Steemit Engagement Challenge S3-W3: A little bit of motivation can go a long way by @bolaji001

Good day to all members of this amazing community. I hope we are all doing very fine. I welcome you all to my post where I will be discussing how crucial even a little bit of motivation can go a long way as asked of us by the @steembetterlife community.

Source

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INTRODUCTION

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Everybody in this world would have in one way or the other experienced a form of motivation, it could be directly or indirectly. But that stimulus or reason that triggers more urge and willingness to accomplish something, yes that's is motivation and it is a true gem which everyone of us must seek especially in the darkest of days when everything seems down or do not go as planned.
In other words, motivation can be all or any or combination of emotional, biological, social, and cognitive forces that activate behavior. Basically, it is what makes you feel pumped up to do something.

One can find motivation in any form, it could be intentional by listening to motivational speakers or just naturally by being inspired and motivated by someone, something or a piece of work. Motivation can come in any form and anywhere or situation.

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Why I think motivation can go a long way

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From the definitions I gave earlier of motivation as an "impulse" that makes one be determined to get something done, obviously a force like that can make anybody start or embark on something he or she have or has had in mind. As the old saying goes "the hardest part of any journey is the beginning". We humans are always reluctant to start something, we sometimes do not want to build on an idea we have in mind because we are either too scared of failure or what others think. But if one really believes in what he or she has in mind to do, I think there is no harm in pursuing it.

The willingness to actually commence on a journey or take that first step to greatness is really the hard part and little motivation from anywhere or in any form, be it from close relatives of friends or from an object etc. can really go a long way. The journey of a thousand miles truly begins with a step.

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Pick TWO of these characters and tell us why you have picked it and what you see as the meaning of these words.

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Yeah, from the flyer above it is obvious that I have chosen our very own sea sponge, SpongeBob SquarePants from the kids' series "SpongeBob SquarePants" and Merida from the movie "Brave".

Quick story of SpongeBob

SpongeBob SquarePants, who is an incurably optimistic and zealous sea sponge, lives with his underwater friends in a small town called Bikini Bottom in the Pacific Ocean. SpongeBob lives in a two-story pineapple, next to his house is Squidwards's (a sarcastic, boring octopus) and then Patrick's (an amiable starfish). These three are very dramatic neighbours with different approach to life. Instead of taking the logical approach to everyday challenges, SpongeBob approaches life in a rather wayward and unconventional way. Whether searching for the near-perfect spatula to perfect his burger flipping skill at the most popular restaurant in Bikini Bottom, Krusty Krab where he works or just hanging out with his best friend Patrick, SpongeBob's good intentions and earnest approach to life is the reason he sometimes finds himself in messy situations but always end up getting through them.

I'm ready! I'm ready! I'm ready!

From the above brief story of our very own sea sponge, SpongeBob we can already deduce that he is an earnest, overzealous character who is always ready to try out something new and explore the vast ocean of bikini bottom.

What I see as the meaning of the words "I'm ready! I'm ready! I'm ready!" which SpongeBob must have uttered numerous times in many episodes of the series. I will relate it to a real-life scenario. When someone is almost always in a "I'm ready! I'm ready! I'm ready!" state or mood the person would always be liberal and open minded as well as ready to try out new things in life and ultimately beat the "Satan" procrastinating habit which everyone has to a varying degree.

Basically, making sure you are in a "I'm ready! I'm ready! I'm ready!" state like SpongeBob will go a long way in helping you beat procrastination to its roots, which in turn help you get a lot of things done leading to increase productivity and eventually better and pleasing life.

Next is Merida from the Movie Brave

Quick story of Merida

Merida, the rather spontaneous but courageous daughter of Scottish King Fergus and Queen Elinor, is a gifted and skilled archer who wants to carve out her own path in life. Her audacity to deviate from an age-old tradition angers the Highland lords and leads to chaos in the kingdom. Merida seeks help from a freakish witch, who grants her an ill-fated wish. Merida had to discover the true meaning of courage and undo a beastly curse before it got too late.

