Motivation is rubbish... It is Garbage!!

Motivation is Rubbish

A fanatic motivation solicitor... i.e. I, me, and myself... found an intriguing topic - MOTIVATION IS RUBBISH. This is exactly in contrast to my basic insight of the topic and thus became a theme of interest.

The two delightful incidents happened which led to the writing of this particular blog post. The first was listening to a podcast by Ankur Warikoo. And the second one, reading the thoughts of Melanie Robbins.

Before revealing the mysterious content, a little introduction of these motivational speakers is a must. Ankur Warikoo is an entrepreneur, angel investor, mentor, and public speaker, based out of India. Melanie Robbins is an American lawyer, television host, author, and motivational speaker. Robbins is prominently known for covering the George Zimmerman trial for CNN; her TEDx talk- How to Stop Screwing Yourself Over; and her book, The 5 Second Rule.

Ankur Warikoo in his podcast illustrated a definitive example of how measuring motivation is of utter significance in daily life. And as per him, in absence of those measuring targets, the motivation is rubbish. I remember this one example from his podcast. He mentions if one wants to curtail weight and if he/she starts exercising in the morning and somehow begins to keep on but without measuring against a set goal... after some duration, the initial zeal will rub off and the lethargy (Aka de-motivation) sets in. If there is a set goal that is timely assessed then instead of hitting snooze on the alarm the zeal will push him/her to continue.

Creating a practical list of self-measures is important for motivation. These self-measuring measures are small seeds for keeping the plant of self-motivation alive.

In fact, after listening to his podcast, I resumed my daily regime of exercising and running with a set target. Alongside, I enrolled myself for several virtual running challenges (with medals!!) to keep the motivation button on lasting ON mode!!

Melanie Robbins highlights Motivation as Garbage.

I am in concurrence with her thoughts that “You can truly trace every single problem or complaint in your life to silence and hesitation. Those are decisions. And what I do and what’s changed my life is waking up and realizing that motivation is garbage. I’m never gonna feel like doing the things that are tough or uncertain or scary or new, so I need to stop waiting until I feel like it. I am one decision away from a different life…Your life comes down to your decisions, and if you change your decisions, you will change everything. Successful people are not achieving great things simply because they're motivated; they're creating change and making life happen because they make a conscious decision to show up and put in work every single day.”

She presents an interesting “five-second rule” which emphasizes forcing oneself to make a decision and act as there is never a correct moment to decide for a change. In her words, “Your entire life is defined by what you do in the gap between your initial question and your decision to act (or not). The rule is easy: When an opportunity arises, don't think about it — just count 5-4-3-2-1 and decide.”

And as I am writing this down, I am wondering if this five-second rule governs my life. From the smallest decision of eating the calorie-filled ice cream to the big decision of applying for my first job- all my life is a summary of those 5-second-decisions.

Motivation is rubbish or garbage, I am still not that enlightened to remark on, but one thing I can say for sure- When each instant (be it good or bad) is lived with self-responsibility and on own terms, motivation sets in automatically.