Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Motivation.
3 Things I Wish I Learnt Sooner
Over the past few years, I’ve been debating on going back to school to get my Masters. Feeling stuck in the place that I’m in, I thought going back to university would light that creative fire. Currently, I’m getting my diploma as well and I have been feeling more motivated (even though it’s taking up some of my time), but I know it’ll pay off in the end.
By Najwa Helyer6 years ago in Motivation
What is your word?
I like to start off each new year with a word. This can be any word but should be something meaningful that encourages you to begin a new year. With all the unexpected events faced in the year 2020, this was a particularly challenging year to choose my word. Of course, we all look forward to a new year for many reasons and approach each one with positivity. Whether this means a new gym membership, spending more time with family, or dieting, change is usually accompanied with desires for a new year.
By Katherine Flynn6 years ago in Motivation
What are the Powerful Benefits to Know & Understand your Confidence?
What is Confidence? Definition of confidence: A feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something. A sense and belief that someone or something is right and can succeed. The feeling of being sure that something will happen or that something is true.Merriam-Webster
By Heidi Fitzsimmons @RiseLoveLive6 years ago in Motivation
Why I'm Starting A Blog?
This post has been edited and taken from my website, if you want more content head over there! For those who don’t know me very well, my name is Connor McCorkindale, I’m a 23 year old musician and now I’m a blogger! For those who do know me, I’m sure this is the last project you would imagine me starting, truth be told, I’m a little surprised myself. I have never seen myself as much of an outspoken person, I tend to keep most of my opinions to myself, being a vegan teaches you the skill of choosing when to voice your thoughts! Lately though, I’ve discovered a more creative side to myself, a more focused side.
By Connor McCorkindale6 years ago in Motivation
Once More With Feeling
I am a 51 year old peri-menopausal mom who, in the fall, is going to have an empty nest. I never thought I would even have kids, let alone be faced with the absolute dread of an empty nest. My son is my one-and-only child. The doctors told me I would never be able to get pregnant, and to my (at the time) boyfriend's surprise, Lucas is my true miracle. My husband, Bob, is the very best dad and husband, and I am blessed beyond words for my little family. I spent 16 weeks, yes 4 MONTHS on bedrest with Lucas, which felt like an eternity. And while that was a long-haul.. the next 18 years would go by faster than I could ever imagine.
By Lisa England6 years ago in Motivation
Avocado 🥑 Alo
Exactly one year ago, I moved from town (Honolulu) to the North Shore of Oahu. After spending most of my life in Honolulu, my wife, Kiyari, had randomly been looking at rentals on CL on the Northshore. We were fed up with town. Honolulu had become so overly crowded, expensive, dangerous, and stressed.
By J. P. Harrison6 years ago in Motivation
A Fresh start
Life is so strange, isn't it? Sometimes we are calm, and sometimes we are on a roller coaster. Some days we are sad, and hopeless...other days we are strong and motivated. I graduated from high school in 2015, one would think that graduation is such an important event, and it is! However, I was depressed. At the time I thought "sure, I graduated. But what am I to do with my life?" It was such an intense question, I was only seven-teen. I knew nothing about life, my mother had sheltered me to a point where I could not be independent. I had border-line anxiety and depression, crowds were such an issue. It felt like everyone was staring at me and judging, how could I ever survive as an adult? All I wanted to do was disappear for good. I lived with a toxic family, they were constantly yelling at me and at each other. Despite my mother having good intentions, she took her anger out on both my younger sister and myself. When I had tried to explain to the better side of my family about my anxiety, they told me that it was all in my head. I felt insane. But was I really? Over the next few years I changed very slowly. I met new people, who were older than I, but understood my situation and took me under their wing. After a long thread of repeated habits and mistakes, repeated lessons and broken friendships due to my own toxicity, I truly decided it was time for change. I decided that I needed a FRESH START. The year 2020 gave me so many wake up calls, and this new year would be the game changer. I noticed I went from being a kind and gentle person, to a person who had attitude and was almost always angry. So, I've decided that my new years resolution would be to become a better person, always. I am choosing to be a better person than I was years back, better than I was a few years ago, and better than I was yesterday. I am human, I make mistakes. We ALL do. Another resolution I have chosen is to never stay at war with myself. Life is about learning and growing, the best way you can. My new years resolution is to LOVE myself, truly and unconditionally. I did not have that self-love back then, I'm glad I do now. I am a beautiful human being that is still learning and growing, and that is okay. It is okay to still be a work in progress, and yet be a masterpiece. Nothing will ever bring me back down into the whole I was in, not even my own doubts. I am finally ready to move onto the next chapter in my life, I'm ready to embrace the good and the bad.
