Just like everyone else, I struggle with being motivated. I think it's just in our nature to have days where you feel discouraged and you just need to sit back and take a second to think and evaluate everything you're doing and what you want to achieve. Usually if you're not motivated, there's a part of you that just isn't happy with how things are, you may feel like you need to change some things or just simply take a break and switch things up. Either way, we've all been there, and sometimes it's hard to get yourself out of the ditch, especially if it's dug too deep.
I thought about posting this for a while but part of me has just put it off as it's definitely a very wordy post, which I apologize in advance for. But when I wrote this, for my english coursework, I felt a lot of relief and as if I was able to express something I've wanted to express for a while. That's why I want to share it. It's a a blog post style piece about being happy and finding motivation in things you do, as you'll see in the post there is one man in particular that has helped me feel a lot happier and just feel good and positive about life... Mod Sun. I cannot recommend his music enough (my favourite at the mo is Free Love and Howlin' at the moon *wink wink*) It's not everyone's cup of tea but it's done wonderful things for me!!
Sorry for the ramble but I hope you enjoy!!
Happiness & Motivation
What it all means...
Happiness…What is it? Happiness is one of the hardest things to define as you cannot pin point what is guaranteed to make an individual happy. Not only is happiness something that has such a vast and uncertain criteria area, it is also something which can be triggered by different things for different people. Triggers apply to many things, both positively and negatively. To gain happiness, one must experience a ‘positive trigger’ which will encourage the feeling of satisfaction and delight within the person. However, if somebody was to experience a ‘negative trigger’ they would experience feelings quite different from those felt and expressed through happiness.
From this, it is clear to see that perspective plays a key role in how a person feels and what triggers they receive. This can be easily linked to the “glass half full, glass half empty” debate. Primarily, everything you feel and experience in life is due to your perspective on a situation. If you are to fall in love with someone, those emotions and that situation carries forward because you have allowed yourself to feel it. If you were to turn your head away from love, you wouldn’t feel the same things as previously stated.
All of these things lead closely into the topic of motivation. Motivation is a reason as to why we act or behave in a certain way, this can be mentally or towards a physical thing. Motivation is commonly noted with regards to exercise, work, cleaning and other tasks which may not be all that pleasant for us to partake in. Motivation comes in many forms and again, like happiness is different for almost everyone. An example of motivation is; If you clean the whole of your room, you are able to have a friend over/go out and see a friend. This ‘reward’ will allow you to see the benefit of doing a chore which you may not find too appealing at first. Again, the same can apply to exercise; if you lose 5lbs you can buy that dress you wanted. Motivation is essentially incentives to aid the process of a certain task, and these incentives usually give people a positive trigger as 9 times out of 10 the incentive is something you’d happy with.
“It’s hard to be motivated when you’re unhappy…”
Something that commonly makes being motivated a hard thing for many people is being unhappy. If you are unhappy, it is unlikely that you will be looking for the positivity in all situations while you are surrounded by negative thoughts and feelings. This is common among college and university students, this is why procrastination plays a key role in many students lives and the reason for many overdue essays. Overall, negative thoughts are always powering as it is easy to picture everything that could go wrong in a situation, rather than thinking about all the positive aspects.
“No matter the amount of negativity you’re presented with, 5 minutes from now could be the best moment of your life.” – MOD SUN
This quote from MOD SUN really captures the importance of happiness and how you shouldn’t wallow in the negatives or self-pity, as you never know what is right around the corner from you. Within 5 minutes, the worse day of your life could turn into the best at the drop of a hat, and especially if you’re in a negative mind set you are unlikely to see the positive as a genuinely good situation. This quote reminds you what is really important in life; being present in the here and now and not worrying about what has happened or what will happen.
Happiness and positivity all aid your motivation. The happier you are, the more likely you are to sit and work on something that you need to get done, as you are in a more focussed mind set. Negative attitudes and thoughts are the fastest things to slow you down and reduce your motivation and effort to a minimum, this is because you always put negative thoughts right at the front of your mind as they are most likely to cause worry and a distraction from what ultimately matters. Negative thoughts also make you doubt yourself and others around you and make you question yourself and those you surround yourself with. In some situations it can make you question things such as; “Will I ever be happy?” and other questions that shouldn’t really be bothering you.
“Happiness is a choice.” – Shay Carl
Shay Carl is a very strong advocate for a happy, healthy lifestyle. He is a strong believer than happiness is a choice, and that you choose what you want to believe in the world when it comes to positivity and negativity. If you choose to allow negative thoughts in and overrun you, chances are you will live an unhappy and inconsistent life regarding your outlook and your moods. However, if you were to choose a happier outlook on life and as Shay said, choose to not let the outside influences of the world affect your mood, you will live a happier life as it will be the way you want to live, not dependant on others in the world and around you.
An important aspect of this quote is also that it implies you should split the positives from the negatives. You should keep the positive thoughts and experiences in your mind and revisit them often, and the negative thoughts you should just release and tell yourself “I don’t need this negative influence in my life. Happiness is my choice” – Something this simple can make you feel in control a heck of a lot more than you were before! Which can be the first step of the rest of your life. Just by switching up your attitude and outlook on life, you can open so many more doors for yourself whether it’s opportunities or just emotionally.
“The secret to life is hidden behind the word cliché,” – Shay Carl
Shay Carl also lives by the idea that there is no real ‘secret’ when it comes to your life, it’s just about how you live it. One thing he believes if that cliché’s are the answer to almost everything. Happiness, according to some, is a cliché in itself. How do you find true happiness? Although it may be a cliché and it can seem almost irrelevant to some, it is a basic principle and foundation for a positive, confident life or relationship. Without happiness in our everyday lives, things would be a lot more negative in terms of a collective society, rather than just an individual. Happiness can make or break a person, it’s just a matter of where, when and how. Negativity can try to run your life, but really… that’s your job.
Take Care!
- Katie x
