How to Stay Motivated

Do you find that some mornings you just wake up with a spring in your step and a song in your heart and, at other times, you just want to tell the whole world to bog off and leave you alone? Sometimes you’ll read an inspirational quote and send a virtual hug to the angel that posted it and other days you’ll read something similar and you’ll want to scream:

“Oh just STFU with your bloody motivational crap! Just because you’re so bloody perfect! It’s not that easy for the rest of us mere mortals you know!”

Of course you do, we all do. There are very few people in the world who are happy ALL the time and those that are can be inspirational and intensely irritating, in equal measure, to the rest of us. We may listen to the teachings and ancient wisdom of old men in orange robes who sit on rocks all day. We might read the autobiographies of the insanely rich and successful hoping to emulate and accumulate. Hours may pass as we watch video after video of people who have suffered things we can’t imagine but have overcome them all and now lead a blessed life. (Those can be the worst of all when you’re in the wrong mood because you just end up feeling guilty that you’re still pissed off with your boss at work when some other poor sod has lost everything and is still happy.)

We might really  try to be motivated and happy but still feel as though we never quite get in right. So, what can we do about it? Well, we could spend years sitting on a rock in orange robes waiting for spiritual enlightenment, fairly safe in the knowledge that, chances are, it will arrive at some point. However, that takes far more time and dedication than most of us are prepared to put in if we’re really honest with ourselves; for most people an hour alone with their thoughts is too much, let alone months or years on end. Added to that, rocks are pretty uncomfortable places to sit without specially constructed under garments!

We can emulate the great achievers in the World but, arguably, they are even more focused than the rock sitters. They are also, more often than not, uncompromising and ruthless in their approach to business and prepared to take massive risks in order to follow their dream; let’s face it, that’s not really true of most of us is it?

Over the years I have read Dale Carnegie and yet I still don’t have that many friends and I can’t be sure I’ve ever influenced anyone. I’ve been to see Anthony Robbins (US life coach extraordinaire) which, admittedly did change my life but not to the point that I am living in a state of euphoria every day. I’ve listened to Osho and Sadguru for hours and hours on end but I am still not dripping with ecstasy on a regular basis. Why the bloody hell not? It’s not like I haven’t put in the effort over the years :O(

Could it be that I try too hard? Beat myself up when I don’t measure up to the standards of these people that I idolise? Is it that I believe my life is not full of rainbows and unicorns because I don’t deserve them? Do I hate myself for my own weakness when I let my negative emotions get the better of me?

What if…………oh forget it that’s just daft!………….but……..look…….here’s a thought:

What if we accepted ourselves for who we are and stopped trying to be like someone else?

What if we accepted that sometimes we’ll make mistakes and there’s no real reason to beat ourselves up?

What if we accepted that sometimes we’ll be miserable gits but, actually, that’s OK?

What if we accepted the fact that we do deserve to be happy and fulfilled?

What if we accepted that, sometimes, bad things will happen to us but, however bad they are, they won’t last forever?

What if we accepted that there is no such thing as a perfect life or a perfect human being?

I believe that the only real way to stay motivated is to accept that we will not always feel motivated and not to give a flying fig. What do you think? I’d love to hear from you.

Lisa

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