While watching Full Metal Jacket I was thinking about how people are motivated. The first half of this movie is an excellent example of negative reinforcement. The Gunnery Sergent will stop yelling at them when they start going things correctly. This is a well known way of increasing a behavioral response and it works.

This makes me think. How are people motivated? I can safely say that many instances in my life have really boiled down to the issue of motivation. Not all of us have a Drill Sergent in our face to make us do the right thing. I have seen many friends give up on opportunities to better their lives because they weren’t motivated to follow that path. I’ve seen people older than me all of the sudden behind in education just because of motivation. I’ve always said that time is the great equalizer. I think that time and motivation are really the core. What you start with is less important than what you attempt to become.