Page 38 - 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself

coming off like a man’s man. I also started noticing how much we seem to love

vulnerability in others, but don’t trust it in ourselves. But we can learn to trust it!

Just a little at first. Then we can build that vulnerability until we’re not
afraid to open up into an ever-widening spectrum of self-revelation. By losing
face, we connect to the real excitement of life. And what if I don’t always come
off as an indifferent man’s man? Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.

22. Kill your television

My brother used to own a T-shirt store and one of the most popular shirts for
sale said, “Kill Your Television.” I bought that T-shirt with the picture of a TV
being blown up. You can actually change your life by turning off your
television. Maybe just one evening a week, to start with. What would happen if
you stopped trying to find life in other people’s shows and let your own life
become the show you got hooked on?

Cutting down on television is sometimes terrifying to the electronically

addicted, but don’t be afraid. You can detox slowly. If you’re watching too much
television and you know it, you might find it useful to ask this one question:
“Which side of the glass do I want to live on?” When you are watching
television, you are watching other people do what they love doing for a living.
Those people are on the smart side of the glass, because they are having fun, and
you are passively watching them have fun. They are getting money, and you are
not.

Here’s a good test for you to determine if television motivates you more than
books do: Try to remember what you watched on television a month ago. Think
hard. What effect are those shows having on the inspired side of your brain?
Now think about the book that you read a month ago. Or even the e-zine you
read last week. Which made a more valuable and lasting impression? Which

form of entertainment better leads you in the direction of self-motivation?

Groucho Marx once said he found television very educational. “Every time
someone turns it on,” he said, “I go in the other room to read a book.”

23. Break out of your soul cage