Learning and finding the motivation to learn

I have often wondered what motivates a person to learn something and what triggers that motivation. On one hand, there are the external motivators like career, professional development, job requirements etc. On the other hand, you have internal or intrinsic motivators like curiosity, desire to improve yourself, proving something etc. This is all very academic and can probably be found in a number of psychology textbooks. But what I would like to find out is what are those motivators that create a burning desire in a person to learn something. Are they internal or external, are some motivators greater than others, are situation and timing important aspects to consider?

To be clear, I am not talking about flashes of inspiration that most people have from time to time that although pique our interest but ultimately peter out before any real learning happens. I am talking about something that drives us day in and out, gives us a sense of purpose and makes us charge at our learning goal till we achieve it.

My hope with this blog is to record and share my understanding of certain things and along the way, I also hope to pick up a few things. I hope it's not one of those flashes but something concrete that i can sustain for a long time.

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