Motivational Monday – Not All Motivational Advice is Good

I watch a lot of motivational videos. There are plenty of people on YouTube that take videos of professional speakers, edit the best parts together, and pair it with some epic, Inception-like music tracks. (if you’re interested some of my favourite channels are Chispa Motivational, Ben Lionel Scott, and the Mulligan Brothers.)

These videos pump me up on days when I’m struggling to keep my hustle going. Though on a recent binge of these videos, I started to notice the pitfalls and warts that some of these videos have.

There isn’t a lesson in everything they say. Eric Thomas is one of my favourite speakers. He’s entertaining, and his style really speaks to me when I need something to get me up and moving. But some of the things he talks about only apply to him. If you listen to his greatest hits, you’ll certainly hear him harping about, “NO ALARM CLOCK NEEDED!” He goes on to explain that he’s woken up every morning by his passion for getting things done. As great as that would be for the rest of us, it’s not exactly a skill that can be learned or developed. You can yell at me every day to wake up without an alarm, but it ain’t happening.

You can’t take everything they say literally. A lot of speakers end up talking about being unhappy in life and making changes. If you don’t like your job, quit. If you don’t like your house, leave. If you don’t like the people around you, walk away from them. These aren’t necessarily bad goals, but they aren’t snap decisions to be made so easily. Don’t like your job, take the steps to find something more fulfilling. Not as snappy as, “QUIT!” but it’ll leave people in a better situation. Sometimes it’s about taking the core message instead of every word.

They all say a lot of the same things. I saw one compilation that had Eric Thomas, Will Smith, The Rock, and a few others all taking turns saying, “You will not outwork me.” Fun to say, I’m sure, but put all these guys in the same room and some of them are going to outwork the others. (my money’s on the Rock!)

Take these videos for what they’re worth. Use them to improve something in yourself, whether that be your mood for that day, your outlook on your life, or whatever you can get from it. Take what you need, and leave the rest. Nothing in these videos is meant to be followed word for word.

Find the good. Use it. Leave the rest.