No motivation in leaving cert

LegacyUser

I'm in Leaving Cert and have 0 motivation. I'll do some of my homework but that's all. No study or anything.

I am a very intelligent person and I have so much potential if I studied but NOTHING motivates me. It's not the only part of my life I am like this in.

I could get 500+ points if I tried but am just hitting 360 in my Christmas exams.

I need about 480 points.

I've tried the whole ''look at what will happen if I do/don't study'' but it doesn't work. I think it's the lack of urgency (I mean June seems ages away) and the sense of 'I can't'..

Anyone got advice, tips, help?

TheNewMee

To be honest, motivation comes from within and there's little anyone else can say that will give you any. Figure out what you want to do, and think about what you'll be doing if you don't get those 480 points - if you're not happy with that result then it's up to you to make things happen.

NufcNavan

I think everyone went through this stage doing the LC.

AngryBadger

lazyleavingcert wrote: »

I could get 500+ points if I tried but am just hitting 360 in my Christmas exams.

Then put the work in and get 500+, otherwise this is just you spacking off to the sound of your own voice, which is fine, but that's not going to get you a college place.


So apply yourself because presumably you'd like to have some control over what you spend your life doing, not that you're guaranteed anything, but at least if you wind up with a job you hate you'll know you did your best.

Or quit out and brag to you mates about it...I mean those are your only options in all honesty.

nickobrien1985

if you don't do well in your Leaving and in College. There's a high probability that later in life you'll be unemployed, on the dole struggling to pay your ESB bill.

If you're a guy women won't find that very attractive

lau1247

your motivation should be 'doing it for your future'.. you need it even more these days..

otherwise you'll need to be prepared to live by your action..

i know you can repeat if the worse case happens but time does not wait..

good luck

LegacyUser

The thing I remember most about doing the leaving was the pressure other people put on me. And at the time, I'd convinced myself that what other people (like my folks) wanted was what I wanted. Does this have something to do with your lack of motivation? Are you subconsciously trying to give two fingers to that external pressure? I think that's what I did. If I could talk to my 18-year-old self now, I'd tell her to figure out what I want. What course that would be good for me, and not what teachers, parents or friends have told me I'd be good at. Because motivation does have to come from within. And when you figure out you're doing something for yourself... that's when you wake up going 'Right, let's do this thing!' So you might have the potential for 500+ points, but it's hard to get that when you're hearts not in it. Try to be honest with yourself and what you want... and maybe that'll give you a personal goal rather than all this 'rest of your life' lark.

Fluorescence

There's nothing anyone can tell you, OP. I was the same. Needed decent points, but wasn't overly bothered about putting the work in because, let's face it, the Leaving Cert is really fcuking boring. You have to find your own motivation. Try thinking of it this way: work hard til your exams and then you're home free!

The best advice I can give you is to force yourself into a routine for about 2-3 weeks. That's it. Hopefully, by the end of those 3 weeks the routine will have become ingrained in you so you don't have to force yourself as much. Getting started is the hardest part, I find. Bully yourself to get your arse into the chair; chances are once you've sat down to begin, you won't find it nearly as bad. Just make yourself do it.

Other than that, all I can say is good luck! The leaving cert sucks, sure, but do well in it this time and you won't have to do it all again next year (seriously, that'd be really shít). Have fun

Nolanger

lazyleavingcert wrote: »

Anyone got advice, tips, help?

If you don't do well so what? Go to college at 23 instead.

LilMissCiara

Try and think of the personal achievement that you will get. Not the points or anything but the sense of success.

Janet1986

Hey lazy leaving cert, I am in the same position! :eek:

I did my leaving cert 8yrs ago but only did foundation level maths.

I had to return to adult education to repeat my leaving cert and do maths at ordinary level for my medical course.

I applied to England for 5 medical courses and all 5 got turned down without even having an interview.

So now I'm like you, no motivation and telling myself what's the point!

SparkyTech

lazyleavingcert wrote: »

I'm in Leaving Cert and have 0 motivation. I'll do some of my homework but that's all. No study or anything.

I am a very intelligent person and I have so much potential if I studied but NOTHING motivates me. It's not the only part of my life I am like this in.

I could get 500+ points if I tried but am just hitting 360 in my Christmas exams.

I need about 480 points.

I've tried the whole ''look at what will happen if I do/don't study'' but it doesn't work. I think it's the lack of urgency (I mean June seems ages away) and the sense of 'I can't'..

Anyone got advice, tips, help?

Hi OP,

I was like you doing my own LC. No motivation, not bothered, couldn't care less about the whole event and had the vague sense of ''whatever'' with regards to the consequences if I had to repeat the year, didn't get a decent college course, had to go on the dole etc...

Thing is no-one can make you do it. I know its a pain and the most mind numbingly boring exam you will ever have to do in your life but unless you go through the rite of passage your not going to move forward in life. In order to have a decent standard of living/job prospects an education is a definite advantage. Education dosn;t define you as a person but it gives you an edge over those who don't have any qualifications.

Apathy will get you no-where. Its not even about the LC. If your not bothered pushing yourself now and making the effort with the LC how do you hope to succeed in college or in the workplace? A small bit of effort and pushing yourself gives you options in life, and it will help boost your self esteem and confidence. Motivation has to come from within

You still have time. Make out a routine, give yourself some leisure time and stick to it. 5 months till end of June is nothing in the span of your lifetime.

Best of luck

kerryman12

you may have noticed a trend by now, but I was the same no motivation. I did just enough. I just had very little interest in what I was studying. Whe I got to college that completly changed and I wnet the other extreme. But it took me probably a year longer than it should have. Its not the end of the world if you dont do well but ur options will be very much limited.

