Environment Vs Self-motivation; Self-motivation is overrated: Environment often matters most -By Idris Jimoh

ENVIRONMENT: Your location, your circle of friends, the people you talk to, your surroundings or conditions in which you live or operate.

SELF MOTIVATION: The force that keeps pushing us to go on – it’s our internal drive to achieve, produce, develop, and keep moving forward. When you think you’re ready to quit something, or you just don’t know how to start, your self-motivation is what pushes you to go on.

It is a big task when you try to motivate yourself especially when you have identified that your environment is not satisfying. Hence remaining in the same environment and doing the same thing even when you have a motivated mindset, you might not get the motivation needed as you still need to change your environment for the right motivation to come to play.

Many people’s behaviour and action are not the factors of what they are, but where they are. If I have a circle of friends that after receiving our monthly salary, we go to the club to spend on drinks and ladies and we do that repeatedly every now and then without discussing business, investments and how to multiply our income. The present condition I found myself will reflect on my habit every day.

How would self- motivation play in this condition if I still remain in the same environment?

The environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behaviour. Despite our unique personality, certain behaviour tends to arise again and again under certain environmental conditions. If I walk on a dark street, I will act wary and guarded. In the club, people tend to talk in a loud voice because of a the volume of the music played and not because they want to shout. With this, we can say the common form of change is not internal but external. We change often by the world around us.

The same vein, If I am a cheerful giver when I am not financially buoyant, I will continue to give even after I am rich and wealthy without necessarily changing my environment. With this, the most common form of change is internal and not the external until you change your environment. Adams Oshiomole, former Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), was popularly known for being a fighter against the Government of that time for the right and entitlement of Nigeria workers until he left the Union and became the Governor of Edo State( Now former) he became a changed man.

Every living being has its own method of sensing and understanding the world. Eagles have a remarkable long-distance vision, Snake can smell by “testing the air” with their highly sensitive tongues.

Science has it that in human, perspective is directed by the sensory nervous system. We perceive the world through Sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. We also have another way of sensory stimuli, some are conscious but many are none conscious.

The most powerful of all human sensory ability, however, is vision. The human body has about eleven million sensory receptors, Approximately 10 million of those are dedicated to sight. Some expert estimated that half of the brain resources are used on vision. Given that we are more dependent on vision than on any other sense. It should come at no surprise that our environment is the greatest catalyst for our habit and not self-motivation. For this reason, a small change in what you see can lead to a big shift in what you do. As a result, you can imagine how important it is to live around a certain environment that is filled with resources that lead to a productive outcome and devoid of the unproductive outcome.

1. How is your environment designed?
2. Can your environment drive you to the success you need?

I hope you answer this question to yourself and act accordingly in a positive direction.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Idris Jimoh Ademola is an Accountant, a Writer, a Content Creator, and a Graphics Designer. He recently published an article on COVID-19 and The Islamic Call to Prayer (see link below). He is passionate about writing to inform, educate, and update the public with Sufficient and reliable information on the history and recent trend across the globe. His work is open to criticism and improvements.

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