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Obligation is the worst form of motivation

18 years today since I started at the 1303 school in Moscow (Lyceum:)). Just because I wanted it this way! Then there were 2,5 years of hard studies&great parties while exploring who I truly am.

In this occasion I would like to share a great text by the public speaker, journalist and just a great californian woman Christine Hassler, published on the 17th Dec2009.

"Are you shoulding all over yourself? Do many of the sentences that make up your inner dialogue or conversations begin with the word “I should?” If so, you may find yourself exhausted, depleted, confused, angry/irritable, depressed or all of the above! Why? Because obligation is the WORST form of motivation. Doing something for the primary reason of thinking you should keeps you from doing (and knowing) the things you really want to do.

Think of it this way: if you are doing something because you feel obligated by someone or something to do it, the motivation is coming from outside of you. You are not inspired, you are shoulding on yourself! Inspiration is the kind of internal and self-directed motivation that creates fulfilling and on-course results in our lives. True that obligation can indeed get us to take action, but there is rarely any joy or creativity in moving from obligation. Moreover, any results you produce from shoulding all over yourself are usually not lasting.

....

Today create your own life by saying no to using obligation as motivation. There is really no such thing that you “should” do so stop shoulding on yourself. Replace the “have to’s” in your life with “want to’s.” Rather than thinking and speaking in “I should’s,” use “I choose” and begin to notice INSPIRATION is a much better type of motivation!

Fondly, Christine"

And some good words that support the idea:

“Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself.” – Richard Bach

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs


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