Wednesday, 1 August 2012



What motivates you?

Wouldn’t it be wonderful, no wouldn’t it be heaven when you didn’t feel like getting up in the morning to simply just stay in bed, with no consequences and repercussions? I can already imagine myself just lying in bed the whole day when I simply didn’t feel like work or were plainly just not motivated to get up.

I am pretty sure that most of the world’s population would agree with me that they would rather stay in bed than getting up and do something. What make this even worse are those cold winter months when productivity and the over-all morale of people are at its lowest, especially here in our sunny South Africa, where we thrive in the warm summer months.

I think it is safe to say that one of the reasons people are not very eager to get up in the mornings are just plain laziness and with a little persuasion and a few cups of coffee, they are good to go and eventually just get on with it. But what about taking it a little further and say that the other reason for not getting up and seizing the day is truly the lack of any motivation whatsoever? If you think about it clearly, laziness (procrastination?) is the biggest symptom of having no motivation. However, it gets a little serious when people get so demotivated and depressed that they truly lose their zest for life. But where does this stem from and why are people in today’s world so demotivated?

How many times have you heard people say they want to follow their dreams or do something constructive towards society or even leave their job and go live a secluded life in the mountains somewhere? Most people, including me have heard this so many times and we can’t help but roll our eyes at these hippies. But the more I think of it, the more I can understand why these individuals feel this way. Most people are just not following their dreams or doing what they love anymore. In the years when your father was a carpenter or stonemason and you just took over the reins are long gone.

This situation has a very negative outcome as well. It is all good and well to fantasize about a laid-back life somewhere on a golden beach or high up in the mountains somewhere, but in today’s fast paced life it is just not so easy achievable. Surely you must eat while you are living your ideal life or just simply lying in bed, but to eat you must work. Forget about food, there are also bills to pay, mortgages to honour and kids to put through school and university. So it is safe to say that your dreams get put on the back burner and you work to get by, to pay the bills and to take care of your family.

It is very sad to know that so many people struggle with this and sometimes I struggle with it as well, up to a certain point. I don’t really want to live a secluded life or anything. But every person has their own idea of a perfect life. A perfect life in one person’s view is to be a successful business man and another’s simply to be happy by earning a reasonable salary. Personally I think greed is the main culprit in this sad saga. If it wasn’t for the need to have more and more we would all have been happy with what we have right in front of us.

My advice instead of moping around and being all depressed?  Take stock of your personal life. Wake up in the morning and realize what you have around you, not what is in your bank account or the dreams in your head. Be happy to live in the moment and willing to change that certain moment. Start small, make someone smile or help a friend out. Change your outlook and your attitude and you might be lucky enough to realize that what is motivating you was in front of you all the time.

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