Why Most Motivational Content Sucks (And How to Unlock Infinite Motivation)
Most final-year students feel stressed, depressed, and drained of all their life energy.
I was one of these students.
And my school took notice.
So as a solution, the school board thought it would be a good idea to bring a motivational speaker to motivate us.
And our school HYPED up this talk.
Being interested in not wanting to die and making it through Grades 11 and 12, I signed up for the talk.
About 50 other students showed up, so it was a big deal.
These were the things discussed during the talk:
”Consistency is key” ”All you need is discipline!”
”Work smarter not harder” ”Just do it.”
I walked into the talk hoping for some genuine advice on how I can improve
And I walked out of the talk disappointed and even more anxious.
The advice is all too theoretical:
Now the reason I tell you this story is because
Most motivational speakers say the same shit.
Blabbering on about consistency, discipline and working smarter.
It’s all theoretical, it’s all intentional, and none of it is actionable.
Imagine you’re sick and on the verge of death; you visit your doctor, and your doctor tells you, “Just push through. Just stop being sick.”
You wouldn’t tolerate that.
It’s the exact same with a lot of these motivational speakers and advice.
When these motivational speakers and gurus tell us, “be more consistent, be more disciplined.”
DO NOT tolerate it.
We already know that consistency is key. We already know that discipline is needed for goals. We already know that working smarter is strategic.
How does one develop all of these characteristics?
It is not by staring at the mirror and repeating the statement “just do it” 99 times (Trust me, I’ve tried. It doesn’t work.)
Here’s how you can start developing these traits:
Step 1: Always think about the processes > outcomes.
Ranking #1 in a sports competition is an outcome.
Training, dieting, and optimising sleep are the processes to achieve the outcome of Ranking #1.
When it comes to things like consistency, discipline and working smarter.
These are all outcomes.
Your first step is to understand what processes are required to achieve these outcomes.
Let’s take consistency as an example.
The processes to achieve consistency are:
Reducing procrastination
Using a schedule for your events
Tracking where your time is going
Tracking your wins and your losses
[ ] Take a goal that you have and determine the processes. Find out the processes required by reading books, and blogs and watching YouTube videos if you are not aware of what the processes are.
Step 2: Think about the actions you need to take to achieve the outcome.
Going back to the list in step 1.
The processes to achieve consistency is:
Reducing procrastination
Using a schedule for your events
Tracking where your time is going
Tracking your wins and your losses.
Make these all into action points.
I will reduce procrastination by using the guidelines taught in Atomic Habits regarding minimum viable goals.
I will use Google Calendar to schedule all of my tasks and events
I will review my screen time and use Toggl to track where my time is going when I am on my devices
I will use Google Docs to track my wins and losses.
Step 3: Reflect and repeat.
This may be the first time you have ever done something like this. So the chances you will get these wrong are quite high. Anticipate failure for your first few attempts. Aim to refine your progress through basic reflection. Reflect on what went well, what didn’t go well and what you can improve for next time.
Use these 3 steps to start taking action.
Got questions? Reach out to me here; I’d be more than happy to help!
