Being a motivational speaker more than anything else made me realize that no matter what I do or say, how energetic, funny, or inspirational my speeches are, the ultimate impact (to make others motivated) is merely a function of how induced each and every attendant wants to be from the inside.
I have had one-on-one consultancy sessions with people from all walks of life. A mother of a three-year-old who was contemplating divorce, a young man who just got graduated and was depressed due to unemployment, a middle-aged woman who could not find a suitable partner until the age of 40, spirited couples who were passionately in love with one another but were afraid of the challenges of immigration and its toll on their marriages, a 27 year old lady who did not like her job and felt that the reason behind her being single is that she is not good enough, a talented civil engineer at the beginning of his third decade of existence who felt that the only way to avoid the problem was by running away from the source, a youngster who claimed that his life had no purpose and that he did not know what he wants out of life, an intelligent and extremely talented transsexual who was contemplating escaping his family and country after being beaten and humiliated for the longing to be a woman, and many other cases where I was fortunate enough to contribute my ideas and thus improve the quality of thinking for the subjects.
Sometimes many of these sessions went on for a long time and had to be repeated periodically; many eventually decided to change their life, some, however, did not. On the other hand, I was once acquainted with a well-versed brain surgeon who was so happy with life that he said “I love my life, in fact, even if I lose my job as a surgeon I will certainly be able to work as a laborer and still be happy, what is the difference between me as a surgeon, and a laborer? We are all humans and we all can achieve happiness in whatever we do”.
The previous example is a sufficient ground for what I am about to say:
Motivation comes from the inside, not the other way around. Despite the fact that we all could benefit from listening to the magnificent speeches by motivational speakers all across the globe; while the fact that laughing at the jokes that I often throw in my own speeches may light up your heart and give you a temporary boost, the initial spark of incitement can only be ignited by ourselves rather than the others.
Only those who gathered all their determination, focused all their attention, and made up their mind to motivate themselves for a better change left my counseling satisfied, and subsequently those who just wanted me to change their life by sweet words or hypnosis without any internal craving or the will to do what it takes were no more motivated after the sessions were long over.
If you are sitting at your place waiting for the world to change for you, or someone to come to your rescue you might end up waiting for a long time, as a matter of fact, unbelievably a significant portion of the population on earth actually wait for their whole life, and finally at their final moments, express unbearable regrets for waiting to be motivated to do what they thought to be right.
In conclusion I would like to leave you with the following quote from Stephen R. Covey :
4 comments:
Well said Dan! I came to your conclusion myself about 2 years ago when I was trying so hard to rescue a friend of mine who thought his life useless and that nothing can ever change for good. No matter how hard I tired, it never changed him. Long before him I was trying to help a relative of mine who was and still is dealing with depression. Unfortunately it is a common disease in our family and I too was a victim of it 4 years ago but I vowed to take control of my life and my actions, feelings etc etc. and everything changed for me, when me and myself only decided to get up and try for the best. My other family members never really made it but I'm glad I did.
Dear Aigle,
First let me say that I am glad you managed to take control of your own thoughts and motivate yourself internally. Unfortunately, there was/is nothing you could do for the people in your life who outright lack the internal incentive to change for the better. In the mean time, you could always lead by example. Many people simply find that internal desire by looking at the people who managed to survive the hurricanes of their lives through self-motivation.
Yep you're right. Thanks for the reply (:
You are always welcome!
Post a Comment