Positivity and Motivation Discussion Notes

This forum post is based on the discussion held on September 13, 2015 at 9:30 AM EST by @StormDancer and @BLTMaster in the Guided Discussion Room.

★Positivity and Motivation★

Icebreaker

❊What is a goal that you have for the future?

"i want to be the best i can be for my significant other"

"To do something for work that I don't consider work."

"to be happy"

"To be able to look at myself in the mirror and not hate myself for everything I have failed to do."

"by feeling accomplished and content with myself & help others with depression"

Question 1

❊What does "positivity" mean for you?

When a group of people are asked what positivity means to them, you tend to get a similar theme in each response: good things.

"The ability to keep walking with same enthusiasm despite all the failures."

"Positivity is marching on,even if one understands the situation is hopeless."

"thinking good things and feeling them too"

Question 2

❊Do you consider yourself to be a positive person? Why or why not?

Everyones different. Positivity is just like any other personality trait; you either have it, youre in the middle on it, or you dont have it at all.

"Well both"

"Nope. I let things get in the way of my marching."

"Unfortunately no. I've always had a negative outlook on myself and my life. I'm trying to change that"

"im positive 100% of the time"

"I consider myself a positive person because I tend to focus on the positive no matter what which is not always the best thing to do as I also need to be realistic xD"

"sometimes, depends what i feel like. we all have up and down moments. neither is good or bad"

"always being positive is tiring. so when I'm alone I like to be negative, just brood on stuff, hate the world, and then I'm rested, and then I can be positive when I go outside and do stuff."

"I'm of the opinion that one shouldn't let either positivity or negativity effect you excessively,either way leads to negative effects,and both are things that warp our perception.It's best that one tries to keep one's perception as close to reality as possible,and avoid both."

Question 3

❊How do you describe motivation?

Motivation is the thing that keeps you going, whether it be in life itself or towards goal-oriented tasks.

"Motivation is the inner drive to accomplish things no matter how small or big. The greater the motivation the more effort is given to accomplish the task"

"I use google to describe it haha"

"I think motivation is the car, not having it means you have to walk if you want to get there, which is a lot slower"

"Motivation is what keeps you moving towards your goal instead of giving up"

Question 4

❊Do you consider yourself to be a highly motivated person? Why/why not?

While not everyone is an incredibly motivated person, the members/guests involved in this chat seemed keen on making things work out anyway (:

"Im a very unmotivated person, usually im pushing the car but it never I can never seem to get it to move. ....D-mn handbreak"

"If i don't have any interest in an activity i find it hard to motivate myself to do it i have very narrow interests"

"I consider myself to be a highly motivated person, but the level of which my motivation can help me varies depending on my energy levels. Sometimes gathering the motivation to take a shower, for example, can require as much energy at certain times compared to much larger and complex tasks. So whilst I am motivated still, it's less impacting. If that makes sense."

Question 5

❊What is the difference between internal and external motivation?

Internal motivation comes from you. External motivation comes from some sort of outside source such as peer pressure, social norms, or rewards.

"Internal motivation is where you self motivate, external is being motivated by outside sources"

"Internal has to do with your core values, external is how you want people/society to see you"

Question 6

❊What is the importance of having motivation present in one's life?

Without motivation, you never really get anything done. As one person asked, If you have no motivation to do anything, is there really a point in getting out of bed?

"To drive us forward towards our goals"

"The importance for me is hopefully by staying motivated I'll set myself up in the future"

Question 7

❊What factors can help to build motivation?

Everyones got different methods to getting different things done, including building motivation. Some exaggerate things to themselves, some fake it till they make it, some others focus on the end reward. Theres always more than one way to do something (:

"The best way to factor motivation for myself in the past is to lie to yourself until you believe what you tell yourself, or 'fake it tell you make it'"

"How much you want the thing/goal will help to build the motivation that you need"

Question 8

❊What can destroy motivation?

Motivation seems to be a pretty fragile thing when you think about all the things that can destroy it. Your mood, others and their moods, hiccups in completion, not having the materials, and many other things can halt your progress and dampen your motivation.

"When you stop believing what you tell yourself, or stop seeing the positive sides of life."

"Depression."

"trolls,crab people and self-conflict"

"People can destroy motivation."

Question 9

❊Think of some times where you were feeling really down and negative. What were your motivation levels like then?

No one reacts to the same situation the same way. While some crank up the motivation to get themselves through a down time, others arent able to get out of it and their motivation levels take a big toll. Still others are in an in-between state.

"skyhigh"

"Non-existent."

"can't say because the level is so inconsistent"

Question 10

❊Likewise, think of a time where you were positive and upbeat, How were you then?

A lot of the time, when someone is feeling positive, their motivation levels are pretty high!

"naive"

"Mostly deluded.Now I'm too far in the other direction."

"Everything is good and well and happy during positivity"

"positive and upbeat, depends, sometimes I just feel content and don't want to do anything else but just enjoy myself"

Question 11

❊What can be done to maintain motivation despite hardships and struggles?

Positivity towards yourself and your situation can help a lot in maintaining motivation.

"That's the million dollar question. If I knew I'd apply it. I guess you have to remain positive and keep a vision of a positive future in your mind at all times"

"Looking on the bright side,be thankful despite the struggles"

"Love yourself. Believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself you'd know that nevermind the hard times you still can find a way.. Maybe."

Closing Question

❊What motivates you?

"Anything from as little as seeing my favorite team win to see my favorite musician perform live, to big things like wanting to be successful or my own achievements, no matter how little they are."

"Many things. Sometimes smaller ones, sometimes larger. Of course, it's not always enough, but eh. I guess look around for more internal motivation. I turned to philosophy, and eventually found some."

Thank you to everyone that participated! (@StandForFreedom, @AT1983, @Xuez, @lovelyPeace79, @Anggi, @Agrish, @ListeningCoach, @UnholyFeast, @Siel, @QuickJazz, @Tekrus, @AnonymousWriter13, @Pbob, @GenerousLychee4993, @warmheartedSky7032, @considerateChick, @indigochildwithcherries, @greenKite817, @Riviere1515, @selfconfidentBeach1044, @OnceLostButWillBeFound)

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