Page 16 - Faith-Based Workbook 8-27-18

TOPUCU Adult Faith-Based Workbook
began to stir inside of them. And that’s what
we’re going to talk about today – Motivation.
We’re all familiar with the idea of
motivational quotes and scriptures. These
are words of wisdom to help you cope with
challenges you face every day. They can give
you strength and reinforce your beliefs in
your own abilities to pursue your goals or in
the ability of God to help you get to where
you want or need to be. There are books and
websites full of motivational quotes ranging
from historical figures to celebrities, athletes
and successful business people. And these
quotes work, right? They put your mind into
action, thinking about all the things you want
to accomplish and you set out to conquer
the world. And while things are going good
your motivation continues to run high. Just
like the disciples. When they watched Jesus
in action, they must have felt like they could
conquer the world. But there were several
times when the situation didn’t seem so
surmountable and that’s when thoughts of
doubt crept into their minds. Think of Peter,
when Jesus asked him to walk on water.
The same thing happens to you in your
everyday life - your grades begin to slip a
little or your team goes on a losing streak
or you don’t see as much weight loss as you
expected to see – and now it’s not as easy to
be motivated. Those little quotes and Bible
verses are no longer so inspiring – instead
they are reminders of your failures. This is a
mindset we want to change.
Champions have learned specific tools
throughout the years to help them create
motivation even when they don’t’ feel like
being motivated.
The famous author and speaker Zig Ziglar
once said, “People often say that motivation
doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing –
that’s why we recommend it daily.”
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The first thing you must realize is that staying
motivated is a daily task. Motivation is easy
to come by when you’ve been blessed
with a specific talent like athletic ability
or academic savvy. You receive what’s
called external motivation in the form of
praise from others. But relying solely on
external motivation can be dangerous.
Many successful professional athletes end
up having less successful post-athletic
careers because they no longer have the
fans applauding and cheering for them.
Or think about academics – it’s easy to be
motivated when your teachers, parents and
peers are giving you accolades on a daily
basis. But what happens when you arrive in
college and you’re just another face in the
crowd, competing with other students who
are just as gifted? Now, it’s you and yourself
in a college dorm room trying to figure
things out. It’s much more difficult to stay
motivated when you’re not receiving the
external praise you’re accustomed to.
This is not to say external motivation is a
bad thing. But the key to long term change
and success is figuring out how to convert
external motivation into internal motivation.
Internal motivation is the drive that keeps
you going when no one is looking or giving
you praise or when things get tough.
Consider the life of an athlete who may not
have been as physically gifted as others in
their sport and what their life is like after
their playing days are over. Yes, they also
received external motivation, but because
they lacked the level of natural talent others
had, they had to work harder to get to the
top of their game. They had to go the extra
mile. They had to believe more. They had to
put more time in on the court or the field or
the ice. They had to learn the secrets behind
internal motivation – they had to continue
doing the stuff that didn’t come as easy to
them as it did to others. It was painful.
It was thankless. They didn’t always want to
do it. But as you’re learning, you have to do
things that you don’t want to do in order to
become the person you want to become.
As a result of this mindset, many of the
professional athletes who had to work harder
and internalize motivation throughout their
training and careers end up having more
successful post-playing careers than those
who were more naturally gifted.
Now, let’s take into consideration the life
and accomplishments of someone you
may have heard of. Today, Kurt Warner is
generally regarded as one of the greatest
quarterbacks in the history of the NFL, but in
1994 he wasn’t considered good enough to
be on a team at all and went undrafted. Kurt
obviously didn’t possess the same natural
talent as some of the other player who were
picked in the first round of the draft like
Marshall Faulk or Trent Dilfer, so he had to
work even harder to reach the full potential
of his ability. He had to go the extra mile. He
had to believe more. He had to put in more
time. He had to learn the secrets behind
internal motivation. He had to continue
doing the things that didn’t come as easy
to him as it did to others. It was painful. It
was thankless. But it all paid off. Kurt was
signed as an undrafted rookie free agent and
when his opportunity arrived he was ready.
He played 12 years in the NFL, was named
league MVP twice and went on to win the
Super Bowl. Now he’s considered the best
undrafted player of all time and holds several
NFL records. During the times when there
was no one there to heap praise on him, it
was internal motivation that pushed him.
Ask yourself, what are you doing when no
one is looking? What are you doing when
no one is there to give you praise? Did you
skip a workout this morning because your
exercise partner couldn’t make it? Did you
Lesson 2: Part 1
eat that piece of cake because no one was
looking? Did you skim past that chapter in
your textbook because your teacher told the
class it wasn’t going to be on the test? When
no one is around, do you still get the job
done? You have to understand this principle:
If you’re not getting the job done… if you’re
not finishing what you start… if you’re not
following through, The Only Person U
Cheat is U. TOPUCU.
And that brings us to the next step.
In Lesson One you chose a habit you wanted
to change. And now you may be looking
for someone to cheer you on and praise
you for what you’re doing. But the odds are
you aren’t going to receive a lot of external
motivation when you’re setting out to make
that change. If you do, that’s wonderful. But
when we teach you the principles of internal
motivation in part 2 of this lesson, you will
learn how to stay motivated even though
the external praise isn’t coming your way.
The common cycle in a weight-loss goal,
for example, is when you begin to look a
little thinner, people begin to notice and
compliment you on your hard work with a
“well done,” or a, “you look great.” But once
you reach your goal-weight and the praises
stop it becomes much more difficult to stay
motivated and then weight-gain becomes
an issue again.
This is the Secret!
Most habit-change doesn’t succeed long-
term because it’s dependent on external
motivation. If you can understand that, then
you are ready to move on to the second part
of this lesson. We’re going to teach you a
calculation that you can do inside your own
brain, which – if done properly – will not only
create motivation, but help you deal with the
moments when your motivation falters.
It will change your life.
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