2967: An Open Letter to Those Who Have Lost Their Motivation by Marc Chernoff of Marc And Angel

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Health Daily, an open letter to those who have lost their motivation by Marc Chernoff of markandangel.com and I'm Dr. Neal Malik, your host. Hey there, welcome back to Optimal Health Daily or welcome for the first time if you're new here. This is the podcast where I act as your very own personal narrator and read to you from some of the most popular health and fitness blogs online. Alright, and with that, let's get right to it as we optimize your life.

[00:00:31] An Open Letter to Those Who Have Lost Their Motivation by Marc Chernoff of markandangel.com This article was inspired by a short email we received this morning from a new course student. Quote, Dear Mark and Angel, There's so much I still want to create and foster in my life, and yet I feel utterly beaten down. I feel like I have nothing left to work with. I've been through a lot on my journey thus far, and now I'm at a point where I've lost all my motivation.

[00:01:01] I just can't seem to find the external and internal sources of motivation I used to have. Do you have any wisdom you could share? Sincerely, A Discouraged Student. End quote. Our reply, an open reply to all who have lost their motivation. Dear Discouraged Student, It's time for a quick story about life. Once upon a time, there was a woman in her mid-sixties who noticed that she had lived her entire life in the same small town.

[00:01:29] And although she had spent decades enthusiastically dreaming about traveling and seeing the world, she had never taken a single step to make this dream a reality. Finally, she woke up on the morning of her 65th birthday and decided that now was the time. She sold all of her possessions except for some essential items she needed, packed these items into a backpack, and began her journey out into the world. The first several days on the road were amazing and filled with awe.

[00:01:58] With every step forward, she felt like she was finally living the life she had dreamed. But a few short weeks later, the days on the road started taking a toll on her. She felt misplaced, and she missed the familiar comforts of her old life. As her feet and legs grew more and more sore with each new step, her mood also took a turn for the worse. Eventually, she stopped walking, took off her backpack, slammed it on the ground, and sat down beside it as tears began streaming down her cheeks.

[00:02:27] She stared hopelessly down a long winding road that once led to an amazing world, but now seemed to lead only to discomfort and unhappiness. I have nothing, I have nothing left in my life, she shouted out loud at the top of her lungs. Coincidentally, a renowned guru and life advisor from a nearby village was resting quietly behind a pine tree adjacent to where the woman was sitting. When the woman began shouting, the guru heard every word, and he felt it was his duty to help her.

[00:02:58] Without thinking twice, he jumped out from behind the pine tree, grabbed her backpack, and ran into the forest that lined both sides of the road. Stunned, and in complete disbelief, the woman started crying even harder than before, to the point of near breathlessness. That backpack was all I had, she cried, and now it's gone, now everything is gone in my life. After about 10 minutes of much needed tears, the woman gradually collected her emotions, stood up again,

[00:03:28] and began staggering slowly down the road. Meanwhile, the guru cut through the forest, and secretly placed the backpack in the middle of the road, just a short distance ahead of the woman. When the woman's teary eyes fell upon the backpack, she almost couldn't believe what she was seeing. Everything she thought she had just lost, was once again right in front of her. She couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. Oh thank heavens, the woman exclaimed, I am so grateful,

[00:03:56] now I definitely have what I need to continue onward. Remember, as we journey through our personal and professional lives, there will inevitably be periods of incredible frustration and despair. During those tough times, it will sometimes appear to us that we've lost everything, and that nothing, and nobody, could possibly motivate us to move onward in the direction of our dreams. But just like the woman who stumbled across the guru, we are all holding with us a backpack of support that comes in many forms.

[00:04:25] It can be a simple email or text message from someone we respect, inspiring blog posts, insightful books, helpful neighbors, and so much more. When we are feeling discouraged and demotivated, our opportunity is twofold. One, to recognize and appreciate our backpack of support, our external sources of motivation, before a random guru or someone with far more crooked intentions has to steal it from us so that we can finally see what we have always taken for granted.

[00:04:55] And two, to be present and tap into our own hearts and minds, our internal sources of motivation, which have the power to push us back up on our feet and guide us down the road to our backpack of support, even when it appears to be lost forever. No matter your circumstances, you always have what you need to take the next smallest step. As Epicurus so profoundly said, quote, Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not. Remember that what you now have

[00:05:25] was once among the things you only hoped for. End quote. Be mindful. Be present. Keep going. One small step at a time. You just listened to the post titled An Open Letter to Those Who Have Lost Their Motivation by Mark Chernoff of markandangel.com and I'll be right back with my commentary. The origins of this podcast were once just a dream.

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[00:06:48] and start selling today at shopify.com slash OHD. Go to shopify.com slash OHD. Shopify.com slash OHD. Dr. Neil here for my commentary. This was such an inspiring post. I was trying not to smile too much while reading it because it would throw off how my voice sounded. It's so true that when things seem hopeless and never-endingly hopeless,

[00:07:17] it can feel like an impossible task to find the motivation to keep going. I had a moment like this the other day. Now, I will warn you, this story I'm about to share seems like such a minuscule thing now, but I didn't have that perspective at the time. But I was talking with a co-worker of mine about how behind I felt in my work and how I kept getting bombarded by not-so-great news professionally. I'd been really behind on grading my students' assignments, which really bothers me because I feel it's unfair to them

[00:07:46] to not know where they stand in my classes. An application I submitted for a professional opportunity was rejected. It turns out I missed out on this opportunity by just one point. An article that I was hoping to have published was also rejected. And I won't go on because in the grand scheme of life, these are all very trivial things. You might have, in fact, listened to that little rant of mine and went, oh, woe is me, really? That's what you were complaining about? That's nothing. You should hear what's going on with me.

[00:08:15] But that's just it, isn't it? What seems trivial to one person might feel like the world is crashing down to another. And with time, sometimes what seemed insurmountable doesn't seem so bad now. And one of the things that helped me get out of that negative state of mind and out of that state of mind really quickly was something that today's author Mark said. I remembered that my job and my life, as it is right now, are what I had always hoped for. My career is one that I could have only dreamt of.

[00:08:45] I'm so lucky to have the things that I do. And this feeling of gratitude immediately put me in a more positive mood and motivated me to take action. In fact, I've already found a different publisher for that article I was trying to get published. But if I had just sat on it and done nothing with it, it would just be sitting here, all that hard work with no one to see it. So again, as Mark said, be grateful, keep going, even if it's just one small step at a time.

[00:09:15] All right, that'll do it for another edition of Optimal Health Daily. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for sharing the show with someone. I hope you're having a great weekend. And of course, I'll see you back here tomorrow, as usual, where your optimal life awaits.