I don't feel like doing anything today. I was going to sit down and prepare a video, but I fell into daydreaming again. I don't know if this is always on your mind... For example, what makes a robot better than a human? Is it because It is much stronger than us? Or is it more durable? Or is it that It can remember every piece of information when we ask? I think it's none of these. I'll tell you what it is. In my opinion, what makes a robot different from us and what makes it powerful is that it directly does what is asked of it. Without any question... Every time and without getting tired of it… You give a command, then immediate action, and results... Chain of command… But we humans are not like that. Here's an example today... I don't feel like working at all. I can't motivate myself at all. I know I have to do it, work has to be done. Something needs to be finished. The command is clear: Finish this and that work by the evening! But there is an inner resistance against me doing this. When you think about it, it doesn't make any sense, right? It would be much better if such a thing never happened and we could do everything easily, right? Of course there is an explanation for this. We need to understand these if we want to figure out how to motivate ourselves. So in this video, I will tell you how you can motivate yourself and how the motivation mechanism works. Since this problem is a personal problem, everyone's solutions will be different and unique. That's why I won't give advice like do this or that. But you will draw some conclusions from what you have learned and give your own advice. Unlike the robots' command, action and result chain, our chain is different. Ours is a ring, or a cycle rather. A cycle of action, reward, motivation… We gain a reward as a result of an action, a deed. For example, studying for an exam. We work for hours even if we don't feel like it. We get stuck on problems, but we keep going anyway. And in the end, we manage to get the high grade we want. This is a reward and as a result it motivates us. So we can continue the same action again. But, as we all know, this is not that simple. We cannot just press a button like a robot and go. There are some obstacles in the path of this cycle. These obstacles can break the connection. First of all, many of us are looking for motivation to take action: –I don't feel like it now. Let me watch this TV series first and feel better, then I'll work on it. However, action must come first. Because what we achieve as a result of action motivates us. Some psychologists define motivation as the desire to initiate and sustain a particular behavior. Well, if this does not exist in the first place, how do we start this behavior and how do we continue it? For some, listening to music can be helpful. The work immediately begins to flow with the flow of the music. But for some, the same thing is distracting. For such reasons, solutions are also personal. But as humans, there are some common influences. To investigate the reasons for this, an experiment was conducted with primary school students in 1998. Children are given puzzles that are very difficult to solve. In other words, these are the kinds of things you wouldn't want to deal with and wouldn't have fun doing. Then all of these students are given very good grades. However, as an explanation for the high grades, one group is told "because you are very smart and very talented", while the other group is told "because you are very hardworking". The interesting part of the story begins right here. They ask students to solve such puzzles again, but this time not all of the puzzles are difficult. There are some very easy ones and students are free to solve whatever they want. Which group do you think chose the difficult one and which group chose the simple one? Think about it. I especially want you to think about it. Because if you have difficulty in being motivated and cannot predict it correctly, this information may be especially valuable to you. Children who are told they are "very smart and talented" tend to focus on simpler problems. And when they solve the problem and ask if they enjoyed it, they get the answer, “Meh.” In other words, there is a situation of focusing on a simple problem and not enjoying it very much. On the other hand, children who are told they are "very hardworking" prefer difficult problems and are happier as a result. So what does this tell us? So should we always tell ourselves that we are hardworking? I'm a hard worker, I'm a hard worker, I'm great. Actually, the concept I want to touch upon is the locus of control. Simply put, it's the belief of how much control we have over the things in our lives. For example, children who are told they are “very smart and talented” represent an external locus of control. Because they think that being smart and talented is not something they have control over, it is something inherited. Naturally, working hard does not have much of an effect on their success. Environmental, external factors play the main role, why should they try? Well, at least they think in that way. On the other hand, students who are told they are "hardworking" are examples of internal locus of control. Because being hardworking is something they determine and can control. The success they achieve as a result of their actions is entirely a product of their own efforts. This is why the cycle is important. In order to establish the connection between this reward and motivation, it is necessary not only to enjoy the reward. We need to see receiving the award as a product of the intense process that brought us there. When we connect the reward with the effort itself, we have a motivation to work again and reach that reward again. As long as you start the chain somewhere... And don't break it! Another example… For example, let's imagine someone selling something door to door. Who do you think is the most suitable person for such a job? Let's think together. You start work, your first day... You knock on doors with excitement, but the doors are closed in your face one after another. Nobody wants to buy anything. Some don't even listen. It's evening and your boss asks: Why do you think you couldn't sell anything? At this point, people with an external locus of control tend to give answers such as