By Ana Celia Medrano6 years ago in Motivation
Little Black Book
Chapter 1 Scrolling through Facebook, I see a writing contest ad. A $20,000 prize stands out in large digits, catching my eye. I scroll past, and then a few moments later begin to wonder if it's worth checking out. I go back and click on the link. The rules look simple enough. So, where's the catch? I start reading through the rules, looking for the catch.
By Rosemary Feld6 years ago in Motivation
Finding my Ikigai
We're all on our own journey together. Some people have these thoughts upon reaching a milestone, others have these thoughts when starting a new path, and a few may have these thoughts while influenced by various recreational elixirs of choice. What is my purpose? How am I doing in life? Where am I going? In 2020, the world came to a screeching halt. A pandemic ravaged the earth. We realized what was really "essential" and what activites could be changed or curtailed in order to help save humanity. Now we're slowly, oh so slowly, building the steps to climb out of the canyon this little virus has dug. While in this mount everest of a hole, I read. I also worked, ate, explored every grocery store in the city, finished my undergraduate degree, had a few Zoom calls, opened a Netflix account, and tried my hand at writing which is why I'm on Vocal. But I read. Read about climate change, management skills, history of Asian recipes, US politics (bye Trump), and everything under the Sun. I read. Through the myriad of topics, I picked up a small baby blue hardcover the size of my hand simply titled 'Ikagai'. The contents of the sub-200-paged book explained the four pillars, that overlap like flower petals, that the Japanese philosophy uses to determine a person's purpose, a reason for being. What you love, what benefits the world, what sustains you, and what you're good at. Your passion, your profession, your vocation, and your mission. Ikagai. After finishing this literary ride, I felt high. High in the sense that I was in a waterfall of thoughts and the bed I was lying on as I closed the book started to feel like a lofty cloud in the summer sky. I am a huge physics and biochemistry nerd, validated by my undergraduate degree, and proud of it. But I also love programming. And astronomy. And statistics. Maybe I'm just a sucker for STEM. But then there's cooking. And travel. And philosophy. And gardening. And psychology. So which one do I pick? Do I pick just one? Then there's the equilibrium. The ability to accept and be able to say no. Giving significance to the small things and being less stressed about bigger issues. To always look out for others but care for yourself the most. It takes a village to raise your baby and you are also that baby. What I mean (and what they may have said more eloquently) is that there is a delicate balance and one has to be introspective and have a healthy outward perspective to maintain it. I always wonder what people think of me, how people see the unconscious microexpressions I emanate, how I'm perceived when I talk, listen, think. It doesn't really come out of self-consciousness, though it might have at one point, but more of a innate curiousity of whether people see what I want them to see. What I want to give off to the world. Happiness, serenity, intelligence, confidence. I am still lying in my bed at this point, it could have been 2 minutes or 2 hours, but the thoughts kept coming. At this stage in life, I'm not specialized in anything, I'm not overly practiced in any one area. I have dipped my finger in all the paint cans and am a colourful, entropically-deviating, speckled Jackson Pollock. But is the Jack-of-all-trades any good? The current job market confuses me sometimes. They are interested in fresh graduates that have 25 years experience. They want that rich, strong, vibrant colour. I'm 22, almost 23. I'm still in as much infancy as the baby blue of my Ikigai bible. But then a full 180, they want someone who has skills from 5 of the 7 paint cans of the rainbow when I've only bought 2 colours. Which method will sustain me more? So now, as I float on, I find myself not at a crossroad, but more a roundabout. I can keep driving 'round and 'round until I get dizzy. Or I can make a turn off at one of the arms. Let it take me somewhere. Drive down with my G1 license until I reach the highway where I'll need to upgrade my driver's certification or pay off a cop to let me through. Maybe I'll make a U-turn and find myself at the roundabout again. Looking down the lane of each arm towards it's horizon, seeing which one is the prettiest. There are things I now am certain of because I took the time to read the tiny tale of Ikigai. I want to experience the world for what it really is, not just the tourist toe-dip into the accessible resorts. I want to be able to do something with my life that is evolving and applicable to any person. I want to to be unapologetically me. But there are also questions I have. What do I truly love enough to make it my life mission? Where do I find myself in the intricacies of humanity? But this is okay. We are all on a journey, and sometimes that's just as good as the destination.
By Arya6 years ago in Motivation
