Greetings everyone! Today, to welcome the last month of the year, I would like to write about motivation.
What is motivation?
Motivation is a reason for behaving in a particular way. In whatever we do, there is a motive. Even when you said that you have no motive to do something, the root might come from your complacency. So that is your motive. I observed that many of my Facebook and Instagram friends were involved in a life-improvement activities lately. Veralyn the Wonder Woman Sabahan Mother is active with Shaklee, and continuously promoting Shaklee to her friends via Facebook and Instagram. My sister Claudia and Olivia is active with Hai-O, selling Min Kaffe and other products; Marvin with his inspirational activities, the preparation for Spartan race as well as his consistent juice of motivational words at his Instagram, and once in a while, a selfie (jangan marah bro :p). My other half is rather secretive, so I better not spill her beans – it only between the two of us. đ
Those activities that they have done makes me think, what drives them? What motivates them? Once in a while, their post is not even being entertained, but so they keep on moving forward. Perhaps, they were being rational, that âlikesâ doesnât pay the bills. Indeed it doesnât pay the bill, because that is just a promotional activities. Some people are happy being Insta-famous, that they have so much followers, hundreds of thousands but they earn no money from it. In this case, what force of nature drives them?
Therefore I sat down in my usual favourite silence to contemplate about all of this thing. It seems like what they did was out of a single motivation and they have found their true purpose. In Simon Sinekâs word, they have found their WHY. For them, for these peoples, their WHY may vary. Some people are motivated by wealth and like the feeling of having a lot of money. I think these group of people were raised up in a low state of living, and people around him/her look high upon the people that has a lot of money. Therefore, they make it their life-long covenant to be rich. But just like what Jim Carrey said, let this people gain a lot of money, so that these peoples realised that by having a lot of money, you are not solving a problem, but rather the beginning of more problems.
Some people have their motivation right, they have their family as their motivation, or as their WHY. If you put family as your WHY, then you will place their importance above everything else. For example, you will go for a lower-paying job against a higher-paying job if the former is located near your family, versus the latter which is located somewhere far away from your family. This does not come by itself, but from our DNA, which tells us to be closer to our family so that in the event of difficulties, they will be able to come to our aide.
How To Stay Motivated Then?
Having said the motivation for these peoples, once you have identified your motivation, be it your family or you are simply passionate to do the things that you are doing now, then the next question is, how to sustain it? How to stay motivated even if no one is watching or cheering for you? In 2017, I find it very easy to find yourself at the wrong spot-light. One wrong mistake, youâll find yourself viral at Facebook, you will constantly being bombarded that you have no choice but to shut yourself off from the public. If you are Miri and you did something awful to the community, you will end-up at Miri Community and will be famous for the wrong reason. I think this stems from our inner-voice that reacts to warn other people from the impending danger, and in this case, someone that might cause harm.
It is not surprising that with new years coming, everyone will be busy posting their new yearâs goal. But I suggest you do it differently, which is in this case, just focus on the light at the end of the tunnel. For you, these are two simple steps that you can take every single day without fail:
Make Your Goals Clear
Do Positive Self-Talk
Repeat Step 1 & 2.
Thatâs it. You can actually stop reading here because the next few sentences is about the elaboration of point 1 & 2.
The Day I Aspire to Be Good in Vocals and Guitar
Make Your Goals Clear
Why? So that we know where we are heading. Just imagine that you are boarding an aircraft, but you do not know where it is heading. Will you board it? Any sane person will say no. It is self-explanatory. No one would want to board an aircraft with an unclear destination. So is the cells of your body. If your brain (the management team) cannot decide where you will go next, your body (the working level) will be confused, and will have no motivation. The opposite happens if the goal is clear. Everyone that has the same destination in mind will board the airplane, letâs say it is heading to Kuching. Everyone can focus their effort to make it possible. So is your body. Actually, our body is tougher than what we expect. It is just the brain that needs to be convinced. Particularly today, where everything becomes quicker, and we are so used to be instantly gratified. I say, no. Do not forsake the bigger glory ahead for a small minute instant gratification.
For example, if you have a dream to build your own empire of photography and be influential, why would you want to waste your resources on funding your superbike that has nothing to do with your dream? Just saying.
Do Positive Self-Talk
Most importantly, you are being true to yourself.
This is what we often failed to do. Being raised in a normal Bidayuh family, self-talk is often unheard of. We are constantly shaped by what we heard from our friends and neighbours. I am so lucky I am a stubborn one. When I set my eyes on a target, I will focus all of my energy and time on it. Who we are in five yearsâ time depends on who we are mingling with now, the book we read and the things we are exposing ourselves to. If you are mingling with negative-self-talker bunch, but your goal says otherwise, have courage to walk-away. I am not saying you should abandon your friends, you still can stay friends, but unconsciously, it will affect you. Find someone who can empower you, inside and outside. Too many people are stuck with a toxic relationship without them knowing it, like an abusive other-half. Well, you shouldnât call them other-half if all they do is to make you feel useless and worthless. Unless they change, have courage to step out and re-evaluate your decisions. Every single time you are awake, and when you look at the mirror, give yourself some dose of motivation that is due. There is not much you can do about your physical imperfections, but that is what makes you unique. If everyone appears similar, then there is no uniqueness. Correct? So, do your own positive self talk. Also, donât be too hung-up with the number games. Number games, e.g. follower counts at Facebook and Instagram can kill your motivation and self-confidence. I would say, just focus on your own self-improvement.
Accept the fact that you canât please everyone, and out of 100, only less than 10 people will actually see your post. For me, by having this expectation, I am less devastated and now I am more focus on getting near to my goals. Thank you for reading until finish. God bless.
Regards,
Claudius
