Words That Motivate: Special Report (“What is…?”)
On the same Monday morning the nation celebrated Martin Luther King’s birthday — home from school — my 8-year-old daughter blurted, “what is words that motivate?”
(Ironically, it was also her mother’s birthday! — And, “…it’s what ‘are,’ not is… ‘what are words that motivate?’ Miss Brussels Sprout [-endearingly, her ‘stage name,’ lol]…”).
Her question was a good excuse for a little team research.
Words that motivate are words — so ordered or sequenced — that cause a successful result because of positive ACTION taken by the listener/reader (audience).
The only real “research” (no lab coats or goggles) needed was to get the definition for the word “motivate,” or “motivation.”
(Note — this content DOES contain Affiliate Links. Purchases via these clicks mean the author will be compensated by the vendor, Never the buyer.— Only the author’s Affiliate Links are BOTH a)- i.d.’d by underlined text[*#*], PLUS b)- followed by this 5-Special-Character-string: [*#*])
What does ‘motivation’ or ‘motivate’ mean?
Motivation’s root word is motive.
Motive means reason or cause. Plus, the definition of the word motive also includes action. (It is claimed — like the word ‘motive’ — that the ‘-ation,’ third- and fourth syllables of ‘motivation,’ is Latin, closely related to the Latin word for action, ‘actum.’)
Reason for action.
From Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, (motive 1:) “something (such as a need or desire) that causes a person to act. // Revenge was the murderer’s motive.”
Brussels Sprout (a nickname given to her because she was born nine-weeks prematurely and because a certain someone's favorite football team’s main
color is green…) hears her Papa often ask, “what’s the motive?” with all the courtroom dramas he enjoys watching on TV and Netflix.
And one of her favorite parrots of her Papa, “if the word motivation means ‘reason for action,’ what does imagination mean?… That’s right, ‘action-images!’”
…‘bout Time You Go Brush Your Teeth or Something, no?
Ok, here are three quick ones for you.
(Not-to-worry, Brussels Sprout has heard them many times before. And she’s actually outside, playing with neighborhood friends…)
To manifest personal responsibility, 10- two-letter words:
“IF IT IS TO BE — IT IS UP TO ME!”
( — Unknown)
Regarding confidence:
“If Ya Think Ya Got It — Ya Got It!
If Ya Think Ya ain’t Got It, Even If Ya Got It —
You ain’t Got it!”
( — Jackie Gleason)
And for the TEAM:
“Some of us are better than others of us...
But none of us is better than ALL of us!”
( — Unknown)
Affirmations, (Sometimes Not-So-)Famous Quotes, Hypnosis, Manifestations, Prayers, Numerology, AfFORmations…
These are all examples of words that motivate, or words to motivate.
But it’s most important to keep in mind — above all else — the critical nature of positive self-talk.
We, ourselves, are the first reader/listener, target-audience of these words that motivate.
“People have to believe that You believe in the positive, powerful, fulfilling, and enriching character that You are becoming.”
( — Brussels Sprouts’ Papa)
“Whether an -electric blanket, -an ear of corn, or a -lampshade,… Everything ‘out-there,’ at one time, was just an idea. …And the road to making an idea a durable, sustainable, marketable asset goes through the written word.”
( — Unknown)
Isn’t Advertising & Selling, ‘Words That Motivate?’…
…The Law of Attraction, parenting, leadership, persuasion, influence, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), negotiation, astrology, positive affirmations, hypnosis, afFORmations (written and/or stated in the form of a positive question, “Why am I so Happy?” “Why am I so Rich?” “Why am I so Healthy?” — afFORmations were made popular by author Noah St.John).
And it’s fair to say that not very long ago at all, many folks saw some of this spirituality, embedded commands, and karma-type-stuff as “woo-woo,” or “hocus-pocus.”
“Some people still view psychology as a lot of ‘hocus-pocus!’”
But now a relatively new (about 60-years-old?), frontier brain-science — Neuroscience — is substantiating, supporting and documenting what some believed was true all-along (for a few hundred years!).
Neuroscience Is the (Multidisciplinary) Study of the Nervous System
According to the ol’ Google-machine, Neuroscience is a multidisciplinary branch of biology that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developmental biology, cytology, mathematical modeling, and psychology. (Fancy mouth-full!)
And there’s more(!): Neuroscience is the understanding of the fundamental and emergent properties of neurons and neural circuits.
Can’t you just hear the almost endless “I-Told-You-So’s” now?
EVERY SINGLE WORD HAS AN EMOTIONAL IMPACT ON ALL BUT TWO TYPES OF HOMO SAPIENS: (i.e., “This ShTUFF Works!”… Unless-) [*#*]
Type-1)- The Dead; Type-2)- Paranoid Schizophrenic.
