Ok well, I spent a week in the Snowdon area in November 2011. As a second year on my degree it was my job that week to take a group of first years out each day and adopt the leadership role in the group to get them through the days hike and even more importantly, for the group to enjoy the day.
The Topic I really want to discuss here is motivation. I found my group were struggling to get them-selves motivated, especially at the start of the walk on the first day. At first i felt stumped; I was not sure how to sort this issue out. However as the day progressed many of the members accepted the walk and started to enjoy it. One person in my group still was not enjoy the walk.
The route for that day was quite simple, up the Pyg (pub) track, summit Mt Snowdon, and then descend down the Snowdon ranger path. The issue was not a physical one, the walk is considered to be an easy stroll. i thought about how i could get this member motivated to keep walking. Within the first hour they were already lagging at the back of the group, so i dropped back to chat to them. I asked them about why they were on this course, and why they were here this week. after a little while i was able to persuade this member to look at the days walk in a more positive way. this new way of thinking had a huge effect on their attitude to the walk and by the end of the day they were at the front of the group and in a good mood to learn in.
People when in the outdoors are motivated in different ways. Some of us are out there for the challenge of pitting ourselves against the elements, some of us are out there for the location, some of us are out there to find somewhere to think in peace. The member of my group who needed motivating really just needed to be reminded of what made them get out of bed that morning and start walking. I really do not want to discuss Maslow's hierarchy of needs here because everyone who knows anything about motivation knows about this. Instead i simply just want to leave you with a quote from Johann Gottfried Von Herder to think about 'Without inspiration the best powers of the mind remain dormant. There is a fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks.'
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