

Ask HN: Motivation Anyone? - chunky1994

Motivation's really important, isn't it? How do you get inspired/motivated? I didn't think I needed much, but recently I'm beginning to think otherwise.
 Frankly I've become less and less motivated through high school, my grades are slowly slipping. I think this isn't as much a personal problem as a generic one, most of the people in my school seem to be the same way. I had no problems till the 10th grade, then it just came about, I'm now in my senior year. I'm still interested in coding, and I've released an iphone app, but I just can't sit and hack anymore! 
  Perhaps it's due to a need for a social life or some other unimportant thing like that, I've become very frayed by all this, any advice?
======
bhousel
One of the biggest challenges with our school system is that while you're
immersed in it, it becomes difficult to imagine anything outside of that
experience. You can't get a "big picture" view of your life and how your
unique talents and interests can fit into the bigger world -- high school is
your world.

You will eventually graduate and move on, and realize that most of the stuff
that you did in high school was really not all that significant, in the big
picture. Your lack of motivation is probably because you're starting to
realize this as your time in school is almost finished and you (and your
peers) begin to ask questions like "What comes next?" and "Why can't I get
there already?"

Luckily the answers to these questions don't really matter all that much
either. People take all kinds of paths through life, and there is no right
next step, or important thing to work on. You can be forgiven for thinking
this way, because school trains you to think this way by putting you into
grades and preparing a curriculum that advances you forward towards an
arbitrary finish line "graduation".

So what should you do? Do whatever interests you, as this is where your
motivation will come from. If you're not motivated to code, don't code. Take a
part time job, or exercise, or socialize, or take up a new hobby, or
volunteer. All of these things will make you a better person (and a better
coder). You'll meet people who are not coders, and it might remind you why you
like programming so much - or you might find something that you like better.

However, be careful with the "Do whatever interests you" philosophy. You
probably do have some standards that you want to hold yourself to, and you
want to keep improving yourself, and you want to be a mostly free person (have
money). So you probably shouldn't just sit around and smoke pot and play
playstation because it interests you.

I believe that "adulthood" begins when a person consciously decides to do
things because they are difficult to do and no longer decides to do things
because they are easy to do.

~~~
chunky1994
I agree with most of what you're saying, I've definitely become disillusioned
by the system of high school. I definitely want to go to college, because
there's a lot of interesting stuff that I want to learn, for which I need good
grades.

I'm sure I can procure them if I study enough, but if I go by the "whatever
interests you" philosophy, I think I'd hardly study. I would do lots of
productive work, but it wouldn't be of any use to me right away. I think the
promise of rewards in the future aren't powerful enough to make me do stuff
that's considered necessary.

So, I suppose I'm on the lookout for something that can provide me with more,
lets say, experience, problem is I can't take up a part-time job yet, I'm
still not old enough! As for socializing, I live in a very secluded friends
circle, people whom I value, but people who are very, well...rare. Any ideas
as to where people who are genuinely interesting (preferably either hackers
like on HN, or people into sciences) reside? Also, I think this is what I need
to ask, do you have any particularly interesting things that I can do, that
would perhaps help me in college?

~~~
bhousel
> _Any ideas as to where people who are genuinely interesting (preferably
> either hackers like on HN, or people into sciences) reside?_

Genuinely interesting people are everywhere..

> _Also, I think this is what I need to ask, do you have any particularly
> interesting things that I can do, that would perhaps help me in college?_

Learn to play an instrument, like guitar, or drums, or learn to DJ. It teaches
your mind to work in more creative ways. And it will open doors to you that
will let you meet genuinely interesting people. It will help you meet women
too, if you're into that sort of thing.

I'm being totally serious.

------
edkennedy
I dropped out of high school when I faced a slump like that. 10 years later,
I'm still stymied by my lack of diploma. I've found ways around it, and I
still get hired. However, from my experience, you must finish high school. I
also had problems in grade 10, puberty combined with drugs and a general
discontent at what I saw on the news led to a "tune in, turn on, drop out". I
don't recommend this path. You have a long life ahead of you and the
improvements you make in your life now will be worth much more years down the
road.

There are a few things I do these days to increase my will-power. Working out
at gym does wonders for my endorphins and dopamine, the neuro transmitters
that get shit done. reddit.com/r/fitness has a great FAQ on how to get started
with that. Eating healthy, and ensuring you get all the nutrients your body
needs to grow and adapt. Eat lots of eggs, fish, fish oil, anything with
choline in it. Get lots of good sleep (which should not be hard). You need
more sleep at that age, 10 hours is good.

The key thing is to notice the disconnect between mind and body, and work on
improving your body mechanics so that it is aligned with your minds purpose. A
particular problem I struggled with for most of my post teenage years was what
I would call "neophilia" an obsession with something new. I moved from thing
to thing never being satisfied. Satisfaction from hard work has to be
imprinted through experience. The sense of accomplishment you get from
achieving your goals (you have some right?) is something you want to nurture.

------
ttran08
Go and give money to a couple homeless people (choose wisely). This will help
you in several ways. It's good karma, it gives you a sense of purpose and it
will remind you of how lucky you are to have food and shelter. ;)

After that, you should go to a coffee shop and work or do some planning if you
need to. You're so lucky you can code. I'm barely learning html and css.
_sigh_

------
bricestacey
It sounds like you have a very unhealthy attitude toward interpersonal
relationships. I'd suggest you dwell on the issue some more and embrace any
changes that may be happening.

When I was in high school, I started paying more attention to others around
that time to the detriment of some of my own interests. It's not the end of
the world so long as you never forget who you are.

------
maxdemarzi
Your first burnout <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnout_(psychology)> . Time
to take a vacation, let loose and release whatever is stressing you out. Go
meet interesting people and connect.

------
szany
By being around truly inspired/motivated people (peers especially). The
attitude is contagious.

------
dstein
You're not in the real world yet, and coding an iphone app for fun and you're
whining about being burned out? C'mon.

