On Thursday, September 22^nd, we celebrated the commencement of fall while on the same day, I was dreading the start of another season: Exam Season (Round 1).

Whenever each round of exam season comes around, I notice that my spirits tend to fall. Noticing that I’m experiencing a lack of motivation, I tell myself that to ensure success, all I need to do is regain the same level of motivation I had when I was doing well.

In my Economics of Development course, as we continue our discussions about the magnitude of the global challenge of economic development, there is a phrase that my professor stresses every class:

Growth is necessary, but not sufficient for development.

With the substitution of a few words, I believe this is applicable when thinking about the relationship between motivation and and our own success:

Motivation is necessary, but not sufficient for our own success.

Why? It is true that motivation fuels our inner drive. However, motivation is not always consistent. Sometimes, motivation is simply a fleeting thought. On the days our motivation falls, especially during exam season when the thoughts of exams continuously loom over our head, discipline is what will get us through.

On the days we do not have the motivation to wake up at 5am to study, discipline is what gets us out of bed. On the days we do not have the motivation to stay in the library to study, discipline is what makes us stay.

In our own sea of success, even if the absence of motivation has us sinking, let us develop enough discipline to keep us afloat.