Maintaining motivation, to me, is something that occurs on two separate timeframes. You have maintaining motivation for your daily tasks, which I find easy, like doing chores, homework, etc. However, I find it hard to keep motivation to achieve a long term goal or to work towards something that has to constantly be on your mind and ask for your attention. For instance, deciding to get into shape is a commitment, and it takes consistency, time, and dedication. Deciding to get a college degree requires consistency, time, and dedication. These attributes that come with long term goals are what make the reward worth the effort. So, I am glad to have found items in this module that help one stay motivated to keep reaching these long term goals.
One of my longtime fears of getting old is becoming content and unwilling to learn new things. I am also dramatically scared of the cognitive decline that is associated with aging. Therefore, the information that the module gave me about ways a person can influence their own cognitive ability gave me hope. For example, exercise is shown to boost the size of the hippocampus, responsible for verbal memory and learning, showing that it can not only keep your body sharp, but your mind sharp as well. You can also control the amount of sleep you get in many instances of students. Harvard studies also show that getting the proper amount of sleep each night improves learning and memory.