mo·ti·va·tion (mōdəˈvāSH(ə)n) noun the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.”Perhaps you need some motivation to do what you should”

Motivation A Myth

motivation the myth

Imagine your house is on fire right now and you’re outside while your suitcase containing all your life savings is in the same house, would you go in for the money? How about going in for the furniture, the clothes, or the expensive electronics you’ve worked hard for all your life?

You probably won’t give the risk a second thought right?

How about this, imagine the same house on fire again with one of your loved ones inside (maybe your wife, kids or best-friend) desperately crying for help. You could hear their plea’s for help and could see the flame’s rising higher and higher with no help coming anytime soon. Would you take the risk and go in to help them?

Most people would do it not giving the risk second thought.

What makes the first scenario different from the second one, I mean aside from the money and loved ones? Both you’re taking an equal risk to your life and you could lose it. Was it because human life is more precious to you than a suitcase filled with your life savings or because something else pushed you to take that risk?

Of course, human life is more valuable than any amount of money but people have killed for less. It’s not just the life of the human burning in that building that pushes you to risk your life, its love that motivated you. Not many of us will risk the same for a stranger.

Motivation, that feeling which pushes us to take a certain action is and will never be a myth. It is as real as our survival instincts. Usually, motivation is the thought behind the thought that makes us want to do the unpleasant and tiring task. It is the reason why we wake up each morning and head out to work, work our asses off and return after 14 or 16 hour days only for us to rinse and repeat the process the very next day.

Most people have made a list of goals and failing to achieve these goals using various motivation techniques feels that motivation is a myth created by self-help gurus to take their hard earned money. Interestingly, motivation can only be created on your own volition and is more of an instinct which you can decide to fire up or allow to gradually dim out and forever be defeated in life.

What is motivation really?

Motivation is not that spark that comes to you suddenly and helps you do the impossible. That’s a motivation myth. Motivation is not a visualization technique that helps you live the kind of life you’ve always dreamed of. That’s another motivation myth. There are over a thousand and one myths about motivation which would be very hard to cover in a single post.

Motivation is the end result. It is that pleasant ending that makes you begin your journey in the first place. Think about this: when you want to give up a habit, is it divine inspiration, a sudden spark or feeling that makes you want to do it? Probably not. For most, it is what their lives will be like and how happy they and their family will be like after giving up the habit that keeps them on track. That is motivation. Motivation is that end result that keeps you pushing on and on. Its that gold medal, the standing ovation or fame that keeps the broke musician pushing for that big breakout album.

So is motivation a myth?

Here are some myths you should be aware of

Visualizing yourself as a success

Self-Help gurus often tell you that visualizing yourself as a successful person or living the kind of life you’ve always dreamed of will motivate you to climb greater heights.

Researches, however, have shown that this technique can have a destructive effect on your motivation to go out and actually work to achieve success. A better strategy is to visualize yourself taking the necessary steps to achieve success. See yourself setting small goals and overcoming the various obstacles, temptations and urges and you’ll be more likely to climb those greater heights you’ve been imagining. After all, you’ve already won the battle in your head.

Fear inspires motivation

The sheer number of smokers shows that fear is a poor motivator. On packs of cigarettes in different countries around the world is a warning label that smokers are liable to die young or develop a lung-related disease. In other words “hey dumbass you keep smoking you’re likely to die at a younger age.” This, however, has not in any way affected the growing number of smokers.

Most addicts/alcoholics are aware of the threats of various substances/alcohol on their health but very few will ever consider giving up their addictions because of that. Fear of punishment is never a very good motivator in life.

Trying Your Best Is Enough

“Try your best” is a poor motivational tool and for the most part leads to average or poor performance. Most times it is best to set high specific goals and aim with the thought of achieving each and every one of them rather than going in to “try your best”.

Simple Tips To Staying Motivated At All Times

What makes you tick? You might want to start making a list of what is most important to you in life and then taking the necessary steps to achieve them. Most times the things that make us tick is the thought behind our thought. This may even be something we may be embarrassed about admitting to others.

For instance, some people give gifts at charity events for the recognition it might bring them but no one will ever admit that openly, rather everyone pretends its for the love they have for humanity.

keep it simple

To feel motivated at all times, you’ll need to find the end results which a difficult action may bring you. It’s by understanding how this end result, will make an impact on you positively and that’s what will keep you going long enough to pursue it to the end.

Once you’ve identified how a task at hand can benefit you, that in most cases will provide the needed fuel to keep you burning until your goal is achieved. This most often is the technique used to help addicts in overcoming their addictions. By helping them realize what they really want in life and how their addiction is preventing them from reaching their goals, addicts are motivated to cut quit their addictions and really seek to better their lives.

Motivation in its most natural state is not a myth. It is a real survival instinct which has continually grown from mere biological hunger which pushes early men out into the open to hunt for food to various forms such as the need to protect our loved ones, become rich, famous or recognized and many other forms as society has evolved.

Jason

If you or a loved one is struggling w/addiction and would like more information please contact 1-888-633-3239