The dangers of motivational Speech and books

I grew up reading a lot of motivational books. In fact, I spent my teenage age reading tons of them. I read them more than I read my academic/school books. An ambitious young boy seeking ways to conquer self and the world; I believed motivational books would imbue me with the right kind of spirit and zeal to achieve my lofty dreams and attain the heights I want to.

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It was not bad reading those books by the way. It was not at all. They make you feel like:
'I am going straight in there to conquer it all'
'I am taking that risk and I'm gonna come out unscathed'
'We gonna get that job done no matter what'

You know this superman kind of feeling that you can get everything done. I'm certain majority of us can relate with this. I first read 'Inspire The Sleeping Giant Within'. I was in Junior Secondary School then. Ah! The feeling was bam! The stories the author laced the book with filtered into my consciousness. I consciously tried to see if I can model my life after the lessons. I improved in my studies, especially in maths but I saw my soccer skills drifting away gradually because I stopped playing the game. I saw my sense of humour going into the thin air. People who used to congregate around me because I make them happy and I am fun to be with, hardly do anymore. I think I obliviously kept them away by my newly adopted success lifestyle.

I read a lot more. I spent all my pocket money buying those books. Even extra money I receive from people, I invested them in motivational books. At a point, I found it difficult to relate with them all. Some appear to be contradicting others. While some will tell you not to be too serious with life and move at your own pace. Others will tell you that there is no time, get out of your comfort zone and stop moving at your own pace.

After years of dwelling in the 'temple' of motivational books. I discovered that those men are writing from their own successful experiences and/or the experiences of others they observed. The truth about life is that nothing works for two persons exactly the same way. While Bill Gate dropped out of Harvard and went ahead to achieve unprecedented success, there are equally many who dropped out and did not amount to anything. Motivational books sadly enough will not tell you about these latter people. They will beam the light on Bill Gate's story so much that some unguarded people will lose touch with reality. It is a common saying among high school and university students these days, 'school is nothing. After all, Bill Gate and Mark Zuckerberg are dropouts'. This is what you see or hear when the successful story of a few submerge the failure of many. And increasingly, more young people are dropping out of school, constituting more nuisance to the society.

I have seen people persevere to the end without achieving what they wanted. In as much as perseverance is good and should be encouraged, I think it should not take the place of common sense. Common sense entails you study the environment and what you are fighting for and know if and when to quit or not. Many have been led to perdition because they believe they can do it; they can achieve it if they persevere long enough. I know someone who wasted his fortune contesting an election. I plainly told him from the outset that his chances of winning were slim. I told him to quit. He called me a pessimist and warned me not to come close to him again. According to him, he's wired for success and does not associate with negative people. Motivational books will tell you ' Just believe and then pursue it, it will happen'. This in some cases, can destroy more than it can lead to success.

In everything we do, it's politic we stay in tune with reality. Motivational books seem to drift us away from what is real in the context of our society, culture and religion. What's obtainable in America may not be obtainable in Nigeria. This is due to cultural dynamism, socio-economic inequality and prevalent modus operandi of the people in relation to existing government policies. Some of the writers are writing from developed nations. They do not understand the prevailing circumstances in the developing nations. Thus when people who are in developing nations try to follow the ideas outlined in those motivational books, they find themselves losing touch with the reality in their society.

Success has no formula. And I think it is a very relative subject and should be treated as such. Success may mean a lot of money to some. It may mean a cute and happy family. While still for others, it may mean having the means just to be comfortable and then help others. Different strokes for different folks. It's impolitic therefore to give people formula for success. How did you derive the formula? It worked for you or for some persons you know is no guarantee that it will work for others. All man to their fate.

I have seen people who work so hard with little to show for it. I have equally seen people who succeed at practically everything they do. They aren't more skilful or do anything better than others who barely achieve anything. Some things are beyond our explanation and some formulas cannot sufficiently explain them. Personally, I believe that time and chance happen to us.

Motivational books are good, no doubt but the advise here is to sift while reading. Do not thread your common sense on the altar of motivational books and speeches.

Have your own definition of life and success. Be your own success. Whatever every other person thinks is secondary and insignificant.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

I am @winningman