SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic

Posted: Oct 11 2012 09:36 pm

I've been watching these motivational speeches on Youtube for the past few days. They say things like:

"you have to give up everything you enjoy to become a success"

and

"you have to suffer the pain of discipline or suffer the pain or regret".

I completely disagree with quotes like this. Many people like to say these things, and they don't work. Most people fail to do what they want to do in life because they believe that it's going to be painful and hard. Who wants to live a painful life? Why start something big if it's gonna be a painful struggle? This is why most people can't bring themselves to do the things they wanna do.

I'm tired of this talk about having to "train and train, even when you wanna badly quit, because you have to be a champion". People attempt to inspire others to become famous and accomplished as public figures like Muhammad Ali. You know how often people think about Muhammad Ali? Rarely. Because nobody wants to train their entire life to be famous for two seconds. People are busy trying to enjoy their lives.

So do you wanna do something with your life and can't seem to get motivated? Try this. Do you remember a time when you were a kid and you really wanted some toy or game console or something? Remember how excited and positive you felt when you were going to get that thing? Nobody had to force you to want and go after that, because it just came naturally. This is how you should think and feel when going after your goals. Don't feel like you have to suffer the pain of discipline. It's not motivating at all and only works on very few people.

So, what do you have to say about this? Am I on to something?

Posted: Oct 11 2012 10:09 pm

There's a George Carlin quote about motivation, but I can't get motivated enough to find it.

Posted: Oct 11 2012 11:34 pm

It depends on what your goals are, how much effort you have to go through to earn them and whether or not you believe they're worth the effort.

Lots of people want to have a nice car, but you have to earn the money to buy the car and that requires having a job. Lots of people would like to have a Lamborghini, but because they're so expensive, most people accept that a Lamborghini is probably not worth the effort so they settle for something that just gets them around.

Others, however, really do want to have that Lamborghini so they jump through whatever hoops it takes to earn it. For these types of people, the struggle doesn't feel like that much of a struggle at all.

So basically it all boils down to how badly you want something. Although I certainly agree that the "sacrificing everything you enjoy" quote is a crock of shit.

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

Most motivational crap I hear is copy-pasted platitudes for the typical extroverted nitwit with too much self-esteem.

Joined: Oct 05 2012 Location: UK Posts: 104

I've never understood people with goals. Everything I do is just for the fun of it.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

DarknessDeku wrote:

I've been watching these motivational speeches on Youtube for the past few days. They say things like:

"you have to give up everything you enjoy to become a success"

and

"you have to suffer the pain of discipline or suffer the pain or regret".

I completely disagree with quotes like this. Many people like to say these things, and they don't work. Most people fail to do what they want to do in life because they believe that it's going to be painful and hard. Who wants to live a painful life? Why start something big if it's gonna be a painful struggle? This is why most people can't bring themselves to do the things they wanna do.

I'm tired of this talk about having to "train and train, even when you wanna badly quit, because you have to be a champion". People attempt to inspire others to become famous and accomplished as public figures like Muhammad Ali. You know how often people think about Muhammad Ali? Rarely. Because nobody wants to train their entire life to be famous for two seconds. People are busy trying to enjoy their lives.

So do you wanna do something with your life and can't seem to get motivated? Try this. Do you remember a time when you were a kid and you really wanted some toy or game console or something? Remember how excited and positive you felt when you were going to get that thing? Nobody had to force you to want and go after that, because it just came naturally. This is how you should think and feel when going after your goals. Don't feel like you have to suffer the pain of discipline. It's not motivating at all and only works on very few people.

So, what do you have to say about this? Am I on to something?

How about this,

If you actually want stuff or skills, you need to dedicate a portion of your time towards acquiring them.

Is that fair?

If you want money, you need to work
If you want more money, you need to work, get better at work, and increase the value of your position
If you want skills, you need to practice
If you want more skills, you need to practice more and potentially get instruction.

If you want the thing you desired as a child, there is a process you must go through to get it. Some people are lucky and get to skip the process, but for the other 99.99% of us, we call sticking to the process "discipline".

Joined: Mar 18 2010 Location: Tuonela Posts: 299

Cactus wrote:

I've never understood people with goals. Everything I do is just for the fun of it.

I like to have goals for the fun of it. Makes stuff feel more meaningful.