1969- Neil Armstrong walks on the moon. That was an incredible accomplishment. Did you know that was 30 years later that neuroscience and educators came together in the first ever conference about the brain and learning? 30 years AFTER we put a man on the moon. Doesn't that just seem so… unbelievable?

-While learning and the brain go together like hand and glove, it was not until 1999 that educators and neuroscientists created a gathering place to discuss new research findings with respect to the classroom and clinical practice. "This marriage between neuroscience and education is pretty new," said Kosik. "But people now see it as a discipline in its own right."-University of California Web page. 2008.

I just thought that was so very interesting that I had to share it.

Therefore, these two ideas, motivation and confidence are powerful predictors that help us to anticipate if someone is going to achieve their goals or not.  As long as motivation is either equal to or greater than confidence, the student is much more likely to succeed in the achievement of their goals, because they want to do it, and they are willing to trust and be guided by an expert. I say things like “I understand that your confidence is low right now and that’s okay. How about this? I will believe in you and you trust me for now while we are getting this sorted out? Would that be okay with you?”

So the answer to the question, which is more important, motivation or confidence? is both are important. In goal achievement, you need both. But, motivation must be equal to or higher than confidence to begin actions towards the goal. That just means that you have to want it, but if you are not completely confident in your own abilities, then seek out the help of a trustworthy expert or leading authority on the issue. Use your motivation and trust their expertise and you will be well on your way to your goal.

This speaks to the issue to being as certain as you can be, that the person you are trusting has demonstrated and continues to prove that they are indeed an expert. They will have proof and will be credible. Other people will have been successful in achieving their goals through following the expert's advice. When you trust such an expert, your motivation will pay off in actual goal achievement.

Have you recently set goals? Take a few minutes to rate your own motivation and confidence relative to achieving them. Do this for each goal. If your motivation is above an 8 but your confidence is below an 8, it is best to get some advice from a trusted expert.

I will be writing about how this applies to New Year's Resolutions in upcoming blogs.

Obsessed with your success,

Terry

Motivation and/or confidence continued.

I received some spectacular news today. One of my students was the top student, earning the highest grade point average of his entire 3rd year in the faculty of business. We were both so excited. We were doing the 'happy dance' for sure. What is so cool about this is that we chatted about his motivation and confidence scores that I had collected when he first came in for academic coaching. His scores were in the 'right direction', at that time, meaning his motivation score was higher than his confidence score. Today, both are at a 10, right where they should be. Interestingly, he is hoping to improve a bit next semester. His grades have opened many doors for him and he is being offered all sorts of opportunities. He reminded me again, what is possible when we have a strong desire to achieve a specific goal, recognize that we need guidance from someone who 'has been there and done it right', the humility to accept correction, and the determination to stick to the new plan.

For those of you following along on the Motivation or confidence blog, here is today's installment.

I always get students to set a goal and then take a measurement of motivation and confidence before and immediately after training and then 6 months later. Within my 12-hour training program, I can see increases as much as 30-40% in confidence. As students persist with my instructions, they immediately see results and their confidence scores reflect that.

If you are a leading authority or expert in your area and are in the business of helping people to change anything, be objective about it and get some measurements around the outcomes. A single goal, with a motivation and confidence score relative to that goal, will tell you so much that you will miss without this information. Because I allow some time to pass between the first, second and third measurements, students forget their initial scores and it is always a wonderful surprise for them when they see their scores going up.

I just want to again send out a congratulations to Brett. It is an honor to know you.

Motivation and/or Confidence Continued

The direction of these scores if vital for the success of the student. If the motivation score is lower than the confidence score, this indicates an unwillingness to generate new behavior in the actualization of the outcome. In terms of applying new strategies to assist themselves, it is not very probable. Conversely, if the motivation score is higher than the confidence score, then the student is much more likely to implement the new behaviors and to be successful.

This is because confidence can be ‘borrowed’ from someone else through trust, but motivation must be generated internally. Motivation creates the pressure to act, to change, and to take action. Because we cannot force another to act, to change or to take action (morally and lawfully), this must come from within the individual.

Confidence is different because someone can rely on the expertise of another to make up the deficit in their own confidence. If a student records a 9.0 on motivation, and a 6.0 on confidence in their own abilities to achieve a 75% GPA, then they can rely on or trust my past experience, and follow my instructions, until they have their own evidence. And this is a critical difference between confidence and motivation, confidence can be loaned or borrowed through the currency of trust, whereas motivation cannot.

