Do you listen to motivational speeches?

No I don’t. I am self-motivating.

@Dan_Lyons How so? Can you give me an example or put it into details? Genuinely asking, not trying to be an antagonist.

I mean that I do what needs to be done without being motivated. Make the bed, clean house, fix the car, go to work.
Once upon a time, years ago, I played college football. The coaches would give us motivational speeches.
I found them to be stupid, boring and not only not motivational, but actually turned me off to the whole game.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not denigrating people who need these kinds of speeches. It’s just that I already know I am strong, great and a leader amongst men (and women).

And Cassius Clay and Arnold Schwarzenegger just make me laugh.

Nope, never found one that did any good.

@Dan_Lyons Indeed those things are in my mind implied tasks. I guess I am thinking more so about goals and self improvement. When you stumble or fail, where perhaps difficult times come up and so on. Mentally they kind of put me back on track.

However, that being said I believe I am somewhat of a late bloomer in terms of becoming and growing into myself. (Though I think it never truly ends) You can come to a solid foundation so to speak.

Maybe that is still what I am working towards.

Don’t give up @LDRSHIP and don’t worry about what anyone else thinks. If you find those kind of speeches a help to you in your growth as a human being, then by golly, keep listening to them.

Yes, I do but they tend to bring my motivation down instead of moving it up.

I’ve become addicted to THE MOTH. Great stories by remarkable speakers, both amateur and professional, relating real-life experiences. Listened to one this morning that really got to me—a woman telling how she and her husband made the decision to let her son be born even though the doctors were telling her if he survived birth at all he’d only live a year. He’s 10 now—his name is Fergus, which is Scottish for courage.

I don’t listen to them on purpose. I have been subjected to them a few times by a previous employer. I tend to analyze how the speaker is presenting the information, not what is being said. I have heard enough of these speakers to know that the basic message is the same.

That being said, if listening to motivational speakers is helping you, then keep doing it!!

Yes

Not at all. I’ve never felt the need to.

@Khajuria9 Bring you down…Why? I don’t understand.

@Pachy Interesting, I might check that out.

@tedibear I believe I see what you are getting here. You are saying the way the person gave off energy in the message is what mattered more?

@Crazydawg Did you purposefully find the one with farts added in? Haha.

I use to think the one guy Tony Robbins was a bunch of bologna, but now here and there I’ll watch a video of his and think hey that makes sense.

LDRSHIP, The trouble is that I start to compare myself with those great performers and the moment it begins, all the despair comes in and my morale shrinks further.

@livelaughlove21 Same boat as @Dan_Lyons ?

@Khajuria9 I’ve been there. For the majority of time now I am over that hump. It is really a time killer and energy waster to do that. If anything when I do compare myself, I think of it as what can I take or learn from that person and make it my own? Add it to my toolkit if you will. So as to improve myself rather than wallow in self pity that I am not like them.

Truth is I never will be. So don’t even go into that mind set to begin with.

LDRSHIP, for me, these self-help programmes are a sheer wastage of time and resources. We never do anything until we are gritty are persevering. Hearing to speeches does not get a person to work.

I have listened to motivational speakers and concluded that they don’t say anything. I walk away and ask, what message can I take away from this?, and come up empty. There are some, like Deepak Chopra, who say things that are so nonsensical that it makes me angry. Most motivational speakers are at worst a waste of time, but some are dangerous by making people spend fair amounts of money or to waste further time by working on notions like the Law of Attraction or other non-productive ideas.

I really like Scott Peck’s book The Road Less Traveled, which is a kind of antidote to motivational speakers. He says that life is hard and that you have to work at it. He also says that love is hard and that you have to keep working at relationships. Common sense perhaps, but common sense turns out not to be so common.

@Khajuria9 Are you saying like we do not act till the situation is serious? I will agree that a speech will not magically get someone to work or do something. But maybe get them into a good mindset, and to me it starts with the mind.

@LostInParadise Never heard of Deepak Chopra. I never really went and searched for “motivational speeches” per se until a strength/fitness channel I watch to get ideas for workouts had some of it. And kind of stumbled into from there.

I also do not know what the Law of Attraction is. I haven’t spent any money on any of it and don’t plan to. My biggest thing was the mental boost and got me thinking more about where I am at in my life and reflect more.

Never heard of that book. Is it worth a read?

Ldrship…..That book named “The Secret” is such a piece of rubbish. It talks about wishful thinking. Haven’t come across any book so useless as that. I dont know about Deepak Chopra but have heard that he is also a terrible waste of calories.

