Keeping A Motivation Journal

In Activity #4 you recorded your thoughts, beliefs, and emotions about the content of some questions. You might think about using this method more often. It helps identify what we are doing or thinking or feeling that supports our motivation. It also helps identify what we are doing or thinking or feeling that lowers our motivation and prevents us from succeeding. One really useful activity for analyzing your motivation is keeping a motivation journal. Here are some guidelines for keeping a motivation journal:

• In a notebook, describe how you feel about your academic activities each day. (These can be very brief notes.)

• Either pick a certain class or a certain activity (e.g., a speech presentation) about which to write, or write about college in general.

• Writing in your journal should take 5 - 10 minutes or less each day.

The objective of your journal writing is to put some of your ideas and feelings down on paper so that you can see what's going on in your head. Reviewing your comments may uncover the source or sources of your motivation problems and successes. You want to build on your successes and reduce your motivation problems.