Is this giving you a different perspective on the relationships among motivation, confidence and trust? Do you have people in your life (maybe even you) who have lost their confidence in something? Can they borrow some of your expertise? Do they trust you?

Thanks to the new people who have signed up for my blog.

Motivation and/or Confidence continued.

I explain this scale in the same way as I describe the motivation scale, I talk about the low end of the scale (1) the high end (10) and then the middle (5). This is important so students can have reference points to determine where they fit on the scale.

A very interesting finding of the confidence scores is that they are a good indicator of real confidence. Most of my students give a confidence score that is within 5% of their actual GPA. I was surprised at how accurate this was and also how consistent. I never tell them that their confidence score is related to their grade point average, I just started noticing how often the confidence score was almost an exact match to the actual GPA. In statistical terms, they are highly and positively correlated. This gives validity to the concept that confidence is evidence based and comes from past experiences.

There are a few exceptions to this however. If the confidence score comes back lower than the student’s actual GPA (a confidence score of 5 with a 78% average) they are undervaluing their abilities and giving greater weight to intermittent low test scores than more consistent good test scores. These students are consistently very hard on themselves in all areas of their lives.

Conversely, if the student gives an over-inflated confidence score relative to their GPA (a confidence score of 10 with a GPA of 65%) they are over-estimating their abilities. They are saying that they are 100% confident in their abilities and competencies to achieve their stated outcomes… but, they do not have the outcomes to back up this score. This is almost always an over-inflated self-assessment and indicates a lack of true awareness on the part of the student. It is also a safety mechanism keeping them from actually testing their own abilities, using the ‘back door’ escape hatch. “I can do it if I want to, I just don’t want to.”

Is this making sense to you? Do you have goals where your motivation is high, but your confidence is low? How do you handle that?

Motivation and/or confidence continued.

Confidence on the other hand, is a person’s perceptions of their own abilities to achieve a stated outcome. Using the example of obtaining a 75% grade point average, we are determining their ability to do this based on what they currently know and what they are currently doing towards achieving this goal. This is substantially different from desiring the goal, this is about “do you have the necessary skills and competency to achieve this stated outcome?” And more importantly, confidence is evidence based, meaning that during those moments of self-reflection to determine their score, the student is subconsciously searching their memory data banks for evidence of their past experiences related to this goal.

Again, confidence comes from past experiences where as motivation comes from anticipated future outcomes. This is also assessed on a scale of 1-10. A score of 1 on the confidence scale means that the student has for sure, failed in the past, has had desperate disappointments, and has had consistent evidence that they absolutely cannot succeed in the achievement of the stated goal.

A score of 5 on the confidence scale means that the student has had both success and failures, some good grades and some poor grades. They mentally ‘average’ their outcomes and end up thinking that they have little control over their outcomes and therefore, give a middle of the road, “I’m not really sure” score.

A score of 10 indicates that the student thinks or perceives that they could achieve the goal ‘if they choose to’. A 10 indicates a self-perception of 100% confidence in their abilities and competencies to achieve their outcomes.

Any comments? Do you agree with me? Do you see how you could use these ideas with the achievement of any goal?

Motivation and/or  Confidence

Motivation is the amount of or level of desire to accomplish a specified outcome. Confidence is the perception of one’s abilities to succeed in the fulfillment of the specified outcome. Both are related to the same outcome. However, and this is a critical distinction, even though both are directed at a future outcome, confidence is generated from past experiences and motivation is generated from anticipation of a future event.

Let’s start with motivation. This is something I would say to a student after we have identified their academic goal. For example, how motivated are you to achieve your stated goal of a 75% average. During this time, the student is in a future orientation, thinking about some future outcome. This is measured on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 represents a complete lack of motivation or desire to accomplish the stated goal. This is almost always because the goal is not internalized, meaning that the student is feeling external pressure to achieve the goal. In my business, it might be that the student’s parents are putting on academic pressure, or that the school and teachers are exerting presssure on the student, or that the entrance requirements to post-secondary institutions are forcing certain outcomes on the student. These externally driven goals, if not internalized by the student, will not produce motivation, or it will produce intermittent striving for the goal, but will not persist in a consistent way. A score of 10 would indicate that the goal is completely internalized and that this is a true desire for the student. They have taken the external pressure and internalized it and now, the achievement of the goal is their own. This is something that they truly want. A score of 5 represents someone who is sometimes motivated (perhaps just before an exam) and sometimes not (Friday, Sat and Sunday). These students have their feet in both camps. They know enough to get that they need to do something positive for their futures, but they rise and fall in their behavior relative to the achivement of that outcome like a hot air balloon, sometimes up and sometimes down.