"Our fate lives within us, you only have to be brave enough to see it"

Relating these words said by Merida to the real world, what I think of these words is that one should always be himself or herself, people should always follow their hearts at all times and do what is right. This way, one would be able to see the faults with the generally accepted norms and then should begin to voice out for change which would most likely be beneficial to many others in the long run.

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Do you think the statement “A little bit of motivation can go a long way” is true or false? Explain your answer.

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Without any hesitation, True. I absolutely think motivation, no matter how little can go a long way. I say this because in the end, every great journey, every success story began with an initial action, a first step. This initial action or first step must have been triggered by motivation no matter how little.

We hear sayings like "Rome was not built in a day", the journey of a thousand-mile begins with a single step etc. What all these sayings all boil down to in the end is that, to start something which could potentially be relatively great or massive, one needs to take a first step. This first step most often than not is trigged by motivation.

So, I would strongly suggest we make sure we find ourselves any form of motivation when feeling reluctant to start something that we have been imagining in our heads for a long time. Because who can tell that your idea could be the next big thing that would shape the future and if you do not start you'd never know.

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Why is motivation important to you as a person?

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Personally, motivation is anything/force/impulse that makes me determined to do something and drives me all the way till I get that thing done.
I can get motivation or inspiration, as I like to call it sometimes in many forms. I get motivated by people exceling and doing great things in my career line, I can get motivated by merely seeing a success story anywhere, I of course get motivated when listening to motivational speakers etc.

Motivation to me is very important as it gives me that trigger to take that first leap or step into accomplishing something and most of the time that's all I need to get things up and running and eventually successfully accomplish it.

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Do you motivate others? Give two examples

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Yeah, I definitely do. I sometimes just find myself motivating people I talk to regularly like my friends and younger ones.
Here is an example, there was a time one very close friend of mine, though he is a level below me in university, but same faculty. I use to see this guy studying almost every time even till few hours to exam/test mornings. But when results come out still underperforms, this happened year 1 and he barely qualified to year 2 but since he continued with the same approach, same thing happened at the end of year 2. At this point he was about giving up on school and thinking of dropping out. It was around this time he talked to me about it and I was shocked because given the way he studies so hard; all my thought was that he was passing all his courses exceedingly well. He his also the type that does not discuss his problems with people, this also added to reasons why I didn't even notice anything was wrong.

To cut the long story short, I basically questioned him on his reading style, how much rest he gets before an exam, how he manages his time and all. From these questions, I found out that he had so many flaws with his reading style, his preparations for exams and how he approached exams itself. I then went ahead to advise him on how to correct these flaws and gave him reasons and advice on why to stay in school. Basically, motivated him to stick till the end following the advices, tips and tricks on how to successfully approach each level since I have the experience.

As I was expecting he heeded the advices and is still in school doing very fine and among the best in his class.

Another example, though this one is a rather recent one was with my younger brother who I sometimes play this popular multiplayer game with "mini militia". As his big brother you'd expect me to be better than him at the game which I am :), but he always gets annoyed and sad at the same time when I beat him continuously at the game.

I then would tell him to believe in himself and fight like his the one in the game. This motivation of him imagining that he was the one in the game and his life depends on the decision he makes in the game made him approach playing the game differently and made him improve a lot at the game making me fight really hard for a win.

P.S: He still has not beaten me at the game but I do play really hard for a win against him now, plus he defeats his mates with ease.

This is the true power of motivation and can be applied to any scenario one finds himself or herself in in life.

What habits can you create to increase motivating yourself?

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I will list some of the habits I have adopted and willing to adopt to make sure I am almost constantly motivated and get things done.

📌 I get my mornings started on the right foot.
📌 I chart my progress.
📌 I am always grateful and thankful to God for another day.
📌 I discovered my passion and can hardly go a day without making sure I progress in it.
📌 I visualize my goals and me actually accomplishing them.
📌 I manage my time judiciously and always time cautious.
📌 I also have amazing close friends who always push me and keep me motivated.

Thanks so much for reading guys✌, catch you in the nest one.

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I would like to use this opportunity to invite my friends, @ojerindejoel, @kennydavebobo, @patjewell to come participate in this interesting contest.