I came across a thought this week that seems liked something worthwhile to blog about. Early on his book, "How to Study," Kornhauser addresses the point of motivation. His gist is that your motivation and your expectations are essential to success. If you want to succeed in learning something, you will need to first believe that you can succeed. Now I don't believe that this is anything novel, but certainly worth keeping in mind as we start a new school year.
Have you ever started something thinking, "This is impossible. There is no way I can do this."? I don't think anyone would be surprised when they failed at such a task. As people, we're usually pretty good about fulfilling our own prophecies; both positive and negative.
I had the opportunity as an undergraduate to hear Alfred Bandura speak at my University. His topic was self-efficacy which is basically the term in cognitive psychology for your belief in either your eventual success or failure. At the time I was super excited and I invited my father to attend this lecture too. Well I experienced the lecture as extraordinary, very positive, and motivating. Leaving the lecture hall I asked my father what he thought. He shrugged noncommittally and simply stated that it was okay, but nothing really new. Well that kinda knocked the wind out of my sails.
In retrospect, today I see a little bit better why it was not so amazing to my father. To him this was common sense. Whether we call it self-efficacy or attitude doesn't matter. The basic message is just as true: If you believe you can accomplish something, more likely than not you will find a way to make it happen. If you do not believe you can make something happen, well... don't be surprised when you prove yourself true.