As the new school year approaches, exam stress and assignment deadlines’ looming presence can be intimidating. Taking 10 minutes to practice mindfulness meditation may improve motivation towards achieving personal goals, according to a recent study by Carleton University psychology master’s student Aidan Smyth.
Smyth worked with Carleton psychology professor Marina Milyavskaya to publish research on April 19. The article refutes a similar study done in 2018 that found mindfulness might actually impair motivation. However, the previous study did not include personal goals, only generic tasks.
That research is what piqued Smyth’s interest, he said. Smyth added psychology research usually points towards the benefits of mindfulness and meditation.
“I was curious to know whether or not we’d see the same potentially demotivating effects [of meditation] when it comes to people’s personal goals,” Smyth said.
An issue with studying mindfulness is the term can refer to a wide variety of practices and states of consciousness, according to Smyth. His study focused on the impact of mindful meditation.
“We use a fairly common definition of mindfulness that involves paying attention to the present moment, in an open, accepting and non-judgmental manner,” Smyth said.
Smyth conducted his study in two phases, once with 200 participants and then again with 120.
Half the participants practiced mindfulness by listening to 10 minutes of guided meditation while others listened to 10 minutes of an unrelated podcast. Afterwards, participants reported how motivated they were to complete specific personal goals as well as generic tasks such as copying a block of text or anagram puzzles.
The study found the participants who practiced mindfulness reported greater motivation towards completing their personal goals. However, mindfulness was not found to improve motivation towards completing generic tasks.
Smyth’s research is not alone in suggesting personal relevance is important for motivation. Carole Blackburn is a life coach based in Ottawa who helps clients identify and pursue goals that are meaningful to them. She said meaning is an integral part of achieving goals.
“Motivation is really driven by purpose and meaning,” Blackburn said. “If something doesn’t have meaning for you, if you’re not interested in something, you’re not going to be very motivated to pursue it.”
Blackburn added being intentional and finding personal interest is an important factor to consider when setting goals and planning for the future.
Alvaro Valencia is a fifth-year aerospace engineering student at Carleton who said remembering his personal interests and his long-term goals keeps him motivated when his studies get difficult.
“I’ve always loved planes and since I was a kid, I wanted to be a pilot. Then [my interest] moved into the design side,” Valencia said. “It was my dream to get into this program, so trying to keep that dream alive to continue on is how I keep motivated.”
Valencia said he has been using a smartphone app to practice guided meditation for three years. While he did not know if it affected his motivation, Valencia said the mindfulness practice helped him deal with anxiety and improve his mental health.
Valencia added physical activity like basketball, taking proper breaks and being able to discuss his goals and work with friends helped him stay motivated.
Smyth said mindfulness only increases goal motivation when it works together with personal meaning.
“Mindfulness meditation may be able to enhance people’s motivation towards personal goals that are perceived as meaningful and engaging,” Smyth said. “You’re not going to see those effects if you’re asking [people] about their motivation towards some random tasks that have no personal relevance.”
Featured image provided by Aidan Smyth.
