Motivate self, put words into action

It seems that the world would be yours to conquer if only you had a bit of motivation. One could ace that test that is coming up in the not-so-distant future, learn a new language you have always wanted to learn, even become a successful entrepreneur within one year. Or in this case, perhaps finishing this very article.

Unfortunately, in this era of social media, there are too many distractions and not enough motivation to get things done. So, what does one do to get motivated? Get on YouTube and binge-watch TED Talks, browse Pinterest for motivational quotes, and automatically one gets that brilliant surge of energy inside that just makes him/her want to do everything that can possibly be done all at once, at that very moment.

What if one still cannot figure out what to do so that one ends up watching entrepreneurs and public speakers being motivational on Facebook until a new message pops up and one spends hours chatting with a friend with a topic that is not even worthy to be discussed about. Sound familiar? That is because it is all of us, perhaps not the best of us.

We love it when Tony Robbins, a famous motivational speaker, says “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into visible”. Chris Gardner, the character from the movie Pursuit of Happyness, inspires by saying “You got a dream. You gotta protect it. People can’t do somethin’ themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin’, go get it. Period.” In JK Rowling's Harvard speech-- The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination-- she said, “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.”

It has been told that the secret to success lies in tenacity and never-ending diligence. Practice makes everything perfect. Oprah Winfrey talks about gratefulness, “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” Now these people, Tony Robbins, Chris Gardner, JK Rowling and Oprah Winfrey are names with which we are familiar with, not because they are just renowned speakers but because they are successful entrepreneurs and authors who have earned the right to be motivational speakers.

Motivational speaking can be a career or a business too, a very successful one at that. Some people do motivational speaking and writing for a living. Napoleon Hill is the author of one of the most acclaimed self-help books of all time, Think and Grow Rich. Dale Carnegie is perhaps one of the most well-known names in the field of self-improvement, public speaking and interpersonal relationships. Motivators can reach celebrity status through their books, speeches and public appearances. They must be capable of marketing themselves to reach that point, of course. And that requires the same diligence and devotion to self-improvement that they speak of in their motivational content. Hearing their sensational words gives you that ephemeral desire to get things done.

The issue at hand is this feeling wears off and one is back to square one. Thus, a person who is demotivated tries to find even more motivational content to feed their unproductivity in hopes of achieving productivity. This makes the person vulnerable to these ‘hope brokers’. But, motivators and motivational contents are not at all bad. It is how they are being consumed that is sometimes bad. Most of such contents have really positive messages, and useful tips and lessons in them. Most people, however, fail to either learn anything from it, or to utilise what they have learnt in real life situations.

Motivational contents can give a person guideline into creating their own plan. They show that successful people generally have similar core values. They even provide inspiration and boost your ambitions. There is a lot to learn from what is generally termed as motivational. It is recommended not to look for motivation in such content, but rather to learn the intricate messages that they are sending. Adapt the habits and values of the people creating such content. The general population will consume motivation and spit it out, never getting motivated to achieve anything in life. No one wants to be the general population. One’s pursuit of knowledge is futile unless and until one applies it in personal or professional life.

In short, motivational videos cannot motivate if one doesn't motivate oneself and put motivational words into action.

The writer is currently studying BBA at IBA, University of Dhaka. She can be reached at [email protected]