Motivation Of Mortimer Essay Research Paper Introduction

Motivation Of Mortimer Essay, Research Paper

Introduction

This report is on a project undertaken to help an older gentleman named Mortimer who is seventy-seven years old. This project is intended to get Mortimer to develop a different behavior than what he has been displaying in recent times. He recalls his life story in the following way. As a young man, Mortimer enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corp. He was stationed in Australia and met his beautiful bride, Rosie. They have six great children, now in their forties and fifties. Mortimer worked for an advertising agency after he got out of the service. He was in very good physical shape. Tennis and track were his two sports of choice. As a matter of fact, Mortimer was a runner in the 1956 Olympics. At the age of thirty-eight, Mortimer became very ill and was left totally disabled for the rest of his life. However, he was determined to overcome many obstacles that may have otherwise interfered with him living a normal life.

Mortimer set some goals that he wanted to accomplish. He wanted to

utilize the knowledge that he had from working at the advertising agency.

Getting a Bachelors Degree in Journalism was his first goal. Secondly, he wanted to write short stories and books. His third goal was to be independent and do some freelance work in journalism. Mortimer obtained these goals by writing many newspaper columns, short stories, and books. This is how he earned his living. He was very successful in the Journalism field. He still has one book that he has started, but never finished.

Relationship Between Project and Motivation Theory

Knowing that motivation is something internal and that people have different things that motivate them, we will describe the relationship between our project and Motivation Theory. Motivation is a feeling that comes from within that drives us forward towards a goal-oriented behavior. We believe that changing Mortimer’s environment will enable him to reach within himself to become motivated once again. Motivation explains why people behave as they do. Motivation determines behavior and thus said all behavior is motivated.

Furthermore, human instincts are more flexible and more open to learning experiences than those of other species no matter what a person’s physical age. An example of instinctual behavior is that all ants build anthills in the same way, even when they are not raised together, this actually means that the anthill building behavior is instinctual, and not a learned response. Even though we might not know what to do, it is instinctual. However, instincts only describe behavior, they do not explain why a person engages in that particular behavior.

Mortimer’s behavior also stems from his prolonged illness. Mortimer’s instinct now is that he cannot do anything useful since he has experienced a long-term illness and is fighting the most basic of human instincts, to live. He has found it easier to do what has become natural to him throughout his illness. We know that Mortimer was at one time driven to accomplish many goals that he set for himself. With the motivation theory mentioned above, it is our intention to get Mortimer to set goals that will increase his motivation level. With new life goals set for Mortimer to help bring forth his motivation from within that he displayed as a younger man.

The Problem

Within the past year, Mortimer has basically lost his will to live. Mortimer has fallen into a severe depression. The physical problems include, weakness, difficulty walking, standing and eating. His desire to get out of bed everyday is decreasing as each day passes. It is difficult to offer a conversation with him, because he only speaks when spoken to. For example, his wife Rosie tries to talk to him but he barely responds and won’t engage in a conversation. Dressing him is also difficult because he rather not make the effort. To him there is no since of getting out of bed and getting dressed. The depression that Mortimer is in has totally left him unmotivated and he has given up on life. This has had a devastating effect of his family and everyone close to him. Rosie has done everything a person could possibly do for someone in this position.

Rosie attends to his daily needs. She tries to get him interested in things she knows he likes. She tries to get Mortimer up each morning, dressed, and motivated enough to go on a daily walk with her. Their children and grandchildren visit as much as possible, although some live out-of-town and don’t get to visit as often as they’d like. They would all like to see Mortimer get his old spirit back and they would like to see Rosie get a break from the daily grind of caring for someone who lacks the motivation and desire to live. It is both physically and emotionally draining for Rosie. Rosie and the rest of the family wonder how they can help Mortimer to motivate himself, so that he realizes that there is still meaning to his life.

The Current Situation

Rosie and Mortimer have been married for fifty-eight years. Until approximately one year ago, Mortimer had lived a full life. Rosie continues to take care of his daily needs, however, in the past year, she has seen Mortimer slowly failing. Rosie acknowledges the fact that Mortimer is failing and does not like seeing him with no motivation to go on. She says Mortimer has told her