Paranoid schizophrenia is a “wiring” problem. With regard to “Words Successfully Sequenced,” paranoid schizophrenics have a mother-
board/circuitry challenge that affects their (brain) limbic system and amygdala function.
“WORDS SUCCESSFULLY SEQUENCED”
On the other hand, a chemical imbalance is too much or too little of certain chemicals in the brain. (They’re called neurotransmitters.)
It’s said that mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, are caused by a “chemical imbalance” in the brain.
But, even folks with chemical imbalance challenges — because they have a properly functioning limbic system and amygdala — can be positively affected by words that motivate.
Most everybody, no matter the language, culture, religion, ethnicity, gender… We’re “susceptible” to positive affirmations. Manifestations. Meditation.
Dr. Joe Dispenza (drJoeDispenza.com/), among many others, has done remarkable work in this area.
A common reminder from Dr. Joe is, “we have to think about what we’re thinking about.”[*#*]
“We know our thoughts can make us sick. So if our thoughts can make us sick, we should also know that our thoughts can cure us. Our thoughts can make us happy, and healthy, and successful!”
“Meditation means ‘become familiar with-‘.”
“Whenever you say ‘I am (anything-),’ you’re commanding your mind and body towards a destiny.”
“Become ‘addicted’ to your own positive thoughts.”
“The hardest part about change is not making the same choice as you did the day before…”
“Sometimes It’s Not What You’re Eating, But…”
So around 1976-ish I get diagnosed with an ulcer. Was in the midst of a too-long college student career. A few (prescribed) pills and I’m fine. Of-course I was over-extended, tired, spinning dozens of plates. But I had decided on a career: football coach.
I was coaching 12-year-olds, all from Compton, Calif. South of “South-Central.”
Totally “ALiVE!”[*#*]
All the “boxes” were left UN-Checked regarding “looking-after” myself though. But no-big-deal. I’m 19 and in heaven coaching those kids.
Time flies.
It’s now 1980, San Francisco State University. First college football coaching opportunity.
Not getting paid a penny. So: security guard at the “California Building,” downtown; bowling alley clerk in near-by Daly City; cashier at one of the on-
campus cafeterias; Wells Fargo Bank, “lock-box(?),” downtown as well… Averaging less than 3.5-hours of sleep a night!
…All so I could give a full-time commitment to coaching football. (Learned a ton those two seasons — about teaching, coaching and system design in the great game of football!)
But all-of-a-sudden-, during that 1980 season, feeling a couple knots at the base of my skull and feeling run-down… Ulcer again?[*#*]
Get referred to a doctor whose office is somewhere between the university and downtown.
Tell the doc my symptoms — and share that I had an ulcer a couple-three years before.
And “tell” him “nothing can change about my schedule. Just so you know doc. Just wanna know what it is(?).”
Leave blood and urine samples behind. (My own blood and urine…)
On my way out, he tells me he was giving a talk about ulcers at a club of some-kind, mid-week, at night, near his office.
(San Francisco is “small,” almost perfectly square, only seven-miles by seven-miles. By comparison, L.A. is sprawling,… something like 125-miles, north-to-south!?? At least that’s what somebody said once.)
Based on my hectic schedule, the doc thought that he might have the results for me that night if I was able to be there a few minutes before he began speaking(?).
Found the place.
(A surprise, since I may be the worst person in captivity with directions… NO! [Words that motivate:] I often remind Brussels Sprout, instead of “bad” at something, we need to improve. Ya, that’s it. Note to self: Need to improve on directions.)
As I approach the entrance, before spotting the doctor, I see a sandwich-board-type sign on the sidewalk, announcing doc’s speech about ulcers: “Sometimes it’s Not What You’re Eating, But What’s Eating You(?)!…”
“The Psychology of Winning!”…
Forty years!
And I still remember those successfully sequenced words!
“Sometimes it’s Not What You’re Eating, But What’s Eating You(?)!…”
(Can stress be managed by words successfully sequenced?)
Doc sees me, maybe 10-minutes before he’s scheduled to begin, and he’s smiling.
“Since you’ve already told me you’re not going to do it, let me first tell you the number one cure for what you’ve got: Lotza bed-rest!!! — You’ve got mononucleosis…”
True to my word, absolutely nothing changed, except for possibly consuming more plain water than usual(?).
And within 10-days, all symptoms were gone! Feeling great again.[*#*]
(Now a quick, ironic side-step: Around this same time, early-fall 1980, I hadn’t heard from my best friend in college for about 60+ days. Let’s say his name was Wally Dodson. He’s — still to this day — a journalist. Finally, maybe early November, one or two games left in our season, Wally and I are on the phone for the first time since August!
“You’re not gonna believe it ‘coach’: …
I was in bed for like seven-weeks straight!
— Had mono!…”)
I have always believed in what I simply had called back then, “positive self-talk.”
