Why Inspirational Quotes are Bullshit

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Having immigrated to the United States from the former Soviet Union in the late 1970s and carrying a healthy dose of cynicism from the old country, I cringe every time I see a motivational quote. I remember Soviet slogans from my childhood such as “Be ready – Always ready” (Young communist’s slogan), “Ahead to the victory of Communism,” and “Goals are the law, completed goals are the duty, overachieving goals are the honor.” These slogans have lost a great deal in translation in addition to understanding how the good old USSR operated. I had firsthand knowledge of the motivational slogan business because my uncle was a director of a company that designed and distributed these printed masterpieces among offices and manufacturing facilities. This did not prevent him from becoming a very successful businessman in the United States. I believe that it did not come from the slogans he designed. It came from within. It came from wanting to become successful and not from waking up in the morning and reading a quote attributed to Steve Jobs or Mike Ditka. He simply got up in the morning and knew that he needed to make a buck to feed his family. As you know, the USSR imploded regardless of how much it tried to motivate its citizens. People just knew better. They read between the party lines and took the government’s inspirational quotes lightly. There were two different sets of words, some designed for meetings and some designed for private conversations in the kitchen with a few bottles of vodka shared among close friends. The former won.

The Internet makes it nearly impossible to stay away from motivational bullshit. You see it on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and everywhere else. Do you truly believe it? Will this make you more successful? Will you gain more respect and admiration among those who come across a post where you quoted someone else who, undoubtedly, did not become successful from reading other people’s quotes and re-posting them? Most likely, the person being quoted worked hard on his/her vision and, simply, did not have the time or desire to post stuff that is irrelevant to his/her success. How many truly successful people do you know who re-post motivational crap? I do not know too many. Every successful person I know is just way too busy to post slogans and thinks it is a complete waste of time. And they know that time is the most valuable resource.

There was a ton of literature on the subject of motivation, but this is my own summary:

1.  Compensation – self-explanatory. 
   

2.  Satisfaction from a job well done – if you are a true professional, this is super important. 
   

3.  Recognition – well, we are all humans after all. 
   

4.  Excellent support structure – extremely important. A rarity. If you have it, cherish it. If you are in the sales business, do not move anywhere without it. You will regret it when you lose it. 
   

5.  Flexibility – we are not in kindergarten. We do not want to be told what to do and when to do it. Work hard, play hard. There is no grand rehearsal; this life is all you get. Don’t waste it pleasing someone else. 
   

These are the 5 factors that should motivate you. Everything else is just bullshit.