Deconstructing the Motivation Mantra

Muhammad Zunair

In this age of pop-stoicism, the word motivation has become a victim of abuse and exploitation. Everything and everyone seem to be revolving around the idea of motivation. 

Be it books or TV shows, newspapers or magazines, Instagram reels or Tiktoks, motivation-related content has taken us over. From book covers to art pieces, you will find epigrams of stoicism and motivation inscribed all over them.

After all, it’s a billion-dollar industry and I am not even exaggerating! 

Being motivated has been so hyperbolized that it has become a very efficient source of generating revenue. Everyone wants to motivate and everyone wants to get motivated. It is as ridiculous as it sounds.

You go to a bookstore and find yourself flabbergasted by the magnanimous collection of self-help books and ‘motivation’ stuff. And the irony of the time is, that stuff is selling fast. 

And with the flood of podcasts ruining our conceptual clarity, now there will never be any shortage of conversations that are mainly driven by this clichéd question: ‘How to get oneself motivated?’

However, the issue is not the idea of motivation itself, but rather the misuse and overuse of it. It has been so misconstrued that it has now become humourous. 

Sometimes, it makes me wonder: Why do we need to get ourselves motivated? I mean, why are we looking up to someone else to get our lives together?

I am not sure of the answer to it. But I guess, it all comes down to this: We all are living lives that we don’t want to live. We are spending time with people that we don’t like. We are consuming content that numbs our minds but makes us feel better. 

We are watching those people who have achieved exactly what we wanted to achieve or are planning to achieve — thinking of it as an effective tool to get the desired amount of dopamine released into our system. 

We are, unconsciously, training our minds to become dependent — stripping them of their innate ability to navigate through adversity and induce ideas to succeed. 

We have become feeble — psychologically and rationally. And at times, I think, maybe we are enjoying being weak and dependent. 

Just like the captives of Plato’s cave, we have become the prisoners of our dull minds and reluctant wills. We are enjoying this new reality where we are in constant need of an external source of motivation to kick-start our days and get things done. 

You google self-help books and there will be a never-ending list. You search for motivational videos on Youtube and you will be stunned by the quantity of available content. 

It has become the new epidemic of our times and there appears to be no vaccination of it either. 

The social pressures and nuisances have made us all allergic to the idea that motivation comes from within. It is like we are sitting on a treasure and making plans to find it somewhere else. 

I think it is because we are afraid of introspection — disabling our subconscious mind to guide us towards the right path. These social vessels of unlimited content have further added to our misery.  

There used to be times when our lives were private and pragmatic. Now, they have become public and pungent. And that’s exactly why we get motivated by others. 

We think of others’ lives as benchmarks and our inability to succeed on our own has further propagated this false social construct. 

Being content is now considered a weakness whereas to be in a constant pursuit of things is labeled as an ecstatic state of being motivated. Reality is, it is not our reality but rather an illusion. 

Moreover, I strongly believe that motivation is not a social variable, it’s a personal one. 

Jeff Haden — author of The Motivation Myth — once said in an interview, “Motivation isn’t something you get — motivation is something you create, on your own, by following a process that allows you to improve, bit by bit.”

It lies within you. All you have to do is to come out of this deep dark hole of dependence and complacency and you’ll realize that you have been fed the wrong ideas. 

So, next time you feel the urge to read a self-help book, or listen to a motivational speech, try listening to yourself first. Most probably, you’ll get what you have always been looking for. 

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