Being self-motivated is a blessing. It can get you anywhere you want in life. You will constantly be working and striving to improve yourself, each day being a better human than you were the day before. When you’re a self-motivated achiever, you set your own goals, you work for them, you don’t wait for external support, you penalize yourself when you start faltering, and you do whatever it takes to get things done. You are the master of your journey, captain of your ship, and the only person to understand why you’re doing this, and how come things are almost never good enough. Self-improvement is all you know. Personally, I like to think of myself as being self-motivated; something that frequently borders on being an obsessed over-achiever, never satisfied with the way things are and always wanting to improve on them. And that has, for the better part of my life, stopped me from enjoying the journey itself, focusing only on the small failures and the yet-unreached destination.
But we all lose sight of the big picture at some point of our way. We lose our drive, our momentum, and get frustrated by little things, stupid mistakes, small failures, or, simply, exhaustion. It is times like that when being self-motivated is no longer fueling your will. Something else is needed. This is when inspiring things and other people with similar journeys jump in. For me, regardless of how frustrated I am, such things can always get me back on track. The West Wing, for instance, has always managed to be that sort of safety net. Nothing can be more inspiring or motivating to work than watching this great piece of drama. With its educated, dedicated, hard-working staff- people who would sacrifice anything for their careers and their goals- it has always managed to rekindle that ‘I too wanna be that good at what I do’ spark in me. In fact, the superb writing, the brilliant direction, the way those actors manifest their roles, and the amount of effort put into perfecting this great TV series alone are enough to inspire me and get me back on track.
Certain people in your life can also be that thing in your journey. For instance, talking to Fouad has always been a pleasure and a source of inspiration for me to work more on myself. With his twisted sense of support (scolding me, mocking me, pointing out my weaknesses and how he is superior to me in all things!), he manages to help me stay focused and have a more realistic approach to the way I operate. I admire his thinking and strong will, and respect his opinions, even when conveyed to me like that! The environment I work in is also very important. Being surrounded by such intelligent and motivated people, who I think are better than me in many aspects, has managed to keep me on guard from slacking or being ‘average’, has shaped and raised certain standards in my life, and has been a reservoir of support and food for thought, making me dare tackle territories of thought and intellect I was previously passive towards. Finally, certain people can also help put things back on track for you by simply being good friends having a drink together and discussing matters of life. Such people manage to propose a new way of looking at things, and their perspectives never fail to make the trip more enjoyable and pleasant.
I am truly grateful to all those stops along my path.
Filed under: Personal Experiences, Philosophy, Thoughts
Edited by author in 2009: “I am truly grateful to all those people along my path, for teaching me to avoid people along my path.”