I love a good motivational quote and not just because they're so much easier to quote than apply.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
You find a lot of them on social media, particularly if you fall into the habit of mindlessly scrolling through your feeds.
Which is surely the definition of mindlessness. But strangely addictive nonetheless.
Once those feeds pick up you're into motivational quotes, the algorithms start sending you heaps. As if they really understand you.
Try mentioning beer and exercise regimes within earshot of your mobile phone.
Next thing your social media feed is laced with beer ads and exercise tips, and possibly motivational quotes.
To help you get fit while drinking beer mindlessly scrolling through your social media feeds? I don't know.
To be honest, I prefer cat videos which I get a lot of too. Evidence maybe that Siri gets me after all.
Anyhow, actor Denzel Washington seems to be a font of inspiring quotes based on the feeds I've been receiving lately.
Denzel had this one banger the other day that really got me nodding my head.
And not just because nodding my head is a sign I'm about to doze off mindlessly scrolling through social media.
Denzel said something that resonated, and I paraphrase, probably not very accurately.
"A dream without goals is a recipe for failure."
There I was thinking all these years that a dream is a recipe for failure.
No, turns out dreams are just a close approximation of failure until they come true.
And that's the key right there.
In order to make dreams come true you have to set goals and have a go, thereby taking the risk they won't. For illustration, look to the Australian Open this week.
Certainly a lot more losers than winners there, particularly if you're rooting for the Aussies.
Only a few players ever win their matches and even fewer go on and win a tournament.
But that's sport and life in general right?
A great inverted pyramid of dreams and goals and reality checks. Especially when weighed up against how many tournaments you, the spectator, might have qualified for this year.
Better to focus on the positives which Denzel was trying to do as he continued.
"Commitment is necessary in order to start, but consistency is what will enable you to finish."
Of course, never cite consistency as a strength if what you consistently do is never finish something. Right Nick Kyrgios?
You get knocked down, but you get up again - that's how you eventually win a home grand slam. Right Ash Barty?
The secret of success for most of us is not so much the success as the seeking of it.
Identify a dream, set some goals and commit to having a crack consistently.
In that way you may eventually achieve something truly amazing, like getting off social media and really confusing your algorithm.
For motivation, you can quote me on that.
