IC25's Motivation Messages

[IrishCanadian25]

Okay, folks, since many of you are experiening turbulent times in your life, I've decided to bring another passion / hobby of mine - motivational speaking - to the forums.

Every so often I will post a motivational quote or lesson, and then say a little bit about it. Feel free to react in turn.

"Luck is where opportunity meets preparation."​

People don't "fall" into good luck, nor does bad luck seek them out. People have the opporunity for certain occurances - good and bad - and the level of preparation we have to either take advantage of the good or avoid / modify the bad is what truly effect our sense of "luck."

I find the biggest influencer of luck is confidence. Sure, I consider myself "lucky" that I found my fiancee when I walked into my first day of work @ Old Navy. But the reason we started talking was because a) she's seen me do a speech at college, where we both studied, and b) I had the confidence to speak to and get to know her. Never once did I say "I can't speak to her, what if I say something wrong?"

Half the battle of being someone people WANT to talk to is the confidence knowing that they should.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Why don't you just point people out to Ralph Marston's website? I like your use of personal stories here, though. But, motivational writing should make someone jump out of their seat and give them energy to go out there, kick ass, and take names (at least for the day, and then they can come back for their fix on a daily basis).

Also, I would tell people to not let traffic get them down; nothing is worse than reading something motivational, getting all pepped up, and then hitting a traffic jam where you lose all your patience and which ruins your whole day.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Okay, folks, since many of you are experiening turbulent times in your life, I've decided to bring another passion / hobby of mine - motivational speaking - to the forums.

A sticky, handy for the depressed people I guess.

I don't believe in luck. I think that was the gist of the quote, I didn't read it properly. If something good happens to me it's not luck. It's just an occurrence.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Indeed, Jake. Indeed. I can't be the only one that realises when someone's trying motivational speaking or managementspeak on me, can I? Because I do, and it's incredibly condescending. It's like being told to rally up or whatever that thing is that that guy says.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

My motivational speaking coach in college gave me this next one, and I've carried it an awfully long way since then.

[youtube]m888nlVxZu8[/youtube]

I cannot get YouTube at my office, so please let me know if this worked or not.

This speech from the film "A League of their Own" is special in a few different ways. Aside from the sage advice to "avoid the clap," Tom Hanks' character Jimmy Doogan plays a strange voice of reason as he tries to put back the peices of his life that he missed. He lives vicariously through a group of women he had nothing but contempt for early on.

When his best player, Dottie Henson, decides it's time to stop playing baseball because her husband is home and "it just got too hard," Doogan comes through with one of the most important peices of advice in sports film history.

"It's supposed to be hard."

"If it was easy, everyone would do it."

"It's the hard that makes it great."

I remember Sophomore year of High School when I was a 235-lb fat kid. Like, seriously. A load. I went out for the HS Wrestling Team, despite "friends" telling me I'd quit within a week because it was too physically demanding. I went out, and sure enough, 2 days in I wanted to get out. It was killing me. I had no athletic ability at all.

Rather than quit, however, I remembered what those people had told me. "I bet you anything you quit." Suddenly, proving that I was better than their words became important to me, and I stayed on. Even more suddenly, weight started to melt off of me. I dropped 47 pounds my first season, from 235 down to 193. I changed my eating habits 180 degrees. I bought new clothes. I went from a C's and D's student to an A's and B's student. I wrestled Junior Varsity and went 3-3.

Eventually, I graduated a letterman. I only wrestled 3 varsity matches in my career, going 2-1, but in my only varsity home match in my HS wrestling career, I got a standing ovation from the crowd who'd watched me struggle in the early years. I was a team co-captain despite being a JV mainstay. I'd lost a total of 75 lbs and was now 160. I was a straight A student going to college. Hell, I was Rudy.

This was the most important decision in my life. Without wrestling, I would never have lost the weight, never have upped my grades, and never have gotten into a 4-year university. It changed my life completely, and it terrfies me that I nearly walked away from it because it was "too hard."

I saw dozens of guys come out for the team and last 5 days. Not me. I lasted 3 years, and then even wrestled a year in college, the only member of my HS graduating team to do so. All because I didn't let "it's too hard" stop me.