Life is all about options by the way.

If I could talk to mysle now I wouldnt, I would give myself several kicks in the ass.

I know you have heard this before " it is only a few months" " it will be worth it" etc the problem is you have the be at the other side of it before you realise its true.

Make the best effort you can, there is no point in looking back next year and saying if only. What every happens by the time you get to that other side you will probably be your own worst critic if you dont do well, but if you do well - that is something no one can ever take away from you.

best of luck.

Zen65

lazyleavingcert wrote: »

I could get 500+ points if I tried .......

Alas for maiden, alas for Judge,
For rich repiner and household drudge!
God pity them both! and pity us all,
Who vainly the dreams of youth recall;
For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these: "It might have been!"

Op, you can spend your life moaning about how things could have been for you, or you can plan to reach your potential. Reaching your potential isn't a sprint, it's a long-distance race and you're already a little late starting. Make out a weekly plan of the work you need to do and then stick to it. You'll be surprised how much longer revision takes than you now think. If you're as smart as you say you are, you already know that it's time to start preparing.

Be at peace,


Z

johnboysligo

lazyleavingcert wrote: »

I've tried the whole ''look at what will happen if I do/don't study'' but it doesn't work. I think it's the lack of urgency (I mean June seems ages away) and the sense of 'I can't'..

Anyone got advice, tips, help?

I was always told I was a smart, intelligent student but I did virtually the same thing. I could easily learn and understand my school work but I barely came into school for the last 3 years of it, I somehow avoided being kicked out of school before the leaving cert came around, and when it did come I didn't bother sitting the exams. I never saw a point in any of it I couldn't think more than a few months into the future.

That was about 6-7 years ago, I'm 25 unemployed, totally unsure where I will be in the next 5 years. I regret every moment I wasted dossing off school to watch sky movies and play my gamecube / xbox / pc.

p.s. you don't have to be dumb as a rock to be stupid, aim for the best results possible and keep your options open because even if you hate the idea of going to college your future self might end up hating your current self for your mistakes and lack of foresight.

nickobrien1985

Here's a method guaranteed to get you to study.

Write a cheque for €500 and address it to a friend, or even better someone you hate. Give them the cheque and tell them in August if I don't get 485 points in my Leaving you can cash the cheque.

Do it, you'll see how motivating that can be.

nickobrien1985

Think studying for the Leaving is hard?

Wait til you're on welfare and you haven't got two coppers to scrap together, and you're conscious of every penny you spend. Then you'll know what hard means.

'Be easy on yourself and life will be hard on you'
'But be hard on yourself and life will be easy for you!'

LegacyUser

I hate that "I'm really intelligent and I could really well if I tried..." line. Frequently trotted out by parents and students.It's not an excuse for anything.

Honestly, you're not that intelligent if you can't see the benefits of putting a bit of effort in.Everyone fights inertia at some stage in their lives....there's no doubt about it. Nobody is motivated all the time.But seriously, there's a severe difference between intelligence and ordinary cop-on. You can have the highest IQ in the world, and still not have the common sense to see why you need to put a bit of effort in. Which therefore renders your high IQ almost worthless.

Op, I'm going to sound horribly patronising here. I've just come out of 6 months of unemployment, and I have a qualification. (I'm 28). It was absolutely horrible.Not just the money, but the lack of self- confidence, the fear I'd never find anything, that I wouldn't be able to pay my bills, what I'd tell new people when meeting them, queuing up to get a hand out every week, trying to fill endless hours of endless weeks....it has left a bigger mark on me that anything I did in the 5 years I've worked since college, in extremely stressful jobs.You've grown up in a world where everything was available, loads of money, blah,blah. Things have changed so much out here.So much. You have to fight tooth and nail for every job, even the jobs down in the local Spar (and btw, the minimum wage has gone down....).

You need to figure out what you want to do, and you then need to do whatever it takes to allow you to do that.If all you need is 360 points then well and good.But if you need more than that.....start doing a bit of work. I could be nice about this and say sure it doesn't matter, you can think about life for the next 5 years and go back to college then. But the likelihood is that you still won't know then what you want to do. And I can tell you now for nothing that firstly, you're not going to get a job without some sort of qualification, secondly, the longer you put college off, the higher the likelihood of you having to pay fees, and thirdly, no potential employer is going to want to hear in an interview "well I'm really smart, but you see, I just had no motivation".

You don't get anything for free in this life - you get out of life what you put into it. There's no point kidding yourself otherwise. I assume you're around 18 yrs old.....well, under the law, you're an adult (or very nearly) , and I assume you like to be treated like one. This is part of the adult thing....take responsibility for yourself. Nobody was put on this earth to keep you, it's up to you to be able to provide for yourself. I can't give you any tips to motivate yourself. I can only say that the consequences of not motivating yourself "just because", will make life very very hard for you, in the near and possibly distant future. I'm not saying the world will end if you don't get 600 points. It won't.I'm just saying, give yourself the best shot possible at this, because you're letting yourself down if you don't.End of the day, it's you, the exam paper and the CAO system. Nobody else is involved.It's your life.Take responsibility for it.

LegacyUser

Thanks everyone. Last night (literally at 10.30pm) I got some motivation and I think this is it! A light hearted chat with a friend pointed me in the right direction! It really helped me loads..! Next August I'll be getting my well deserved Leaving Cert results! :P

SparkyTech

Hope it goes well!

Daisyxx

I wasn't motivated till closer to the exams, think some of us work better under pressure to be honest! Seriously I think you'll be grand, you said you are intelligent and that's a good start, when the pressure begins to mount you'll be motivated