Or Perhaps You Prefer National Buffet Day?
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.
E.E. Cummings
When I got up today, I looked and saw it was National Motivation and Inspiration Day on the calendar, and I instantly knew the topic for today’s post.
I’ve done a fair bit of different work in my life: chef, food server, prep cook, line cook, political aid, petition passer, Chief of Staff to a Representative, and door-to-door canvasser, among others. I did work at a buffet for a few years, while in high school and for a time after graduation, so I’m certainly qualified to speak intelligently on that topic too. I mean everybody has to eat…
But, in theory, I’m pretty good with the motivation thing too. I ran an office for door-to-door political canvassers, which is far more challenging than it sounds. My office set fundraising records at two widely separated locations in two consecutive years. My workers were 100% my own recruits, so I trained them all, and had an impact on their motivation and inspiration as well.
Teaching Motivation and Inspiration
What you need is some motivation in your life, sucker!
Anon Citizen Action Canvasser
In the end, I could (and did) often speak at length on finding motivation and inspiration at work and in our everyday lives. It was like raising a generation of activists for my area, each of them had the potential to change the world, but to be effective at creating change, we had to work on mindset.
Trust me, when fighting the “good fight” there will be hurdles and setbacks aplenty. People will tell you things like, “You can’t fight city hall,” and mean well in saying it, but if you believe them your career as an activist is as good as over. The people you think are on your side, the well meaning, can (and will) provide words that can sap your motivation without even trying, it’s part of the human condition.
With that in mind, your core belief in a cause, and the inspiration and motivation you find to keep going are all important. When it comes to fighting for a cause, you have to believe in order to see it. The old adage is “see it to believe it”, but that’s not going to work well in the real world of activism. No, you need to stand that old aphorism on its head.
When your belief in a cause is unshakable, then (and only then) will you be an effective advocate for that cause. If you have doubts, your listeners will sense that. You can not wait and see, that is 100% defeatist, and I guarantee you will fail. You have to see the “promised land” before you can get there, it can’t work the other way around.
Doing Not Trying – Motivation and Inspiration
Do. Or do not. There is no try.
Yoda
If you won’t believe me, will you at least believe Yoda? I generally don’t look to movie or pop culture references for inspiration, but really, who doesn’t love Yoda?
For the longest time, I took the word “trying” out of my personal vocabulary, because “trying” is a weak word, it implies the possibility of failure. I want to banish the thought of failure from my mind, I need to concentrate 100% on success, visualizing success is the first step on the road to success. If the possibility of failure exists in my mind, it will likely come to pass in the real world too.
There is a reason the vast majority of people starting on a long trail like the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail are not successful, it’s hard, really hard. There are a great number of potential pitfalls possible over 2,000+ miles of trail, a great number of reasons to quit. In my mind, when you start thinking about those reasons, the trail will give you an excuse to bail.
In other words, when you start talking about “trying” to do a particular hike, bike, etc., your odds of failure are dramatically higher. Instead, visualize success, think about how sweet it will feel to complete the next section of hike. Think about the goodies waiting for you in the next town, with your next resupply. Think about anything but the hardships of the trail and failure on the trail, those thoughts can come back to bite you in the ass!
Livin’ in a van down by the river…
Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you.
Walt Whitman
Here I go again with a pop culture reference, but it’s extremely relevant, I promise. Imagine yourself as an overweight motivational speaker, living in a van down by the river. That’s how Chris Farley’s character Matt Foley goes through life.
What’s a more perfect analogy for what I’m saying? Matt Foley goes through life on attitude, he doesn’t see the downsides, he sees the up. He’s both sad and happy, both proud and defeated. And he’s an example of one of the games I play in my mind to stay on top of inspiration and motivation.
I remember that no matter how bad off I have it, there is somebody else who has it worse. It’s something my Mom taught me, and it does give perspective. It also reminds me to stay on the sunnyside.
Attitude is everything in life, it is all important. And, it’s easy to get down, to get depressed, to withdraw from life and friendships, to curl up in a ball and wait for the world to go away. I’ve been there, many of us have, and it’s not pretty. It’s not easy to escape either.
But, it’s no way to go through life.
It’s ALL In Your Mind – Trail Motivation and Inspiration by Monster
It always seems impossible until it’s done.
Nelson Mandela
There are a number of reasons why the vast majority of hikers who take on a long trail like the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail fail to complete the full 2000+ mile trail. I’ll tell you a secret, most of them are not physical.
Oh, it’s a great physical challenge no doubt, but more hikers are defeated by the mental aspect of the trail than injury or physical breakdown. Think about that, as tough as the various physical challenges of a long trail may be, the mental aspects are still what will likely defeat you.
