Nine to Five
Live the life you've imagined!
Never give up on your dreams!
Infinite possibilities surround you!
Most motivational speakers will assail us with speeches about how they overcame serious adversity, only to go on to become a hugely successful boxer/surgeon/scuba diver who started a revolutionary homeless shelter. Although we might enter and leave a motivational speaker encounter cracking snide jokes at the speaker's expense, we secretly feel like we might become that astronaut/supermodel/do-gooder that we've always wanted to be.
But despite the high enjoyment level of motivational speech schmaltz and office decor embossed with motivational catchphrases from Successories, we are rarely moved to action by the possibilities laid out before us by the words of others. Instead, we sit in front of the TV, contemplating what to order for dinner.
But do all of us? Certain people must come home and get out their sharpened pencils and get to work. But I suspect that it is not the amplified words of the speaker that move them; they have their own source of fire in their pants. A source, unbelievably, not formed by a bad sexual encounter. Their personal motivation drives them to exercise rigorously, join half a dozen student organizations, have impressive internships and do all the reading for their classes.
What is the fire that drives them forward? Are they all overachievers and perfectionists? Do these minions of motivation have catchphrases they repeat when their feet hit the floor in the morning? These questions bewilder the people who favor the I get by stance.
It's not that the do-or-die camp is immune to procrastination, nap attacks or apathy. But they get past it and keep going. Even when things don't go according to plan, the motivated continue to work to achieve more. They seize every opportunity, expectant that one will pay off.
So then, are the television-prone people of camp getting by wasting their potential? Is all their talent expended in front of X-boxes? I think not. Motivational speakers will tell you that people who have specific goals are more productive and successful in life. Like the tortoise motivated to move toward the carrot just out of his reach, desire pushes people to action. Maybe the answer is just that the two groups are working for different things.
On the hard days, the motivated might ask themselves, Why am I doing this? But they can look to the gold medal, the top position in their field, the breakthrough discovery, the money or the fame to remind them why. On the other hand, while the unmotivated might never plan to have a Ph.D., MBA or any other three-lettered combination after their name, they can look to a future sense of security and a simple way of life to remind them of what they want to achieve.
The discrepancy we perceive in the two groups' motivation levels lies not in personalities, families or genes. The difference lies in society's definition of success. Nothing is wrong with either dream: the power and challenge combo or the comfort and simplicity one. People in both camps can be equally happy and should be seen as equally motivated. The people skipping class and the people doing the extra credit are both moving forward. They're just not on the same terms.
I think any motivational speaker worth her podium would agree.
- Jessica Moskwa is a graduate student in the College of Business. Send her e-mail at jessmoskwa@yahoo.com.
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Jessica Moskwa