"the weather was bad", "people were in a very bad mood today", "no one has money to buy it". In other words, they cite purely external factors as the reason for their inability to make sales. This reduces their motivation and they start working with even less motivation the next day. Why would you want to make an effort when the whole world is conspiring against you! And ultimately, that's why they fail. There are certainly some factors in life that are beyond our control and that truly impact our success. But what we achieve, you see, is also a matter of perception. Even though we live and experience it ourselves, we can all interpret events differently. This shows us that we can actually take control of the event. So one of the best things you can do to motivate yourself is to keep your eyes open. My biggest advice is that even if you think the cause is an external factor, try to convince yourself otherwise. Of course, without blaming yourself. You can think of this as a self-motivation workout to succeed. Now let me suggest an additional video that may encourage you to take action. My friends at ikas, the sponsor of this video, have started a new video series. Named: From Zero to E-Commerce. "..and do you know what was the most asked question to us at those events?" "Okay, let's open our e-commerce site, make some e-export, sell to the world, let's use ikas, but where do we start?" They started such a web series to answer those who want to step into e-commerce but wonder how to start. It is like a documentary / a guide. The second episode has already been released. In this series, they start all the steps from scratch, from product selection to store creation, one by one. While doing this, they use ikas' own features. So what kind of features are these? They can upload as many products as they want without any upload limit. Or, they can attract as much traffic as they want to their site, even on special days, without limiting the network width, and they can host all the files on that site there without any limitations. Unlike many competitors, they use these features without requiring any additional fee. SMEs that open e-commerce sites with IKAS can deliver their products to their customers ... ...at affordable prices through many contracted cargo companies. Users can also complete their application processes for payment infrastructures via ikas without having to deal with any bank. With the easy theme editor, mobile-compatible websites can be designed by drag and drop without requiring any technical knowledge. In short, anyone who wants to start e-commerce at the speed of ikas can access both more information and this web series as a guide by using the links in the descriptions section. OK, we took action. We worked hard, we struggled, and finally we got the reward. And then? If you remember, I asked a question at the beginning. Why are we like this? I mean, wouldn't it be better if we could work constantly like a robot? "I'll do it, lumberjack." Do I have to held my mind at gunpoint to just to shoot this video! Actually, there is a reason for this. Conserving energy. This was a very important thing in nature for our ancestors. You cannot spend your energy on something all the time because if you get sick when you are tired, it could mean the end of you. Unfortunately, this is something that we cannot get rid of easily, and this is partly responsible: Dopamine. Dopamine, in short, is the molecule in our brain that makes us feel reward. Therefore, it is important to understand when we secrete dopamine and when it increases or decreases. But there is a lot of confusion on this issue. For example, some diseases such as Parkinson's. Dopamine drugs are prescribed to people suffering from Parkinson’s. A very interesting thing is noticed later in the patients taking these drugs. Let's think about what happened. Okay, this is a bit difficult, so I'll just say it. Gambling addiction. Even though these people have never gambled in their lives and do not have such an addiction, they fall into such a swamp after taking those dopamine drugs. Because gambling devices completely target your dopamine production. They quickly give rewards with small games and always promises more. Action, put the money in the machine, turn the handle… Prize! You won 50 bucks. Try again. And the lights and buzzers... You are officially hypnotized. When you receive the reward, motivation comes, action again... The wheel is turning. It turns and turns... That's why it's important to understand the role of dopamine in our lives. But there is no clear recipe for how to motivate yourself. Because everyone is special. Everyone is unique. Therefore, it is important to understand the mechanism of dopamine in order to produce our own solutions. For example, how often should you reward yourself while working, right? There is such a question. I'm sure if you're having motivation problems, you've also tried to reward yourself by working for a certain period of time. So do you know how useful it is? If you constantly think about the reward at the end of your work, things may not go the way you want. At this point, motivation, like locus of control, is divided into two: Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. In intrinsic motivation, you are motivated to do something because performing that action already gives you pleasure. For example, simply playing games, right? You already enjoy performing this action. Therefore, the action itself is a source of internal motivation. In extrinsic motivation, you motivate yourself to perform an action so that you can obtain a reward at the end. For example, the reason you've been waking up at 5 a.m. to train ... ...for years might be to eventually win an Olympic medal. Well then, why shouldn't I try to have both? You may think, wouldn't it be more wonderful? But no, it doesn't happen. In fact, having both can even have the opposite effect. This is called the overjustification effect. For example, imagine that you enjoy painting very much. So you have an internal motivation in this regard. You enjoy doing it, you draw whatever you want. Your friends and family also like what you make so much that you start giving it to them as gifts. Then… A relative of yours says, "You draw very well, why don't you start selling these?" Hmmm, you say. It seems like a good idea because it's something you already enjoy. Plus, you'll make money! But then the sales increase, and after a while you realize that you started painting just to keep up with the sales. And suddenly all the fun of painting starts to disappear. When extrinsic motivation is added to the equation, that is, the idea that you will get money as a reward of painting, intrinsic motivation suddenly begins to decrease. That's why it's important to find a balance between the two and use the right one in the right place. In summary… We always say. Do what makes you happy and what you enjoy doing. That's exactly it. There must be goals and they must be used correctly. Studies should not be reduced to just these. You should feel real happiness and joy while doing it. If necessary, it should be made to be enjoyable while doing it. No one enjoys doing some chores at home, such as laundry and dishes but when we do these things and someone from our family says a nice word to us, it immediately becomes a little more doable, right? Saying just one kind word is actually something we can do very easily. Ours may not be as simple as the cycle of robots. But isn't that what makes us human? If saying beautiful words would not motivate us, for whom would these poems and these songs be written? And who knows, maybe one day, robots will create their own values just like that. Why not?
