Motivation Part Three

Over the last week or so, I've been detailing some of the struggles I have had the past couple of years health-wise. I've also been gradually weaving in my opinions about the overvaluation of "motivation" and, those who teach it, in our lives.

Not only is motivational teaching (some would say preaching) not needed, it often gets in the way of lifelong progress of achieving necessary life goals, and the road that leads to those goals. It may play a SMALL beneficial role at the beginning of the process, if it's done properly, but in every other way, it's the pouty whiney younger sister, or the non-stop nagging wife of achievement. You see, in a world of ever-present motivational speakers telling you how good you are and how you can achieve anything if you set your mind to it, it becomes a "demotivation" to most of the people they are talking to. I hope to explain more about that later as well.

Why? Because it is the poor substitute for what is REALLY needed. You want to know what that thing really is? I'm getting to that. Keep reading.

Last time I mentioned what I (and everyone for that matter) needed to succeed at something was a REASON to achieve it. And it has to be a really GOOD reason. That deep, full, underlying reason will always be the determining factor in the success or failure of reaching your goal. Speeches won't do it. Slogans won't do it. Friends won't do it, Coaches won't do it. Education won't do it, Even ability won't do it. A good reason will be the driving force behind any change you wish to accomplish. If you don't see that reason as IMPORTANT, you will have no reason to keep pursuing it. And that is the biggest secret to achieving any goal. You TRULY have to WANT IT. IF YOU FAIL to achieve that goal, this will be the primary reason. That only makes sense. But so many people MISS that common sense approach that it has to be pointed out. If you SAY you want to be the best nuclear physicist in the world to your friends but you really don't (in your heart of hearts), I guarantee that you won't be. It's all starts with REALLY, REALLY WANTING IT. It's not just something you talk about. It's not just something you think about. It has to be one of the most important things in your life.

But there are OTHER factors preventing you as well. And it's NOT all the "negativity in your life" that's preventing you either. That's another one of those lies spoken by people who teach and preach motivation. The opposite of that is the word they've termed the past few years, "positivity." If you know people who use those terms to motivate you, flee from them. I'm not saying they aren't good people, I'm saying they will get in the way of you achieving real goals. Positivity and negativity have nothing to do with the success or failure of your goals. It places the success or failure of your goals on people, events, or circumstances OUTSIDE of you, when real success or failure is determined by internal factors within your control.

Those are the factors we are going to talk about. I've mentioned that one of the hardest things for me in my weight loss goal was overcoming constant, ongoing hunger. And we're not talking "kind of hungry," we're talking ravenous, "I need to eat something, NOW," kind of hunger. ALL DAY LONG.

I knew any weight loss goal would be impossible without figuring out WHY I was so very hungry all the time. I had heard of low carb diets before and had always dismissed them as nonsense. People didn't actually use them for long-term weight loss success did they?

As it turns out, most people who have tried just about every diet under the sun, and it didn't work, have failed for the same reason that I failed. They were hungry all the time. Eating less certainly wasn't the answer. It just made them MORE hungry...

(more next time)