Daily Motivation

What To Do When You're Jammed Into Inaction

daily_motivation Have you ever experienced a traffic jam? Nothing can kill daily motivation as quickly as a stop in movement. Today, as I sat in afternoon traffic, I observed everything going on around me. It is very interesting to note the similiarities between motivation and traffic.

Immediately, a fellow car driver went into road rage. His frustration was very apparent at being stuck and unable to move cause his frantic actions. This guy was mad. He kept honking his horn as if it would spur the cars in front of him into movement. Of course, no action occurred.

Frustration Station

When motivation is lacking, I've noticed some people have the tendency to get frustrated and upset. Instead of trying to use their time to make the situation better, they cause themselves more aggravation through their reactive emotional response.

Swiftly Changing Directions

I also noticed several car drivers lose patience, turn their cars around, and head in a the opposite direction. I guess these are those people who figure any movement is better than no movement at all. In this case, it did not appear to matter that this action may result in a long unncessary detour or finding new direction all together. Nothing can deter daily motivation better than impatience.

Smart Production

Then there was the third group of people. These were the car drivers who decided to wait out the traffic jam. Some used their time productively - listening to audio CDs, reading, or doing productive work on their laptops. Others used the time differently - staring out of the window, listening to music, or counting the bugs as they flew by.

Lesson Learned

Daily motivation messages are everywhere, The message from this experience was very clear - when inaction occurs your choices are important. Weigh the situation carefully and make the most of it. While you cannot always control external forces that stop progress - you can always control your response. More importantly, you can do little things in prepartion for when the movement starts again. In a nutshell, you can still make progress in life even while you are stalled. So, the next time you run into traffic - think about motivation.

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