Thought I’d write another post to validate this blog’s existence. For
those who know me, they would understand I could talk, or write, shite about
any given topic due to my crazed abyss of a mind. However, in this post, I
thought I’d choose something constructive, and maybe something other people can
benefit from. Some people give their loose shrapnel to homeless people, I write
blogs. Bono would be proud.
I’ve chosen MOTIVATION. I wouldn’t say this will directly motivate you;
it is just a way of me expressing my thoughts on when you are truly MOTIVATED.
Scenario one. You watch a video about some American footballer training on a beach,
while some American narrator blabs away about how much this fellow wanted ‘it’.
You come to the end of the video and feel philosophical:
‘Maybe I should do something with my life? Like this American lad has. I
KNOW! I’ll put it on Facebook…’
This does not aid you in motivating yourself to do something. You are
not motivated. You are the same as you were before, just a bit more inclined to
run topless on the beach. And watch the Super Bowl.
I hate excuses. I hate when I ask someone what they want to do with
their life and they reply ‘dunno’. What a stupid response. They are the number
one professional analyst of themselves; it is completely impossible to not have
an inkling of what you want to do with your life.
After the ‘dunno’ response, I go for the ‘What do you enjoy?’ number.
This is usually greeted by a reasonably interesting feedback of what gives them
pleasure in their lives, and what they spend a good amount of time doing. Then I
jab in the bold statement of ‘Why don’t you do that then?’
This is where the abhorrent excuses come in, most of the time,
translating to bullshit. ‘Blah I can’t do that, blah blah blaaahhh…’
What is the need for these excuses? Do you think the American Footballer
didn’t come up against the same problems? Do you ever think it came across his
mind when he was an 8 year old throwing an American football around his
backyard with his buddies, that he would be filmed running up and down a beach,
with another fellow countryman being dubbed over the video, garbling on about
drowning someone to death?
I referred to my final question to this unfortunate individual
(unfortunate as they are being scrutinised by me) as a bold statement. It’s not
really bold, it’s common sense. Surely it’s logical that if you enjoy doing
something, you should do it lots, you will get good at it, and then people will
pay you to do it for them?
In my opinion, people are so caught up in this social escalator of doing
what everyone else is doing in order to fit in. Get a boring job. Buy some grey
clothes. Watch other people on TV do well at what you enjoy doing. They
completely disregard that those stars where once them at one point. But those
stars took the stairs (metaphoric poetry). But what would I know; I’m just a
young whippersnapper.
Look at Peter Sagan par exemple. I don’t really like commentators, as
they talk useless drivel all the time, but in fairness, I think everyone would be
likewise if they had to fill the gaps in a 6hour road race. However these
commentators don’t help themselves, referring to Sagan as a natural born ‘revelation’.
It’s a complete lie. The man rode a bike before he could walk, and has kept
riding it ever since. If you raised Dougal out of Father Ted the same way you’d
have another Irish Tour stage winner.
There are so many more cases of this. Cav? Got his hole opened by my
Uncle at the Tour of Ulster when he was a junior, and now he needs more fingers
and toes to count all his Tour stage victories.
Just two examples of how motivation gets you to where you want to go. There’s
plenty more where that came from. Hope you haven’t forgotten about the
motivated American footballer…
For me, I am motivated to ride a bicycle FAST. Initially, I thought I
just enjoyed riding my bike, but after taking a break from racing to do exams,
I realised I crave racing more than smokers crave a cig. My MOTIVATOR is
racing.
Constantly during exams I found myself staring at the vacant wall in
front of me, lost in my own thought of when my next race would be, what I would
have done to win that race at the weekend, find out indicators of who really is
going well. My brain is plagued by thoughts of bicycle racing constantly. I was
trapped in the humdrum world of revision, with no way out. It was hell, but it
will probably be worth it. Or so they say…
At least I learnt what I enjoy.
That’s my thoughts on motivation. Hope you enjoyed reading.
Here’s Giavanni Ruffin running up and
down a beach with some header harping on in the background:
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