Hello people!

Let me start with a story.

There were two brothers one was a drug addict and a drunk who frequently beat up his family. The other was a very successful business man who was respected in society and had a wonderful family. How could two brothers raised by the same parents, brought up in the same environment be so different?

The first brother was asked, what makes you, do what you do? You are a drug addict, a drunk and you beat your family. What motivates you? He answered, my Father”. My father was a drug addict, a drunk and he beat his family. What do you expect me to be? That is what I am”

The second brother was asked, how come you are doing everything right’? What is your source of motivation?” And guess what he said. Guess what he said? “My Father. When I was little boy, I used to see my dad drunk and doing all the wrong things. I made up my mind that is not what I wanted to be.”

Both brothers derived their motivation from the same source, but one was using it positively and the other negatively.

We understand from the above story that we are all motivated – either positively or negatively.

What is self motivation?

It is simply the force within us drives you to do things or pushes us to achieve our goals, feel happy and improve our quality of life.

In other words, it is our ability to do things that needs to be done without someone or something influencing us.

Although there are many things we ought to remember to keep ourselves “Self Motivated”, I shall only discuss about 5 things today as I know that the more I say the less only you will remember!

• Prayer and meditation

“Prayer is when we talk to God and meditation is when we listen to God.” Both helps us to stay connected to our Creator, keeps us calm and composed, and gives us energy and courage in difficult situations.

• Belief

People will do a lot for money more for a good leader, but do the most for a belief. We have to inculcate in ourselves the belief that we are responsible for our actions and behaviour. When we do this our outlook towards life changes for the better

• Be Optimistic

When you are optimistic, you are being a success builder. The sighting of a rainbow bring a smile to peoples faces. They signify optimism and positivity; with them comes the sunshine after the rain. When we are optimistic we see the good in bad situation and find a good side in each person.

One of my favourites stories in the Bible is that of Joseph, who was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers at the age of 17. Their did that because their father was very fond of Joseph. Can you imagine how easy it would have been to cry in self pity as a servant of Potiphar, to focus on the weaknesses of his brothers and his captors and on all he didn’t have. But Joseph was optimistic. He worked faithfully and with Passion. Within a short period of time, he was running his Master’s Household. He was in charge of all that his master had because the trust was so high. Then the day came when his master’s wife prompted him to do wrong. But he refused to compromise his integrity. As a result he was unjustly imprisoned for 13 years. Imagine, that was too long.

Again he was optimistic and soon he reached as the second in command of the Nation in Egypt because he was faithful in all he did.

• Develop an attitude of Gratitude.

Be grateful for what you have got. Count your blessings not your troubles. When we try to cultivate self motivation, our attitude determines how we look at a setback. To a positive thinker, attitude can be stepping stone to success; to a negative it can be a stumbling block. Someone once approached Blaise Pascal, the famous French Philosopher and said if I had your brains I would be a better person. Pascal replied, “Be a better person, and you will have my brain. What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. So be thankful.

• Love nature and cherish it.

 “We have not inherited this earth from our forefather but have borrowed it from our Children” All of us are part of the nature or environment around us. Different religious beliefs state the fact that we all end up being a part of the earth, fire and water. I don’t thing that there is anybody here who doesn’t enjoy different things of nature like a waterfall, mountains topped with ice, the singing birds early morning, ants always at work etc. I am sure that we are motivated and energised by a walk in the woods or by the beach side or just by watching the beautiful nature in its different shades and moods. Students or working people will be so refreshed by having a bit of nature on their study table or workspace.

Finally, I close by quoting an American Author Zig Ziglar. People often say that Motivation doesn’t last, well neither does bathing – That is why we recommend it daily”.