"Reverse" Motivation Psychology

 

Volleyball!!!

One of my most loved games.

When I entered BE college in 2012, I came across this wonderful game, and I instantly fell in love with this game. The natural ability in me to handle volleys and smashes better than many others encouraged me a lot to learn the tactics and basic fundamentals of this game. Luckily, one of my friends, Ronit Lakra was extremely good in this sport, having played it at high-level competitions. He had an amazing ability to control his jump, smoothen the drops, smash hard in the first court, and many more. Through daily constant practice for almost a year and valuable coaching lessons from Ronit and few other good players, I became a significantly good smasher, by the third semester of my college. I used to love this game. We used to play for hours and hours, non-stop, and this game won't tire us. I liked playing other games as well, like Basketball, Football, etc. but however being a spectacled guy, volleyball was a game, which made me feel safe, enthusiastic, and confident. While playing volleyball, I used to imbibe a different sort of confidence, anger, and sigma personality in me. Further, I won few valuable certificates with the Mechanical Engineering team as well, which gave me more confidence and elevated my love and respect towards this sport. 

When I joined the MTech program, I was considered the best player by few people from DIAT, Pune. This boosted my confidence and self - belief, even more. Winning the first-ever volleyball trophy for the Materials department, in fact, was an addition to the confidence and love I gained through this sport. The second-year semi-finalist position though remains a pain in the arse, with many controversies involved, but that is an entirely different discussion. The point to be considered right now is Volleyball is that one game, which has given a lot of boost to my long-lost self-esteem and confidence. Not many know the backdrop story of that loss part, but I think it is better to be kept a secret to only a few people. Volleyball has always acted as a shield to my fears, regrets, and failures. I always have a special feeling while playing or mentioning this game. 

In fact, here at IIT Guwahati as well, few consider me extremely good, amongst my lot, i.e., Ph.Ds. Though there are few others, who pass comments that I should use my height as an advantage, take a bigger leap for smash jump, and be more active during sets, but they can not be blamed for ignoring the multiple long-lasting injuries involved. So all in all, this game has given me a lot, without asking anything much in return, unlike many other sports, people, careers, and society. 

However, my Mother still considers this game, as one of the sole reasons for my long-lasting struggles, and major examination failures. She hates my playing and considers this game as the major hindrance to my success in life. I don't in fact blame her for believing this, as my performance hasn't been pretty balanced and impressive in all domains. So she is bound to have this hatred towards my sports. 

I am addicted to this game. This sport gives me a lot of joy, confidence, and desired positivity.

Today, I was overthinking again and had another thought that Can I apply a Rewarding "Reverse" Motivation Psychology algorithm to this game?  

Now you may ask, what is this shit?

So, what I am going to do is that I set my daily academic targets, along with a planned week and month, to achieve my ultimate goal/dream. Then I have to chase and hunt down my targets by 5 PM positively. If I succeed in doing so, I get to play volleyball from 5 30 PM to 8 PM. Else I use that time to further chase the remaining targets. The targets need to be achievable and realistic. Then, the catch is I can maintain balance in every domain and achieve well in the long run. 

So Let's see, how it goes?

Wish me luck!

Thank You!!!

P.S: The images used here represent my favorite volleyball players viz. Rose Maria (Brazil), and Ivan Zyatsev (Italy).

Thank You :)