Motivational speakers and quotes, what do they mean to you? Do you get anything from them? Do they hype you up when you are feeling low? A skilled motivational speaker or well-timed quote can really lift your spirits. They really can help you and be beneficial, but there are nuances to that.
The beneficial effect of motivational speakers and quotes only holds true if you are willing to use the uplift in how you feel to create momentum. Happiness comes as a result of momentum. It’s not something that is the end goal, it comes as a result of working towards a goal, working towards an outcome, working towards something. Happiness is not the goal, it is a side effect of working towards a goal. Momentum is happiness, or at least it gives you the best possible chance at achieving happiness.
Happiness is a consequence of forward motion, not the cause
If you are somebody who’s feeling low, outside of clinical depression or any sort of neurological condition, then it would be worth taking a look at your life. Are you actually doing anything to create momentum in your life, or are you just doing the bare minimum in order to maintain your current position? It doesn’t have to be in a business context. Although this is a business blog I’m not about to tell you that business is the key to happiness. The reason people end up being happy in a business is because of the constant forward motion. Create movement in your life. Look for opportunities to take that step forward, wherever they are found.
The constant striving for something, that push, does not happen as a result of the wealth that you accumulate, the status you gain, or the legacy that you create. It’s the momentum. So if you’re feeling down and you want to do something about it, create momentum in your life. And as I just mentioned, it doesn’t have to be in fact more and more than likely it will not be anything to do with business, but momentum is momentum. No matter where it comes from.
Motivational speakers and quotes are only useful if they are a platform to push you towards action
So if you are feeling down, take a look at your life. What areas of your life could you push forward with? Let’s say you’re a parent, you’ve got kids, you’ve got bills to pay, you’ve got household to maintain, and so on. So every day you’re doing the parental things, you are keeping your house clean and tidy, And you are doing all the things required to ensure that life can carry on as it is. But, you’re not doing anything for yourself. You’re not creating any momentum in your life.
To be able to do that, to create some forward motion (bearing in mind that as a parent and a business owner, and so on, you have very little time) there are some small things that you could do. Things like, start a new hobby. Find something you can do for 10 minutes a day. Doing that will mean that you are continuing to learn something and have something to improve. I know lots of people that love arts and crafts and, for most of those people, they didn’t know that they have a love for arts and crafts until they started doing it. Spending ten, twenty, thirty minutes a day doing those things, has created momentum in their lives because they’ve had to learn new skills.
Picking up something new results in you having to take action
They have had to do something, they couldn’t just coast, they had to think about what they’re doing and they had to act thoughtfully. And they also get some sort of measurable result from it. For those people, the commitment to that action creates forward motion which increases their potential for happiness.
Action is far more powerful than any motivational speaker or quote could ever be
There are lots of people that are consumers of the work of motivational speakers and quotes. Out of all of those people only a very small percentage use that energy created by that motivation that newfound motivation to actually do something. For those that do not, i.e the majority, the result of not taking action on that feeling is they end up feeling exactly the same as they did before.
I consume quite a lot of so-called motivational content, the work of motivational speakers and quotes. I use that to help me gear up towards actually taking action and doing something, it gives me a little boost to my energy. It gives me a little boost to my want to do something. And that little boost is invaluable. There are days where I need that little push start, to go, and to ignite that momentum. When I watch that content and then immediately take action on that feeling, I immediately start doing something, then I feel much better.
The impact of the motivational speakers and quotes is not always the same but the results are pretty consistent
There are, of course, days when I still feel rubbish after watching the motivational speakers and quotes but it gives me enough of a boost to be able to start doing something. And there are days where I watch that content and I feel empowered, I feel amazing, which gives me a leap of a head start. And I start doing something to build upon that feeling and create forward motion.
Forward motion is happiness
Forward motion is the key to happiness, in fact, it is the very definition of happiness. If you are not doing anything in your life to create forward motion it can, and will be, demoralising. If you are a consumer of so-called motivational speakers or quotes, then creating forward motion off the back of that content will make that content worth spending time on. It will make it so it’s not actually a waste of time but, if you’re watching that content and then just sitting around and not doing anything it is a total waste of time.
That is not why the people make that content, it’s not why content like that even exists in the first place. So make sure that if you are a consumer of that sort of content that you are using the energy that it creates, the feeling that it generates, to actually do something positive, constructive, and useful in your life.
Finding and implementing things that’ll help create forward motion takes time
You might be thinking to yourself, after reading all of that, that you just don’t have time for it. I get it, I do. You are a person with many responsibilities and so much to do already. It would be worth assessing how you currently spend your time before charging ahead with adding something new into your day.
Time management is one of my specialities so it is something I have written about before, an article which can be found here https://mybizacademy.co.uk/how-time-management-can-save-you-from-overwhelm
If you would like to have a chat about your issues and need a little encouragement then come and join my Facebook group. The community I am building is small but very positive. Come along and drop a post in the group. I will reply as soon as possible, as will other members of the community. You can find the group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/microbizacademy