If there's something in your life that is "too hard," whether it's University, work, high school, relationships, etc., just remember - what will separate you from others is what you decide to do when it does get tough.

 

[SK]

Yes, the clip worked. I like that motivational message, and there are a lot of similar ones that can drive you on. A similar one to this was used in scrubs by Dr Kelso;

[youtube]KOBIq0R4iQY[/youtube]

If you can't see it or can't be bothered to watch it, it's the one where Kelso says;

Kelso: You are scared and you are scared because if you try and fail there is only you to blame. Life is scary get used to it, there are no magical fixes it is all up to you so get up off your keister ,get out, and go start doing the work.
Turk/ Patient: What if it is to hard.
Kelso: Nothing in this world worth having come's easy.

I think that quote is quite good aswell, and gives the same message as yours did IC, and i'm sure you can appreciate that this is also a good motivational message.

 

[Uncle Sam]

There are magical fixes though. And people that don't work hard often get ahead of their hard-working counterparts. I hedge my bets by being moderately hard-working. I'm not going to bend over backwards for you, but shit, I'll give it a shot.

 

[SK]

There are magical fixes though. And people that don't work hard often get ahead of their hard-working counterparts. I hedge my bets by being moderately hard-working. I'm not going to bend over backwards for you, but shit, I'll give it a shot.

Oh I completely agree, these motivational messages aren't always true, but are purely to try and well, get you motivated. I don't buy into the whole if you work hard you will get what you want thing, because a lot of lazy wankers get there ahead of you, but I still quite like it as a motivational message for people who lose faith at work or in life.

 

[E7]

My motivational speaking coach in college gave me this next one, and I've carried it an awfully long way since then.

[youtube]m888nlVxZu8[/youtube]

I cannot get YouTube at my office, so please let me know if this worked or not.

This speech from the film "A League of their Own" is special in a few different ways. Aside from the sage advice to "avoid the clap," Tom Hanks' character Jimmy Doogan plays a strange voice of reason as he tries to put back the peices of his life that he missed. He lives vicariously through a group of women he had nothing but contempt for early on.

When his best player, Dottie Henson, decides it's time to stop playing baseball because her husband is home and "it just got too hard," Doogan comes through with one of the most important peices of advice in sports film history.

"It's supposed to be hard."

"If it was easy, everyone would do it."

"It's the hard that makes it great."

I remember Sophomore year of High School when I was a 235-lb fat kid. Like, seriously. A load. I went out for the HS Wrestling Team, despite "friends" telling me I'd quit within a week because it was too physically demanding. I went out, and sure enough, 2 days in I wanted to get out. It was killing me. I had no athletic ability at all.

Rather than quit, however, I remembered what those people had told me. "I bet you anything you quit." Suddenly, proving that I was better than their words became important to me, and I stayed on. Even more suddenly, weight started to melt off of me. I dropped 47 pounds my first season, from 235 down to 193. I changed my eating habits 180 degrees. I bought new clothes. I went from a C's and D's student to an A's and B's student. I wrestled Junior Varsity and went 3-3.

Eventually, I graduated a letterman. I only wrestled 3 varsity matches in my career, going 2-1, but in my only varsity home match in my HS wrestling career, I got a standing ovation from the crowd who'd watched me struggle in the early years. I was a team co-captain despite being a JV mainstay. I'd lost a total of 75 lbs and was now 160. I was a straight A student going to college. Hell, I was Rudy.

This was the most important decision in my life. Without wrestling, I would never have lost the weight, never have upped my grades, and never have gotten into a 4-year university. It changed my life completely, and it terrfies me that I nearly walked away from it because it was "too hard."

I saw dozens of guys come out for the team and last 5 days. Not me. I lasted 3 years, and then even wrestled a year in college, the only member of my HS graduating team to do so. All because I didn't let "it's too hard" stop me.

If there's something in your life that is "too hard," whether it's University, work, high school, relationships, etc., just remember - what will separate you from others is what you decide to do when it does get tough.

