Are motivational videos the answer?
In my opinion there is a lot of motivational hype on the internet, and it is not particularly useful. The messages I feel resonate with Spinal Tap’s turn it to 11; this hard-core disciplined, work to you drop motivational dogma, implying that it is a lack of effort and motivation are the reasons why you might not succeed. Burn-out is the price of success; but conversely burn-out will lead to success.
I feel that this philosophy may be both incorrect and potentially harmful, it is opined here that motivation comes from within; motivational speaking may be the last thing you could want. Although stirring speeches appear good in many films, the value and benefits they bring long-term could be questioned. If you dedicate a lot of time listening to motivational speakers, it might be useful to pose yourself some questions and honestly reflect on them.
The first question raised here is why do you need or want to listen to a motivational speaker? Is there a reason you feel that you need motivation or that your efforts are not enough? Is it that your efforts are not enough or are you not getting the outcomes/rewards that you seek from your efforts?
Patience, Prospects, Perspectives and Persistence
If the answer is the latter, it might not be a motivational issue; it might be a patience issue. Are you willing to give yourself sufficient time to learn and gain sufficient knowledge, skills and mastery to succeed at your goals? Do you expect results too soon? Is this more commitment rather than motivation?
Forgive the bad cliché but John Heywood’s quote maybe more apt:
“Rome was not built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour.” John Heywood.
This might be a question of perspective; are you myopic in your perceptions of your progress? For instance, you may not receive the grades you want early in college; but can you see a general trend in improvement. If so, you are getting better. Even small improvements are worthwhile, improvements compound. They follow you as you move through life if you keep them up. Improvements, even small over the long-term are leverageable, leading to the accumulation of significant strengths. But these require consistent and long-term investment of energy and time.
Mastery does not come immediately or from burn-out. Dedicated committed practice with a learning program and feedback over the long-term is likely to be the key to “success.” There are clear examples of where “success” might be unrealistic; like being 4 ft and playing in the NBA, but people can improve their abilities, and in my opinion, far more than they realise. So, challenging but realistic expectations are necessary — do not sell yourself short.
Although it has taken significant time to learn the basics of paragraphs, punctuation and grammatical structure, I have reached a point with consistent practice that these are passable. It will take time for further improvement, but it will come with dedicated practice. The point being it is a process, a journey, not a destination or end point. Seeing and refining the process based on assessing your feedback is crucial. This is not a massive action thing — it is a committed doing the work and the process thing — keeping it going.
Maybe, in the case being less hard on yourself is a better way to go. This is not an argument of only seeing things through positive lenses, it is more about seeing your progress objectively and giving yourself both the time and the space to develop. This is not a race to the end. Enjoy the process the best you can. But you might gain the benefits from habits. This article may be of some interest to you:
Why do you need to look for external motivation?
Returning to the earlier questions, maybe you are struggling with motivation. The last section was clear that it might be realistic expectations of the development program. If there is no progress or work being done, why is that?
Is this perfectionism? Are you afraid to do things for criticism? Are you just not interested? Are you bored? Is it depression or other psychological issues? Clearly if it is the latter, then there is a need to seek professional help. These are medical issues; genuine medical issues requiring the treatment by trained professionals who are licenced and qualified to help.
If it is boredom or a lack of interest, is it not finding something of interest or just laziness? Is it fearing trying and failing, criticism or is it too easy to do something easy and not start? Frankly, motivational information will only provide some entertainment and fantasy in these cases, a form of escapism. It will not help you to obtain any goals. There is a need to do some inner work, either working on overcoming fears or finding something that inspires you.
Perfectionism is said to be liked with the fear of failing or being criticised. These are real, and not something to be ignored. The question becomes, where is this fear coming from and can you overcome it yourself by trying — putting yourself in a position of failing and realising it is not that bad. You do not have to advertise what you are trying to do; you can do things anonymously or in situations where no one knows you; failing in front of strangers — why do you care you probably will not see them again and they probably do not know anyone you know.
The point is that you can seek out professional help — which depending on your situations may be good for you- or you may create situations of failing in safe situations. The latter would get acclimatised to it.
For general laziness, what about forming habits. Are you interested in what you are doing and committed? If you want to do it you can form habits. If you are not interested, it might be worth looking for something else. There are lots of things that you might like to engage with and would be good for you. It is worth taking some extra time to search.
Considering all the above, what is required is a consistency and doing habit. Setting yourself deadlines and holding yourself accountable to them. Getting some output just helps, it helps get feedback and provide information that you may miss. It can give insights from others that you would never have seen. These two articles might help:
Conclusion
In my opinion motivational videos are just entertainment, and not likely you motivate you long-term. This is something you must do, probably by forming habits. You cannot escape this. But you also need to accept that things will take time to develop, and you just must work at it. It is worth the wait; things get easier and better with practice. So, be patient with yourself and the process and eventually things will incrementally improve.
If you struggle to find motivation, maybe the problem is how you are feeling inside; have you found things that challenge you and you enjoy focussing on? Or is there fear and anxiety causing you to balk at the doing? Are these holding you back? It is worth thinking about these points and trying to create safe spaces to overcome them. It is possible if you are willing to try. Have realistic expectations about quality and just try — you might enjoy it and succeed.
I hope you found this helpful; and any feedback is gratefully appreciated.
