Yes, it’s quite often that we medical students lose motivation to do anything at all in our student lives.
So, in order to prevent these bouts of demotivation, we first of all need to identify the reasons behind losing motivation.
This is going to be the first post in ‘Motivated Medico’ series where I talk about some very common reasons why medical students lose motivation in their lives.
Jump right in!
9 reasons why medical students lose motivation in life
1. Burnout
Well, times have changed.
This is a competitive era, and the workload always outweigh our personal lives.
And generally, we students are mostly burnt out from the all work we do.
So the next time you are devoid of any motivation, ask yourself if you are in a burn-out or not, and if you are, do these things to revive yourself again!
2. You just never seem to understand that one topic
And you spend all of the time worrying about it.
You ask your teachers, friends, seniors… yet you just don’t get it. You even took out all the related books from the library, still no results.
Then you try to master it taking all the time and energy.
In reality, you are learning one topic at the expense of a lot others.
If you can’t seem to understand something even after doing a lot of work, then just leave it there for some time.
It will eventually come back to you.
3. Stressing over what you have already learnt
Of course, constant revision is the only way you can retain every information that we learn in medicine.
But constantly stressing if you’ll forget all that you’ve learnt?
Big no-no.
It will only make learning difficult and might actually make you forget things.
You have to have faith in yourself.
Next time you have this thought, close your eyes and take a deep breath, and affirm yourself that you are going to remember everything.
(Because you have worked that hard!)
4. You didn’t complete studying every single topic
Actually, you can’t completely study every topic in the curriculum.
No medical student has ever written an exam after learning everything in the course of MBBS.
Not one. Never.
And its normal.
Gulping down Greys or Harrison is not your end goal.
It is to help people by becoming a Good doctor.
It’s providing society with your valuable services and it’s a noble cause.
So focus on doing your best, not on doing everything.
Trying to get everything done will become passive and only burn you out eventually.
5. Comparing yourself to others
First of all, realize that you are unique and nobody can become like you.
We’re not here to be copycats- you are an independant person, you have your own methods, opinions and values.
So don’t underrate your strength by comparing.
Actually, this is one of the most common reasons why medical students lose their motivation.
6. Self-doubt and imposter syndrome
To be honest… that’s me.
I’m not being the hypocrite here- I know exactly how it feels to doubt yourself and your abilities.
You see, I’m trying to juggle a lot of things all at once, and surprisingly everything’s working out fine.
I run a blog that makes me passive income, I get good percentages in college, I’m a classic dancer… still I get this nagging thought that, am I really good enough?
I’m not trying to brag here, but what I’m trying to say is, we’re humans, and we all occassionally go down this lane of self-doubt.
Every time it happens, remind yourself that one day, you are going to be a great doctor and somebody out there is going to be inspired by you.
So kick all that doubting in the butt and believe in yourself!
7. Wandering mind
Getting caught up in thoughts and wandering off… yeah, I’ve heard of that.
And its fine.
You just have to learn to channel your thoughts.
Also know that positive or negative, any thought that is preventing you from doing something sucessfully is a distraction.
8. Not taking care of your body and mind
I can’t tell you this enough- self-care is not a luxury, its a necessity.
And a very basic one, at that.
The amount of love and respect you give yourself is going to reflect in your attitude towards other human beings.
So, loving yourself is only going to make you a better person!
And your body needs to stay healthy too 😊
9. Fear of failure
Failure is the cue for you to start again – to reevaluate your strengths and weaknesses, to find what works for you and what doesn’t.
Stay strong even if you know you are going to fail; you never know what’s going to happen next.
And even if you do fail, always know that something big is waiting for you- only you need to learn from the failure and start back on the path to success.
And that’s it, my friend!
These are just some of the reasons my friends told me about, and I’m sure every person is different and their own problems.
But, whenever you feel down again, know that you are not alone.
We are all here to help you.
Stay tuned for my next post where I’m going to share some insightful quotes to help you stay motivated!
Make sure to share my post to your friends dearest 😇