The Unforgettable Fire
Intrinsic motivation, a reason to act that comes from within. Doing something without any obvious external reward.
When we really look into the nature of motivation, we find it can really only move one way, from the inside out.
Even the motivation that comes to write these words comes from a space that cannot be seen, known or touched; indeed I don’t even know where they come from, nor why they come.
Most of the time I have no intension to write at all, but still it comes, this to me is a true form of intrinsic motivation, it comes from a space much deeper than my mind and the random resistant thoughts that often rattle through my head.
My own urge to exercise when I get right down to it also comes from deep within. Granted, I can think it, analyse, judge myself for not doing it, not being good enough, comparing myself, all of that rumination is thought, it has little to do with the experience itself.
In the end it comes down to the deeper love of the experience, once again something deeper than the surface layer of thought and belief.
It is my mind that judges me for not doing it, or doing too much of it, or having a projected fear of losing the capacity. The realm of thought and belief is not deep enough to make the connection to the true energetic stamp that motivation comes with.
So when we try to motivate ourselves, or indeed others we have this tendency to go rather too shallow, to make a whole shitload of noise for very little return on the surface layer of thought and belief.
So what do we really know about motivation and helping others to connect to it?
We can point and that’s about it.
Motivation has to be found within each individual. The noise will pump you up, sure, for an hour, a week, a month perhaps, but it’s not grounded enough, it has no roots, if it is outside of you it has no substance.
Motivational speakers, and motivated seekers, they tend to mirror each other, both in intensity and speed. One seeks out the other. Fast is good, loud is good. Intensity is good.
Maybe it is! Maybe it’s enough. Who am I to say otherwise.
But is it getting at the core of your potential?
The thing I find interesting about the motivational movement is it’s pacing, fast, often loud and abrasive, as if we are all deaf, and perhaps in someways we are.
The pacing and the circular repetitive nature of the message matches the speed and the circular repetitive nature of the human mind.
What’s the problem?
It objectifies the target and projects the motivation outwards, into a mental picture of a thousand push-ups while biting down hard on a piece of metal. It projects an exhausting to do list of doings in order to succeed.
The key problem is that the doer is not a doer at all, they are a “being”.
The motivation is not coming from doing, it’s coming from “being”.
There’s a deeper quality in the doing that is driven from a deeper purpose that expresses itself though you.
I’ll say that again, it expresses itself through you, not to you!
This is the nature of the term that I call “bastard desire”, it is the desire that has no parent, no reason, it just is, within you.
Bastard desire is the purest form of desire and by far the most powerful, it is the resilience inside you that digs in, the unspoken word that endures and refuses to give in. The desire that bubbles to the surface that gives you an extra gear that you didn’t know you had.
Don’t look for it, you won’t find it. You already are it. You can’t find what you already have. You can only uncover it through self discovery.
You have to stop trying to think motivation and start connecting to the feeling of it. When your mind is exhausted and down to fumes, when you are frustrated and thinking about giving up, thats when the real search for gold begins.
Because that’s when the mind gives into the deeper reason that you, the “being”, are putting yourself through this challenging experience.
If the truth of the purpose is not felt at the core, all the motivational speak and hypnosis on planet Earth will not save you from your own exhausted mind.
When all the BS peels back and you are left with the process and the moment you are in, then you are down to the truth of the matter.
The reality is this unmitigated truth.
When you give up on the idea of relief, and start to surrender to the deeper desire that fuels this thing, then you will know the true meaning of quality.
Once again it can only express itself through you, not to you and certainly not by others.
When you really start to listen to the deeper intrinsic drivers, you may actually find that you are pushing too hard, trying too hard, projecting too much, judging too much and losing the love and the enjoyment.
Start to understand your own internal motivational drivers, they can’t be found trawling motivational videos, or listening to another beat up from someone trying to sell you something. It’s not the type of motivation that will serve you at your mental lowest.
The success then is down to our ability to handle the down periods effectively. Anyone can perform great when they feel great.
The mind is just not strong enough when the chips are down, you have to go beyond.
Deep inside there is a fire that burns, it’s an inexhaustible fire, your life’s energy is the literal root of that fire. If you want it to become a bonfire you have to let it touch the untruths in you, to allow your thoughts, beliefs, ideas and concepts to burn and take all the mental limitation with it.
Don’t buy the sell. Slow down and add space, because you are space. Fire needs oxygen to burn. Simplify as much as possible.
Rush and complexity = Crush and compression!
Other people’s success stories are just that as far as you are concerned, take what you need from them and leave them alone, don’t compare, don’t imitate.
Above all, when it starts to get hard, don’t think, don’t judge, don’t use thinking to analyse itself, as Alan Watts once said, “it’s like your teeth are trying to bite themselves”.
Just listen! You might be surprised at what you hear.
If you start to fuel the desire that rises from within, you will have found the source of an unforgettable fire.