Death by Motivation

Motivation is something which people often talk about. Why? It is a word that carries such strength and importance which somehow gets integrated into our life so seamlessly. I still remember when I was back in U.K., I came across an article about a suicide incident on Facebook which happened in Malaysia. Overwhelmed with curiosity, I clicked into the link and read through the whole article. Shockingly, the victim of the suicide had cited the lack of motivation and meaning of life as the reason of his suicide. This makes me rethink the word "motivation", why is it so powerful, and how impactful can it really be?

I am not a firm believer of the word 'Motivation'. I often laugh at the thought of people attending motivational talks or courses (intrinsically) and how they would spend outrageous sum of money on them. Being someone who is hard-nosed and straightforward, to me, motivation should not exist in any context so much so that it determines the capability of an individual doing something or completing a task. My motto in life, is to finish the things that I should finish, and to finish the thing I have planned in a certain time frame. I never let procrastination get in my way, and I play my cards in a really safe manner.. which is to work first, and enjoy later.

So.. what has propelled or rather, urged me to say my two cents about motivation? This is why. Recently, most of my friends are having exams and yeah as usual, motivational posts start to flood through my Facebook feed. So, the annoying part is that, there are always the same few friends (whom I actually know), repeatedly sharing all these motivation posts.. I mean la why la bro/sis.. are you that desperate for motivation or are you just seeking for likes? Instead of looking and sharing these stuffs, why not just spend some time and try to focus? If you can't focus, just watch some youtube, get your mind cleared off for a moment and resume studying.

GUILT. EXCUSES.

I don't know really. I just think the word 'motivation' only appears to be a positive word. Why? It's because most of the time, there is a reason behind the usage of the word - potentially a negative one. One of the most common (and overused) motivational phrase I reckon is - "Turn failure into motivation". In appearance it is a rather comforting and convincing word to use. Psychologically, I would tell you, if you believe that, you are falling into the trap of optimism bias.

Realistically, you've just failed. Does that mean you didn't have motivation during your first try? No. What makes you think that the motivation after your first failure is able to propel you to success?

So, if  somebody has failed, instead of going 'Learn from your mistakes', I will just pull a straight face and say "You've failed. And if you don't pass the next time, you will fail again."

Harsh, but that's the truth. And if I am your friend, I won't be sugarcoating my words. Because deep in my heart, all I wish for you is to be successful, and also a little bit stronger mentally.


Jayden