The song “The Motivation Proclamation” is the name of a single released off of the band Good Charlotte’s self-titled debut album, released in 2001. In the song, the writer is looking for motivation for the (seemingly) simple task of getting up out of bed and, it would seem, to get out of the funk he or she is currently in.
If you were going to write your own personal motivation proclamation, what would it say? What reasons do you have for getting out of bed in the morning? Do you do it for yourself, or do your reasons have to do with others?
Your Motivation Proclamation
We are motivated to get up out of bed every day because of our own set of personal values. From a very young age, we are taught that if you work hard and apply yourself, you can reach goals you have set for yourself. That in itself is a powerful motivation proclamation in and of itself! When we occupy our time with productive activities, i.e. ones that add value to our society (either paid or unpaid), we can’t help but feel better about ourselves.
Getting up and going to work helps us to structure our time. Otherwise, we would get bored very quickly. Since humans are social creatures, we want and need to be dealing with others on a regular basis. In fact, a common form of punishment for prisoners is to put them in solitary confinement for a certain period of time.
Someone once stated that in order for an individual to be mentally healthy, he or she must be able to love and to work. So the ability to be productive is a very basic one. The fact that paid work provides financial rewards that allow us to continue eating and living indoors makes it a powerful incentive and the concept that we need to make money to get along in life should also be part of our personal motivation proclamation.
Duty to Others as Part of our Motivation Proclamation
When was the last time we thought about duty to others anyway? Duty is one of those words that does tend to get a bad rap in recent years. We all have a duty to others as part of the price we pay for being a citizen of our country or part of society.
When we choose to become parents, we have a duty to provide for our children. Our children need food, shelter, and clothing. We also impart our own values and beliefs to them in the way we choose to raise them. The desire to make a good life for our family is a powerful motivator. If we were going to write our own motivation proclamation statement, we would likely include something about wanting our children to have the skills they need to be a success in whatever they choose to pursue.
If we have a spouse, we have certain rights and responsibilities (duties) toward that person as well. In order to achieve the goal of having a successful marriage, both spouses must decide to work together. In this day and age when so many marriages fail, it takes not only commitment to the other person but to the idea of marriage itself as a valuable and desirable institution to have a better-than-average chance of success. No one who is married is in it by themselves and in order to succeed, they shouldn’t be thinking that they are in it for themselves. For this reason, the fact that we have other people depending on us should be part of our motivation proclamation.
Now that you have read and considered the foregoing, what would you put on your own motivation proclamation?