On the Upside
The Mystery Behind Motivation
Is there such a thing as motivation?
Many inspirational speakers will swear by the importance of being self-motivated and how in the end, it all comes down to the power of your self-determination and guts especially when it comes to change, growth and blazing down and through the path of excellence.
Others will say there is no such thing as motivation; it’s all about discipline; forcing your rear end out of bed to work out even when the chickens are going for the snooze button; or doing overtime or pursuing at all costs, that project or side hustle in between and around everything else in your life.
Whatever the case, if you want something REALLY bad; the bible says you need confidence and confidence works side by side and fuels the relentless force of endurance:
Hebrews 10:35-36; “Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that you may do the will of God and receive what is promised.”
It is the fortitude and firm conviction behind the extra mile, rep, crunch, hour, week, year; that one additional round you never thought you could possibly bear and squeeze out and that pushes you further along that demonstrates clearly, what it takes to live on another level.
Motivation comes from seeing yourself break limiting beliefs about what you thought you could accomplish especially and in spite of not feeling inspired to break a sweat.
The Urgent call for Reform
There is no greater motivation than results.
Between 2015 and 2016, I lost nearly 80 lbs in 8 months by tracking my food intake, eating a certain and restricted amount of calories, drinking lots of water and exercising at least 4 times a week.
4 years later, I have only put back 20% and still remain nearly 60lbs lighter than my former self.
And yes, I say my former self because when you lose that much weight, it’s a shocking visual; a model of immense transformation; it’s bringing forth the person that has so long been trapped underneath a landslide of abuse.
You can bet your bottom dollar that the larger format of me was the result of emotional eating and thus my way of dealing with years of emotional abuse.
The lever broke many years before; and I got taken in by the tide of misery and self hatred to the point where walking too long or too fast left me winded or feeling dizzy.
And nothing is more gut wrenching than not being able to play with your 2 year old son more than 10 minutes because you simply don’t have the energy.
At some point in your life, you need to make a decision; you simply have to say, enough is enough, this can’t go on. It’s not even a question of motivation; it’s a question of human dignity.
Prophecy Your Triumph
You cannot go on in a state of complacency and keep making excuses. We need to stop saying tomorrow, next week and deluding ourselves with New Year’s resolutions that don’t make it past Easter.
It’s not even now or never; it’s do or die. When you go after something with a sense of urgency, where you make yourself believe that it’s life or death, that’s when it comes together.
That’s when you find the “motivation” to only eat 1789 calories a day for 8 months, get up at 4:00am to run a 5 KM, pass on the cheesecake your mom makes at Christmas and that you passionately devoured for over 30 years and ask for the bowl of fresh fruit instead.
More importantly, it’s that pivotal moment when you look at yourself in the mirror and beyond your eyes and into the depths of your soul and decide to stop being selfish.
Honestly and realistically, when you fall sick or handicapped in some way because of poor health choices, the innocent victims are those who love you most. They despise seeing you suffer and it’s highway robbery when they need to take care of you because of you.
That is a sure-fire motivation killer; it takes the spark right out of the fire cracker.
Yes, I know, that is what family is for; they are there to not only extend the olive branch but are there for the most part one hopes, to lift you up and out of the pit; to be agents of God’s grace and salvation to the best of their ability.
But how long do they have to pull you up and out before they lose grip and fall into the pit with you?
Like my brother in law tells me in his matter of fact way; “if you don’t roll, they don’t roll”; everything can come to a crashing halt when you roll right into the rocks of your bottom.
The last thing you want to be is part of that statistic that put off being fed up and waited too long to take the bull by the horns. Don’t wait until it does become a question of life or death.
Honor the gift of life by working towards a prophetic vision; one of Godly motivation; one where you see the absolute best format of yourself in action and how much joy it brings God primarily and all those he placed in your life.
And then like a prophet, follow the urgency of your own voice and sacrifice yourself until it comes to pass.
Bring out the greatness that may be lying dormant.
Do not throw away confidence and endurance; don’t waste these powerful tools; use them to build the legacy of your turnaround and triumph.
Redefine everything we have ever known about motivation.
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