Enthusiasm: Motor And Motivation Of Our Desires
We all feel enthusiasm for something or someone at some point in our lives, right? Try to remember a time when you experienced this feeling very intensely. It was linked to other mental variables, right? Among them, the specific one: motivation.
When something or someone eludes us, we witness how that enthusiasm turns into a force. A source of energy from which we draw power to achieve what was designed in our horizon, as a desire with possibilities. In other words, in this case it would act as an element that predisposes us to act, just as fire heats everything we bring close to it . So, we must ask ourselves, what is the enthusiasm for achieving this? Keep reading and find out!
What is enthusiasm?
Intuitively, if we think about what enthusiasm is, everyone is likely to include positive ideas in the definition. In fact, we associate it with positive values. It’s something that helps us to seek change and improve as people. But not only that, it also makes us grow, and our quality of life increases, not forgetting that it is a powerful reinforcement for those actions we feel good about.
That is, this motivates us to use the means necessary to achieve the object of this enthusiasm. It’s an initial hope, fueled by the idea or feeling that we’ve spotted something positive on our radar. What does it means? That enthusiasm is what stimulates us, at the same time that it makes us take actions to achieve what we want.
Let’s take an example. Enthusiasm comes when we see the offer of the job we want, that is, the stimulus. But not just in this situation; also while preparing the resume and the subsequent interview, that is, in our response to achieve it. Finally, when we are selected for this work (the consequence), it is normal for this enthusiasm to remain.
In short, enthusiasm is partly born of faith, of imagining a possibility of at least getting what we want. It materializes when we start walking along the path to reach it and we sign a contract in which we commit ourselves not to surrender to the first obstacle, whether real or imagined, anticipated or unforeseen.
What are the components of enthusiasm?
As we have seen, enthusiasm is stimulus, response and consequence, but it is not just that; it is made up of many other elements. So there are some things related to emotions, mostly positive in nature. In this way, enthusiasm is linked to joy and happiness, but also to the desire to live.
On the other hand, enthusiasm is associated with more cognitive processes, such as our thoughts and beliefs. The future and life projects, evaluating everyday life and relationships with our loved ones, trusting ourselves, hoping to achieve our goals and being constant would be elements of this group.
Finally, linked to the idea that we respond when enthusiasm appears, we see that there are elements of action or behavior. That is, all the behaviors we perform when something excites us and motivates us to want to reach a specific goal.
Enthusiasm and its projection
From all that has been discussed so far, a key idea emerges: the importance of enthusiasm as an engine of our growth. When something excites us, we are better able to face the different disadvantages that are presented to us along the way, without paralyzing or losing energy. That is, we get stronger.
Thus, we were able to continue despite the uncertainty of reaching our goal or not. Of course, as with many more ingredients in our lives, we have to stay in control. If we set unattainable goals, what we will achieve in the long run will be wasting time and having bad feelings.
If I like to paint, but so far I have dedicated few hours and I haven’t done any further studies in this regard, but I consider the idea of leaving my work to live off my paintings, I will certainly fail and end up in bankruptcy. That way I’ll feel bad and probably won’t try to do other projects that excite me. This is precisely the other side of the enthusiasm, the disappointment, which, far from stimulating growth, makes us conservative.
Which means I’m not excited and motivated to keep improving, but I will be aware that “my life won’t work that way” and I won’t prioritize this desire over other more important activities that will require my time… Can you see where I am wanting to arrive? It’s important to find goals that excite us but that are achievable and are not sources of continual frustration, so that the consequences of trying to achieve them are positive and enthusiasm increases rather than diminishes.
Images courtesy of Marc Olivier Jodoin, Aleksandr Ledogorov and Crak Tibbs.
