advice v.s. motivation — Joseph Coker

There is a big difference in between the sign on the side of the highway telling you how far you are from town and the music you listen to in the car as you drive. To me, that is in a nutshell, what the difference is between advice and motivation.

Why is it worth splitting hairs on this?

The reason for me, is because any time we attempt to ascend to a higher level, we need of both. Its not wrong to look to others who have scaled the mountain we hope to scale. Ask for pointers, ask for pitfalls. But there is no amount of advice that will tie your shoes for you.

Thats the job of motivation.

I am a huge huge fan of both. I hate wasting time. I am a creature of authority. I am always looking for the highest voice. I am looking for the best way. As we get older, we learn that most of the time that does not exist, but out of the myriad of voices, certain themes or narratives emerge.

The problem is most people shut down their dreams because they either don’t look for any input, or they look for so much input that they hamstring themselves. Most of us tend towards one or the other, my tendency is the latter. I am afraid of making mistakes. But eventually, the pain of trying and failing is overwhelmed by the pain of doing nothing and I just go.

I love advice. I love getting it (when its good), and I love trying to give the most helpful and insightful advice I can when asked.

But advice is the start. Motivation is everything else. We have to have fuel. My whole life i have known that i listen to music as fuel. I listen to music based on what I am trying to do. I think about how I need to feel to do whatever I’m doing, and I pick that. I’m really judicious about it. I know that music can be my motivation. Other times i know that I am plenty motivated, and I need to distract myself while I work. Times like this I will listen to dumb shit like debates or Dr. Phil.

As I am attempting big things in my life right now, I am reminded of this polarity. I want input, but then I know there is a time when input has to be replaced with long difficult protracted effort.

I hope you find the voices you need to be motivated, and I hope you find signs to guide your way. And then I hope you do the same for others when you can.