But with my (20-somethings-) buddies, of-course, I played the “macho-,” “too-cool-for-skool-“ role when it came to “all-that ‘woo-woo,’ Spirituality, Mayan Calendar, Manifestation-junk!”
Truth was, after my $300+/month rent: one-room, fold-out-couch-for-a-bed, “mother-in-law” apartment, corner of 24th and Ortega (“Sunset District”); 1969 Datsun hatch-back car payment; student-loan payment….
For Christmas, 1980, I had 67-cents to my name.
Bought a big box of Saltine Crackers, little cheap-o restaurant jellies and peanut butters I had hoarded.
And I was Happy and Healthy, and I was Alive!!!
Sometimes it takes some of us a bit longer than others of us to make key connections. (That’d be me, raising my hand, sheepishly.)
Today, I can share with you exactly why I was Happy, and Healthy, and Alive!!![*#*]
See, about five-months before leaving L.A., maybe February 1980(?), I bought a mail-order cassette-tape (Google-it) self-improvement program (“correspondence course”) by Dr. Denis Waitley.
That program was called, “The Psychology of Winning.”
And most every night and morning I slept in that apartment, those 19-or-so-
months I coached at SFSU — the Gators, as in “Golden Gaters???” — I usually was listening to “The Psychology of Winning.”
…Fell asleep to those tapes. Woke-up to those tapes…
Talk about words successfully sequenced! Words that motivate!
Here’s (my version?) my favorite:
“The difference between successful people and failures is that successful people get in the HABiT of doing those things that failures don’t like to do…
“So right about now you’re waiting with baited-breath to jot-down those HABiTs that successful people ‘get-into…’ the same ones that failures don’t like to do…
“Thing-is, those HABiTs that failures don’t like to do… Turns-out, they’re the Same HABiTs successful people don’t like to do! …Difference-is, successful people just get in the HABiT of do’n ‘em…”
The Vital Nature of HABiT Formation!
For parents, isn’t it important to use words that motivate for and with your Kids?
(Discuss with heavy-, heaping-, helpings of HUMOR[!!!]?)[*#*]
Wouldn’t improving on and thinking about “words successfully sequenced” increase the chances that Kids might become better teammates, better leaders, better parents someday themselves?
Consider this: since she was 7-years-old, if not all seven days of the week, at least five or six days of the week, Brussels Sprouts’ first “academic chore” of the day is to “sell” something via the written word for 45-minutes. (Usually within the first two-to-three-hours of waking.)
Her parents are only able to ask questions about her work, unless she asks for other feedback.
She decides.
She writes a sales letter for-, … A toothbrush.
An idea.
Roll of duct tape.
Microwave.
…Doesn’t matter.
(We call it the ultimate in words that motivate, or “words successfully sequenced,” …direct-response copywriting. The art and science of requesting a fairly short-term response — a “purchase,” an action — by the consumer.)
Ok.
Saved the best for last.
Warren Buffett.
Many consider Buffett the greatest investor of all-time.
And his home-spun wisdom and values and common-sense principles can apply to everyone.
(btw, Buffett often mentions he paid $100 cash for a “correspondence course” on public speaking, back in the late 1940s! He said he paid cash because it ensured he wouldn’t back out of the class!)
On Habits:
“The chains of Habit are too light to be felt,
before they become too heavy to be broken…”
Between Buffett (89) and his sidekick Charlie Munger (96), there’s 185-years of wisdom! (In case you’ve never heard of Charlie Munger — among many other investments — think Costco Warehouse stores!)
For the better part of, at least the last decade, Buffett has consistently answered the ‘L’ (legacy) question with one word: “teacher.”[*#*]
He especially enjoys sharing his messages with high schoolers and pre-high schoolers.
Here’s a favorite he shares with those audiences:
“You can’t change your i.q., how far you can throw a football, or how high you can jump, or the natural color of your hair very easily.
“But you can elect to have integrity that matches anyone else's!”
Thank you for reading to this point.
And thank you to Medium.com for sustaining this remarkable platform!
Please visit our affiliate links in this article, where we usually promote content-related digital assets, the “correspondence courses” of today!
…If affordability is an issue for you now, please consider us next time… (httpS://linktr.ee/coachETCH) [*#*]
(Note — this content DOES have Affiliate Links. Responsibility for compensation to the author is Always on the vendor for purchases via Your clicks, Not You. And Only the author’s Affiliate Links are BOTH a)- i.d.’d by underlined text[*#*], PLUS b)- followed by this 5-Character-string: [*#*])
[Following the successful publication of this content here on Medium.com, we’ll create a home-made “audio reading” version on YouTube.
That YouTube version is especially for the visually impaired, and folks of all ages, who may find it helpful while learning to read English(?).
When prepared, the special link will appear here: httpS://bit.Ly/Words-that-MOTiVATE-YT …]
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