My Thoughts on Motivational Sayings
Some are good while others give bad ideas and information
A couple of days ago, I was scrolling on Facebook when I noticed a post from an old friend. It was a motivational post that she had reposted from another page and I decided to take a look at it. I screenshot the post below for you to see.
Now, this could be because I am an opinionated person but there were some things that I agreed with, some things that I thought were half-way true, and others, especially one major idea, that was missing the point.
Before I start, there is something that I noticed and it is that a lot of motivational posts on social media are like this. The influencers and people who create or repost posts like these mean well most of the time but there are some things that are misguided in what they say.
How do I think motivational posts are misguided. We will take the one that I screenshot for example and I will go through piece by piece on what I believe is right or wrong.
1. Replace Netflix with Books
I think we need to get over this idea that books are the superior medium over TV, Netflix, video games, etc. solely because it is the oldest medium we know. The fact of the matter is that you can learn and educate yourself from shows and documentaries on Netflix, stories that teach lessons from Video Games, and the online classes from places like Udemy and Skillshare as well as motivational and inspirational posts and videos you can find on Facebook. The problem isn’t the medium, the problem is what you consume from that medium. Books can be bad too (Example: 50 Shades of Grey Series)
My Agreement Rating (So Far): 0 out of 1
2. Replace Toxic Relationships with Mentors
This is a matter of who you let into your life. I can’t say much about this because I am a reclusive person and I tend to guard myself against people. That doesn’t mean I don’t have friends but as for the people I trust, I have my family (parents, sister, grandmother, cousins), my girlfriend, my close friends and brothers, and that pretty much it.
As for mentors, it’s a no for me. I’m not saying it is bad to have one because some people may need one. But as for myself and what I am currently doing and want to do, I think a mentor isn’t what I need. Plus, you need to watch out about who is mentoring you because they might only want your money and they could be as toxic as the people you replace.
My Agreement Rating (So Far): 0 out of 2.
3. Replace complaining with gratitude
This one I agree with. You get nowhere by complaining about the situations. Instead of looking at a bad situation and saying “Why Me?”, say “How can I make this better or how can I be grateful for what is going on and make this work to the benefit of myself and those with me?” So this one, I agree.
My Agreement Rating (So Far): 1 out of 3.
4. Replace failing with improving
I only halfway agree with this. The reason is that you really can’t improve without failure. In order to improve on something, you need to find out what is wrong and for a large amount of time, people learn this through failure. One can’t really exist without the other. Along with that, just because you’re succeeding and improving doesn’t mean that you still won’t fail. We are all human and we continue to grow and learn until we die. So I would realistically say replace losing with winning.
My Agreement Rating (So Far): 1.5 out of 4.
5. Replace debt with Saving
I don’t know what planet you are living on but here on Earth, most people trying to make it have debt. Only a few very people don’t.
It is not that you can’t save and invest your money but many people have credit card bills, student loans, mortgages, car payments, bills, etc and many with have it until they are dead. Also, sometimes, people buy stuff that is beneficial for them to succeed but they take on debt because of it.
So it isn’t like debt is something that most people can completely replace and at times, debt and paying off loans and bills makes saving money something that can not be done at times.
My Agreement Rating (So Far): 1.5 out of 5
6. Replace blaming with responsibility
This is the second one that I completely agree with. What I notice is that many people stay stagnant in life when they don’t take responsibility and blame others for where they are in or who they are in life. When you take responsibility, you give yourself room for growth as you figure out what went wrong and work to correct your previous failures and behaviors. So yes, I agree with this one.
My Agreement Rating (So Far): 2.5 out of 6
7. Replace hate with love
While I understand why people think this, it is wrong. The reason why is because love is not the right word for it. Think about it, if you were to go to someone that hates you and wants to kill you and you go and say “I love you” and try to hug them, it won’t end well. In fact, the only thing that will end is you.
The right word would be understanding. If you sit down and just talk and listen to each other on how they came to hate and get to the root of why they are the way they are and why they hate someone or a certain people, it can be the beginning to finding a solution to end hate.
We need more understanding and compassion for one another and when that is achieved, then we can think about love. But until we have an understanding of things, the answer is no.
My Agreement Rating (So Far): 2.5 out of 7
8. Replace laziness with intentionality
Again, I think the wrong word is used to replace laziness because you can be intentionally lazy. Ever hear “The Lazy Song” from Bruno Mars. It is about being intentionally lazy for the day.
The right word for this is diligence. Making a constant effort to accomplish something. Now, this can be seen as a double-edged sword in regards to what I previously said because you can be diligently lazy. But let’s get away from that and onto work. If you work diligently and make a constant daily effort to make a chance for the better, no matter what it is, eventually you will get what you want or to where you want to be.
A person working any job and striving for more is much better than a person sitting down, watching videos, and wishing for better. Don’t wish it to happen, make it happen.
My Agreement Rating (Overall): 2.5 out of 8
This isn’t me being harsh as it is me giving what I believe is correct for the scenarios given in this post. The person who wrote this, Anthony Oneal, does mean well. I checked out his page and what he believes in and I believe he does well as an influencer. However, I just have my own personal disagreements with what he said.
And there is no problem with that as that is the way it should be. You shouldn’t just agree with something that someone says just because they have a platform. You should take what they say, think for yourself about what you believe and what you think works for you, and come to whether you agree or disagree. Some of you will see this article and disagree with my thoughts on this and agree with Anthony and that is ok. The important thing is that you are thinking and discovering what works for you.
That is it for this post. What did you think about what I wrote? Do you agree or disagree? Also, do you like this kind of stuff where I read an article or a post and deconstruct it and see what I like or didn’t like? Let me know in the comments. Until next time, this is Nicolas Smith. Thank you for reading and be on the lookout for the next article.