880)
Risk more than others think is safe. Care more than others think is wise. Dream more than others think is practical. Expect more than others think is possible. - Cadet maxim, U.S. Military Academy, West Point
Some people entertain ideas; others put them to work. - Anonymous
Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open. - Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish inventor of the telephone (b. 1847)
Success ... seems to be connected with action. Successful men keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit. - Conrad Hilton, American hotelier (b. 1887)
Success can make you go one of two ways. It can make you a prima donna - or it can smooth the edges, take away the insecurities, let the nice things come out. - Barbara Walters, American broadcast journalist (b. 1931)
Success consists of doing the common things of life uncommonly well. - Anonymous
Success doesn't come to you ... you go to it. - Marva Collins, African-American educator
Success occurs when opportunity meets preparation. - Anonymous
Success to me is having ten honeydew melons and eating only the top half of each one. - Barbra Streisand, American singer, actress (b. 1942)
The best way to get something done is to begin. - Anonymous
The difference between a mountain and a molehill is your perspective. - Al Neuharth, American publisher (b. 1924)
The great man shows his greatness by the way he treats the little man. - Anonymous
The only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary. - Vidal Sassoon, Hairdresser (b. 1928)
The price of greatness is responsibility. - Winston Churchill, British prime minister (b. 1874)
The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur. - Vince Lombardi, American football coach (b. 1913)
The successful man will profit from his mistakes and try again in a different way. - Dale Carnegie, American writer and speaker (b. 1888)
The time for action is now. It's never too late to do something. - Carl Sandburg, American author (b. 1878)
The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining. - John F. Kennedy, American President (b.1917)
The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain. - Dolly Parton, American singer (b. 1946)
There are people who have money and people who are rich. - Coco Chanel, French fashion designer (b. 1884)
There is always room at the top. - Daniel Webster, American political leader (b. 1782)
There is no one giant step that does it. It's a lot of little steps. - Peter A. Cohen, Investment banker (b. 1954)
There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way. - Christopher Morley, American writer (b. 1890)
To believe a thing is impossible is to make it so. - French proverb
Today's preparation determines tomorrow's achievement. - Anonymous
Vision is the art of seeing things invisible. - Jonathan Swift, English satirist (b. 1667)
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. - Oscar Wilde, Irish author (b. 1854)
Well done is better than well said. - Benjamin Franklin, American statesman (b. 1706)
When I grip the wheel too tight, I find I lose control. - Steve Rapson, American writer (b. 1948)
Who ceases to be a friend never was one. - Greek proverb
Work banishes those three great evils: boredom, vice and poverty. - Voltaire, French author (b. 1694)
You have to ... learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else. - Dianne Feinstein, U.S. Senator (b. 1933)
You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself. - Alan Alda, American actor (b. 1936)
You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it. - Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister (b. 1925)
You never know what you can do until you try. - Anonymous
You see things and you say, "Why?" But I dream things that never were, and I say, "Why not?" - George Bernard Shaw, British playwright (b. 1856)
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