This helped me a lot. I'm having some tough times at work, dealing with people i thought were my friends but instead back stabbed me all in trying to move up the corporate ladder(or at least move away from cashiering). I've wanted to move from cashiering to the service desk for months now and i told everybody that i was gonna do it. Some of that got back to my boss, mixed with my lack of patience and i failed. I didn't get in trouble i just got talked to. It seems hopeless now that i'll move, but ill keep working hard, and being the best at what i do, and maybe the spot will open and this manager of mine will finally move me over there sometime. But in the end, its now what ill be doing for the rest of my life, so its just a testing ground for how things will be once i get out of college. It's just hard sometimes to see the big picture when all you can see is the next day and the last days, knowing now more than ever that life isn't fair and that you need to watch your back and you need to be VERY selective with whom you give your trust too.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

"If you do what you've always done, you will get what you've always gotten."

-Anthony Robbins
​

Life is filled with people who just "want more." But that's all they do. They want more. They walk around as if the world owes them a living, and if they aren't rich, famous, beautifil, popular, etc, then they are the victim. If you listen to the way people talk, it seems that 90% of the world is just plain unlucky, and 10% is satisfied. But as I've said before, and as many great scholars have said before me, "luck is where opportunity meets preparation."

It amazes me. Life is filled with people who want more, not people who work harder. Everyone seems to think that they've "done enough," and yet if you meet the 10% who are satisfied, almost all of them will spin you a tale of how hard they've worked, how much risk they've taken, how many failures they've bounced back from.

This is what often separates the "haves" from the "have nots." Or, as former US President George W. Bush once infamously quipped "the 'haves' from the 'have mores.'" It's work ethic. A desire to apply yourself and do that little extra.

Apply this lesson everywhere. The gym, for example. As myself, NorCal, Madcap, etc. can tell you, the only way you will ever get bigger and stronger is if you lift more weight. If you show up at the gym, lift the same weight you've always lifted, and eat the same foods you've always eaten, then you'll be the same size you've always been. To get bigger and stronger, you have to lift more weight, eat more food, drink more water, get more sleep. Sure, it's easier for some to lift easy weight, drink alcohol and eat junk food, but I often don't feel the desire to trade physiques with them.

And how about work? Have you EVER read a job posting or advertisment seeking a "quasi-talented individual with inconsistent work ethic, who must be occassionally late and need constant follow-up?" No? Me neither, and I'm in the business...

So the next time you feel like you should be given more, ask yourself if you should be giving more. Maybe you'll find that you get something new. Something better, perhaps...

 

[D-Man]

I'm impressed with this thread... extremely impressed. And as much as others are busting your chops about some of the things you are writing, I'm becoming more motivated as I read into more of these.

Anyone that sits on their asses and says motivational sayings or speeches are ineffective or useless is someone that has no positive energy and wishes to coast through life. I am the complete opposite. I live my life to do one thing... succeed. And I want to succeed with as much positivity as I could muster.

Honestly, thanks IC. These posts actually made my day.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Sure thing D-Man. As someone who has known you now for the better part of 5 years, I've seen a lot of these positive behaviors in you. Take your band for example. You could have been perfectly content working full time and occassionally signing with your brother's band. But you know you have talent, and the only remaining step is to go ahead and work at it. I know it'll be a success.

 

[E7]

"If you do what you've always done, you will get what you've always gotten."

-Anthony Robbins
​

Life is filled with people who just "want more." But that's all they do. They want more. They walk around as if the world owes them a living, and if they aren't rich, famous, beautifil, popular, etc, then they are the victim. If you listen to the way people talk, it seems that 90% of the world is just plain unlucky, and 10% is satisfied. But as I've said before, and as many great scholars have said before me, "luck is where opportunity meets preparation."

It amazes me. Life is filled with people who want more, not people who work harder. Everyone seems to think that they've "done enough," and yet if you meet the 10% who are satisfied, almost all of them will spin you a tale of how hard they've worked, how much risk they've taken, how many failures they've bounced back from.

