Wisdom for Those Concerned

Motivation is a term I’ve come to hate quite a lot. It’s the military buzzword for everything. Be prepared for someone you don’t know to approach you and scream, “ARE YOU MOTIVATED!?” for no reason. Everyone describes themselves as “motivated” by regurgitating the the last thing the “cool guy” did/said. It just irritates me.

The past few months have been filled with the most productive and healthy habits of my life. Apart from having to dodge the usual military insanity of course. As far as the military is concerned, it has zero purpose for me. It’s pretty depressing when you can’t just walk away from something that doesn’t serve you. Surrounded by those “motivated” to do meaningless tasks feels identical to being surrounded by people excited for no reason. Quite frankly, it’s sickening.

So I have to find something else to take over brain cells. At least the last standing brain cell I have. Don’t think this is a rant or cry for help. I think it’s important for people to understand when to “ride the wave”. It’s like a sudden rush of obsession to complete a task. When you want to complete something so bad that nothing else matters. I’ve found these moments on an almost daily basis now, which is new for me. No, you don’t have to obsess and be crazy to be successful. Just ride the motivation when you feel it and trust me, you know when it’s there.

I find that people tend to go through life in ups and downs. Ups and downs are different for everyone, but they exist nonetheless. I listened to a wise man warning about the dangers of dopamine intoxication. Rather than go through a detailed explanation on dopamine intoxication, I’ll leave you with this. Make your, “ups” progress toward a goal. If your motivation is dopamine, you’ll always look for that thing that gives you pleasure. If your motivation is a goal, you’re day to day accomplishments will reward you with dopamine.

That doesn’t mean dopamine is bad and things that bring you joy are bad. If your mind drifts to productive places when idle, you’re doing alright. If you can’t stop thinking about that thing you need to get in a video game, your priorities might be slightly off.

In closing, I’d like to say I’ve found the waves of motivation leading to productive behaviors in my day to day. I haven’t read a book in years before this deployment. Now I read a text book for…fun…. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m somewhere near 1000 pages into this chopped up sequoia. Find your purpose, find someone that’s been there. Have a conversation and spend your time learning. I find myself going down the rabbit hole for hours in search of wisdom and knowledge. What a great time to be alive and access the internet.

For those concerned,

Thank you.