You hop on the computer ready to do your normal social networking promotions for business while listening to the radio when you hear a line from your favorite song, “Can’t Stop. Won’t Stop.” Naturally, you feel instantly inspired and decide to make it your Facebook status. Before you know it, you’re all over Facebook and it’s time to close up shop. No worries though. You’ll make up for lost time tomorrow. Except tomorrow comes and you are feeling too depressed and unsure about your future to get any work done . That’s when you jump on Pinterest and get pin happy when finding all the motivational quotes assuring you to keep going because, “Your past is just a story. Once you realize this, it has no power over you.” Then you read the perfect quote that speaks to your soul and current situation. “Take pride in how far you’ve come and have faith in how far you’ll go.” Feeling better about yourself, you go about your day confident in your abilities while turning on the tv and surfing the internet.
Does the above sound familiar? I’m sure it rings true to a lot of people; myself included. However, there’s one major problem with that scenario. Sure you now feel confident about how far you’ve come and have faith in where you’ll go, but you haven’t gone anywhere. Why? Because you let all your potential, motivation and zeal to do something rest in a motivational quote you found online. Rather than actually doing what the quote was supposed to motivate you to do, you chose to make a meme featuring the quote, pin it on Pinterest, and then put it all over your room.
Sure, it’s great these quotes and uplifting memes helped you feel good about yourself and inspired you to do something. But the truth is they’re pointless if you never do anything. Don’t feel bad. I’ve been guilty of getting so quote happy that I’ve never applied the lessons to anything a time or two in the past. It happens to the best of us.
It’s about time we face the facts. We can believe we can do the impossible just like the quote says all we want, but the impossible won’t start happening until we learn to mix in a healthy dose of doing along with the believing. It’s really no different than teaching a young child a valuable lesson while he nods in agreement only to find out your words of wisdom have gone in one ear and out the other.
Remember when your mother would tell you how important it is to not say anything at all if you have nothing nice to say? You always remembered it right after picking on your younger sibling. Of course, simply remembering it didn’t stop you from being mean to your brother. Well, that’s exactly what you are doing when it comes to those motivational quotes. Rather than just fawning over that inspirational quote, make sure you actually practice what that quote inspires you to do.
If life after the quote is still difficult, try doing this little exercise. Say your favorite words of inspiration aloud and then follow it with what aspect of your life you plan to change or what you plan to do. For example, “I have the same amount of hours in the day as Beyonce. That means there’s nothing stopping me from catapulting my business in two months. I will do everything I can today to get the word out and work on my blog posts.” Then make it happen. Remember, actions always speak louder than words… even louder than a few words of motivation.
Have you fallen slave to the motivational quote? How did you snap out of it and get things done?
TERRIfic Quip: As Nike would say “Just do it”
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