This is what often separates the "haves" from the "have nots." Or, as former US President George W. Bush once infamously quipped "the 'haves' from the 'have mores.'" It's work ethic. A desire to apply yourself and do that little extra.

Apply this lesson everywhere. The gym, for example. As myself, *Ha*Ha*Ha*Ha*Ha*Ha, Madcap, etc. can tell you, the only way you will ever get bigger and stronger is if you lift more weight. If you show up at the gym, lift the same weight you've always lifted, and eat the same foods you've always eaten, then you'll be the same size you've always been. To get bigger and stronger, you have to lift more weight, eat more food, drink more water, get more sleep. Sure, it's easier for some to lift easy weight, drink alcohol and eat junk food, but I often don't feel the desire to trade physiques with them.

And how about work? Have you EVER read a job posting or advertisment seeking a "quasi-talented individual with inconsistent work ethic, who must be occassionally late and need constant follow-up?" No? Me neither, and I'm in the business...

So the next time you feel like you should be given more, ask yourself if you should be giving more. Maybe you'll find that you get something new. Something better, perhaps...

This is a good message here. I got a chance to be where I want to be moved too at my current place of employment, and I took this advice. I worked hard, learned new policies and so on and worked my ass off. As I gain more experience, I'm pretty sure I won't have to ask any questions about it. This message was really timely and helpful for me. You'll be glad to know things are going better at work, I know who to trust more than ever and so forth. I've dealt with a loss of a friend too(not death, just no longer friends for dumb ass reasons) but I've handled it pretty well.

You have a gift, keep using it sir.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Nobody can ruin your day without your permission!​

This message is dedicated to two or three people on the forums especially. I won't name them - you know who you are.

90% of life comes down to interactions with those around us. Friends, family, acquaintences, strangers, and enemies. But even more important than the relationships themselves is how we as individuals REACT to those relationships.

Few things anny me more than people who claim that they "don't care what people think." It's such bullshit. Everybody cares what others think, o varying degrees. I knew a girl once in High School who took every opportunity to remind people "I don't care what people think." So one day I asked her "if you don't care what we think, why do you insist on continuing to remind us?" She had no answer. She damn well cared what we thought, and she wanted us to think she didn't care. Such hypocricy.

It's okay to care what others think, but it's more important to be in control of those emotions, and focus on the important people in our lives. For example, I am not too concerned about what a random stranger thinks about me signing drunken cover songs in a bar. But when I get home - does my fiancee love me? Are my parents proud of me? Do my close friends trust me? That is what is imporant.

I had a girlfriend in high school. First serious girlfriend. I started dating her when she was 14, and I was 17. Freshman/ Senior thing. Well, when she was 13, she was almost raped by a very physically and emotionally abusive boyfriend, also 3 years her senior. I spent a year and a half during my senior year of high school and my freshman year of college repairing that damage. Then, one day, she dumped me, and she got back together with him. I was a wreck. Emotionally bankrupt, sickeningly inebriated.

I swore at THAT MOMENT that nothing else could take the place of what I'd lost. It was a natural thought process. Like the band Nada Surf says in the song "Popular," there's a feeling of rejection when someone says they prefer the company of others to your exclusive company. But when I look back on those days, I wonder what I was thinking. Why allow a girl like that to damage me? I had so much going for myself - great family, terrific friends - and I couldn't see past what this girl had done to me. It made no logical sense.

Fact is, it all went away eventually. The hurt, the pain, the emptyness. And why? Because I made it go away. I didn't wish it away overnight. I leaned on great friends and told myself "I am better than what I am allowing this girl to do to me, and if I give up on myself, then she wins." I was right.

So folks, the moral of this long story is that somebody can only ruin you - your day, your week, your life - if you allow it to happen. These are tests that everyone faces in life, and quitting is the easy way out. But to stand up and ask for help, to lean on those close to you and focus on THOSE relationships, well, that's what the emotionally strong and successful try to do. And nobody on these forums lacks that ability. You just have to find it.

 

[E7]

It's like you're reading into my soul IC. Really. This was a message I really needed, and its gonna help me focus on what truly matters in life and who truly matters in life.

I look forward to your next post IC.