Monday, May 6, 2013

Instead of fleeting motivation try inspiration

The alarm clock cuts through the stillness of early morning quiet.  You jump out of bed ready to conquer the world.  Your motivation level is at an all-time high.  Surely the honey-do list will get completed right after working an eight or more hour day.  You are motivated to make it happen.

Then something does happen.  You spill coffee on your shirt/blouse.  The kids won’t cooperate and are at risk of missing the school bus.  Traffic is moving so slow, a one leg dude on a tricycle beats you to work.  Now your motivation is only a memory of what could have been.
Many people ask themselves, “Why do I find it so hard to stay motivated?”  Life isn’t lived on autopilot. No matter the best of intentions, things will and can occur that are outside of our control.  Big burst of excitement or high levels of energy attached to a particular situation can dissipate in the blink of an eye.

However there are times when stimulation and inspiration can far outpace the flightiness of interrupted motivation.  To be stimulated is to raise the level of physiological activity in the body or mind.  To be inspired is to embark on mental stimuli to do or feel something which can lead to creativity.
One method of receiving stimulated inspiration is from quotes that can become a mantra (often repeated word or phrase) to live by.

Here are some that has withstood the test of time.
1.       “The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.”  Bill Copeland

2.       “All of our dreams can come true—if we have the courage to pursue them.”  Walt Disney

3.       “I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”  Thomas Edison

4.       “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.”  Vince Lombardi

5.       “20 years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore.  Dream.  Discover.”  Mark Twain

6.       “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”  Confucius

7.       “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”  Franklin D. Roosevelt

8.       “You must be the change you want to see in the world.”  Gandhi

9.       “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career.  I’ve lost almost 300 games.  26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.  I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life.  And that is why I succeed.”  Michael Jordan

10.   “I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become.”  Oprah Winfrey
Pick one, pick two or choose to use them all.  By planting positive seeds, one day you will be able to harvest a field of possibilities that can change your life for the better…if you are inspired enough to do so.

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