And yes, I am saying that we never act until we actually feel the urge. Nothing can change the mood or stuff like that and even if it brings about a change, that change is transitory. Long-term changes need commitment and action-orientation.

@Khajuria9 I was referring to the ” Scott Peck’s book The Road Less Traveled” that @LostInParadise unless you were just mentioning that book? Heard of it by the way. Never cared to read it.

“The road less traveled” is fine but don’t you think, deep inside, we all know how to change ourselves but we hardly care, we are too sluggish and lazy?

@Khajuria9 I do not have an exact answer for that.

I like how @LostInParadise “Common sense perhaps, but common sense turns out not to be so common.” In that regard I think a person has to find what works for them. Maybe that search does not easily lead them to that.

no, they bore me. most of it is psycho babble.

My wife and I got roped into Amway somehow and we kept getting motivational tapes that did no good other than to enrich the makers. I pitched a number of them. No cassette drive in the car :)

I listen to spoken word poetry, which is kind of the same thing…

@LDRSHIP – No, I’m listening for the snake oil that is about to be sold. “Buy my book!” “Buy my tapes!” Those are the only motivational speakers to which I’ve been exposed.

That doesn’t mean they’re all that way. Just those I’ve listened to.

@LDRSHIP Maybe. I find them more cheesy, boring, and obnoxious than motivating. My motivation tends to come from within without any help from strangers.

Deepak Chopra wrote one grand book, “whose title I forget, ” but after that he became so full of it.

This book was about a woman reporter who met with these children with incredible powers who needed to join together telepathically to avert some disaster.

Snooze. I hate most motivational speeches. To me, they just state the obvious.

I do not consider @Pachy‘s Moth motivational speaking, nor do I consider most TED motivational, per sea. Relating a personal triumph can be motivational, but when I think of motivational speaking I think of this.

@ibstubro That video gave me a good chuckle. :)

Thanks, @LDRSHIP. I hope that motivates you!

I completely disagree with @ibstubro. I find many of the Moth stories extremely motivational. I guess motivation is in the ear of the be-listener.

No, no NO. @Pachy. It’s not that I do not find the Moth stories motivational. It’s that I do not find them “motivational speaking”. I love Moth, but I feel like they’re trying to inspire me, unleash my inner potential, more so than motivational speak to me.

I’ve tried, but simply can’t get into motivational speaking and other self-help propaganda. Despite being open to the concept of ghosts, an afterlife, mediumship (some of it), esp, etc I’m more on the sceptical end of even those things. I’m very sceptical of self-help, dating experts and many new age ideas though.

First off, this world is already filled with enough egomaniacs and overconfident people, and I’m a much bigger fan of ability over delusions of grandeur. Perhaps it’s my own mindset and motivations, but I’m much more into humility and simplicity over being #1. Maybe I’m too spiritual to be into self-help tactics, I don’t know.

I also figure that I can’t be motivated by words, self-coaching or the advice of others, but rather I can only be motivated to do something if I already know I want to do something. My motivation to do or accomplish something is already more than enough fuel for me to do what I’m interested in doing. As a result my motivation to do something drives me to practice, along with doing what I need to do in order to accomplish my goal/s. Much more important to me than motivational speaking is determining what interests me enough to have a goal to begin with. To me motivation is far more important than confidence and self-esteem, because without it (motivation) the latter two become nothing more than a false state of mind.

Personally I feel most of these self-help and new age gurus are snake oil salesmen. I’m not getting into detail here, but I see their patterns and tactics. I see these people as taking money from desperate people while not giving them anything in return but words that are written or spoken with charisma, but words with points we already have embedded in our minds. Saying things like only you can hinder yourself or your fear is your own worst enemy are things most people are already aware of. I’m not saying that giving someone a little motivational speech when they’re down doesn’t have value, but I only believe this is true when that speaker knows and really cares about you. However, if self-help works for you (not everybody is me), then I guess I can’t complain about those who find it useful.

@Khajuria9 I actually agree with you about The Secret. Positive thinking can defintely help people reach their goals more effectively, but the proponents of this really believe that wishing for something will really make it appear or disappear from your life. I also find it to be selfish, because it proposes isolating certain people from our lives that might need a helping hand, and I don’t care for its victim blaming. The Secret is a bit too hedonistic and selfish for anyone that’s truly spiritual in nature. The year that book became the top seller didn’t we have a major housing crisis?

Yes I do… Have any one heard of The Anima Series?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=nGuO6hzI8Ok