Motivational Ideas (Part 15)

1. Shapes formed by modular times tables show us that there is a Mastermind behind the designs in nature.

2. Our decisions play a big role in how our life will be lead.

3. We are nothing without optimism. It is what leads us. Optimism is the faith, confidence, hope and the passion to do whatever we’re doing.

4. Motivation to work: Do you want to remember your past as time in which you achieved a lot or just as time you spent doing nothing?

5. In order to achieve our goals, we must show urgency. So if we believe that we are desperate to worship, read, and achieve our goals, we would do them desperately. If we really, really want to get something done, we’ll work for it.

6. Learn your religion (or beliefs), do not inherit it.

7. A person who doesn’t stand for something, will fall for anything. So for example, if we don’t stand for what you believe, we can easily become the slaves to anything. This is why people keep falling for trends, fashion, peer pressure etc. Humans always want to be part of something and avoid being lonely.

8. One way to work harder or getting something done is to think that people with jealousy don’t want you to work and achieve your goals. So you oppose them by working harder. Hence you accept the ‘so you think I can’t challenge’ and try to be better than others expectations.

9. Curiosity encourages us to do things and removes boredom. Working with the attitude of curiosity helps us be interested in whatever we’re doing. We shouldn’t always feel that we know everything. Otherwise we’ll be bored and perhaps learn less. Curiosity can become a real booster to discovery related acts like reading.

10. You will only be liked if you are likeable. Therefore we should also work on improving ourselves.

11. Happiness is an internal state of mind, not an external state. So we can actually choose to be happy in any external state.

12. Helping others is the way we help ourselves.

13. Intention is important in what we do. So for example, if we study for marks, and not for knowledge, perhaps we'll only walk away with our grades.

14. Tough times and places make a real man out of us. They give us real skills, knowledge and courage.

15. Expect the best and go for the best life. If you get a better/settled living standard, the world will have one less family to take care of. But remember, at the same time, it’s best for us to try and live in as less luxury in order for us to develop skills and so that we don’t spend all our time maintaining our luxuries. We should learn to live in as less as possible.

16. One way to ease through the tough times in life is that we can imagine those times as adventures and times to learn and grow

17. The four parameters of our spiritual, intellectual, physical and emotional existence play an important role in our daily ups and downs. If any one or some of these parameters are low, we can cash in on the other remaining parameters. And if the others are at a low state, we can take advantage of the previous ones.

So for example, if we feel spiritually low and are not very excited to offer a spiritual prayer, we can use the time to use our intellect and study something. This will allow us to worship better next time when we are spiritually high because we will have the knowledge on how to properly worship. Similarly, if we are emotionally hurt, we can use that time to exercise and that can help improve our mood.

The important thing is that we always keep moving and not let any down state pull us back. They existence of such different parameters in us allow us to keep moving forward.

We may also know of people in our lives who are extremely worship oriented, while others who are extremely knowledgeable and intelligent, and others who are extremely strong and physically fit while others who are very emotional. Such people have one of these four parameters as their strength while others may be able to show strength in more than one parameters. Can you think of someone in your life who is strong in all four sectors?

18. Have you ever felt that when you are in the middle of something important or something that you are really passionately involved in, you usually forget to, or subconsciously forget to go to the washroom, eat food, drink water, or even focus on the things around you. This is how our focus and concentration work. So if we do anything dedicatedly and passionately, we will be able to focus better and perform better and avoid distractions, including our basic needs.

Therefore, sometimes we make our pains and worries so big that we make them the focus of our attention. Instead, we should get busy with productive and passionate things so that we can subdue our pains and at the same time, develop ourselves. Otherwise, an empty mind is a brewing ground for all sorts of things.

19. One of the most inspiring things to hear is the saying that a river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence. This has a big lesson for us. Achieving things is the art of continuity, persistence, patience and gentleness more than power, force and harshness. And this is true all around us. The sun and the moon and the planets constantly revolve and the night and the day persistently come and go, and the trees grow at their pace and the sun rises and sets at its gradual speed. And even inside our bodies, the organs keep working consistently. The heart constantly keep pumping blood, instead of giving a few big pumps. At the end of the day, persistence tells us that the real art is keeping ourselves calm on the inside all the while that we’re ecstatic about the end goal.