Tomorrow, I will define and discuss confidence so please come back.

Do you agree with my definition of motivation? What do you think motivation is? How would you measure it?

Until tomorrow

A few days ago, I was listening to a speaker talking about how lazy, unmotivated and basically moronic most people are when it comes to running their own lives. His argument was that people know what to do, but that they are too lazy or too unmotivated to do anything other than complain about their poor results.

I thought about that perspective and turned to my own experience over the many years I have had of working with students who are getting poor results in school. Maybe it is just the self-selected group of weary students who make their way to Genius by Choice for help, but I don't agree with this harsh judgment. While I do agree that not every student who knocks on my door is highly motivated, most are.

Rather than being lazy, unmotivated or moronic (his word, definitely not mine), most are stressed, fearful and have out-of-control anxiety over their inability to do well in school. I think just a handful of variables are essential for success.

One: A clear, well defined goal.

Two: An internally generated, high level of desire to achieve that goal

Three: A systematic, proven plan for achieving that goal.

Four: A high level of confidence in the plan.

Most of the students who come for help with their academics have only 1 of the 4 elements, and that is the high level of desire to do better. Generally, they have not set achievement goals. And none of them have a proven plan of how to succeed, and all of them have low confidence in their own abilities. But never have I interviewed a student who is actually lazy, unmotivated or moronic.

The truth is, at least in my experience, that the number one variable that low achieving students lack, is the proven plan. This guy insisted that people do know what to do, they are just, well.. you know, fill in his words. That is simply not the case. Many students are using outdated, never tested, poorly thought out and antiquated techniques that do not produce the desired results. When I work with their desire to improve and show them how to set goals, and how to achieve those goals and they have confidence in the plan, then we see results.

I would like to hear from you.

Do you think this 'speaker' was right about his assessment of 'most people'?

Do you think that everyone does know what to do but are too lazy to do it?

Which assessment makes you feel most hopeful? Lazy and unmotivated-Lacking direction and know how?

Imagine this. You are out for dinner and when the server brings your meal, instead of eating it, you wrap it up and take it home and put it in the fridge. Then, the next night you go out again for dinner, wrap up your food, and put it in the fridge. You do this for 3 weeks, wrapping and storing. Finally, you get ravenously hungry and make a dash for the fridge, to find 3 weeks worth of old and unappetizing food. How much can you eat at one time? Can you eat 3 weeks worth in one night. I hope NOT.

Now, imagine that you are a student and every day you go to class and take down all the notes from your teacher or professor. You tuck those notes into your binder and store them for later. You do this every day for 3 weeks. Then, you realize that there is a big exam the next day. Out come 3 weeks worth of notes. How much can you learn at one time? Can you learn 3 weeks worth of material in one night. Probably not!

Your brain is much like your stomach. It prefers to be fed everyday, a bit at a time.

Many high school students are overwhelmed by their first semester of university or college. They may be in class, bum in seat for 11-15 hours per week and all the 'other hours' can feel like free time. Ummm… not so my young friends.

We need to talk about ratios. (See, math does come in handy). These ratios refer to the amount of time you spend out-of-class to the time that you spend in class. For example, for every hour in class, your out-of-class time working on learning that material may be anywhere from no time at all, up to maybe 3 hours. So the ratio would be, for an easy example a 1:1. That means for every one hour in class you are spending one hour out-of-class learning the material. If you have 12 hours of class a week, that means you are using up an additional 12 hours on learning the material for a total of 24 hours. If you have 15 hours of class a week, a 1:1 ratio means you are spending 15 hours out-of-class time.

I have had so many first year, even 2nd and 3rd year post-secondary students with ratios that look like this: 1:0.25, or 1:0.5. These ratios mean that these students are spending most of their time in class, but very little other time on that lecture material. Then exams come and YIKES, these students sink like rocks.

This IS THE RATIO if you want to succeed. 1:2. For every hour in class you are spending at least 2 hours out-of-class on the lecture material, per day. For heavier courses, such as Biochemistry, Calculus, or Embryology, the ratios increase, likely up to 1:3.

How are your ratios and how are your marks?