

Why Inspirational Talks Don't Work - slapshot
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/jtaylor/detail?entry_id=96988

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SNK
Have you ever eaten a cheeseburger? How do you feel after? Well, full, right?
What a great feeling! You're well-nourished and ready to take on the world.
You're brimming with confidence. Your eye is on the prize and, by gosh, that
prize is yours!

Then something rather deflating happens. You wake up the next morning and the
cheeseburger is gone. You're still the same old you. And you may even feel
worse because, after the previous day's delicious cheeseburger, your hunger is
all the more glaring.

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steve8918
By the time I graduated, I went from being a top 10 student to being in the
bottom quartile. I didn't get dumber, or party or do drugs, I just kind of
stopped caring and lost complete interest.

I was even going to skip my graduation, when one of my friends convinced me to
just go. There, we had an honorary speaker, the CEO of some gold company. And
although I thought I wouldn't be interested, he was an eloquent speaker, and
he changed my life. He talked about his struggles, and how he eventually
overcame them all and became very, very successful, and he said something to
the effect of "being successful is fun."

I'm not sure what exactly about his speech motivated me, but after that
speech, I felt the urge to be successful, so I got my shit together. I
basically taught myself everything about programming, computers, hardware,
networking, etc. I persevered until I got a job in Silicon Valley, one of my
goals. And although I'm not fabulously wealthy, I'm doing better than my
classmates and peers back home, and I'm doing what I love. More importantly, I
still have more motivation to do better.

So, from personal experience I would have to disagree, but I guess peoples'
mileages may vary.

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Skroob
Huge difference between the title of the article and the title of the post.
I'd argue that inspiration comes from outside, and motivation comes from
within. Inspirational events can motivate you, but only motivation is going to
actually help you accomplish anything.

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NullSet
I'd agree with that sentiment. The author goes too far to say that people are
getting "hoodwinked". There are doers and dreamers, sometimes the dreamers
become the doers with a bit of a push. That's not to say that it happens to
everyone, but its safe to say that it could.

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joshkaufman
"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing -
that's why we recommend it daily." - Jim Rohn

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jasonshen
I don't understand the point of this article. "Looking deep within yourself"
is one way to find inspiration/motivation. To write off an entire library of
books/tapes/speeches/programs as manufactured and ineffective is absurd.
Personal change is extremely hard - ask a smoker/obese person who's tried to
turn things around - and everyone finds strength in different things. If that
means listening to a compelling personal story expertly delivered on stage -
who are we to judge?

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saurabhagrwl10
Well, its a question audiences ask after a motivational speech directly to the
speaker in the Q&A session. I tend to agree with the article and finally have
an explanation to give to the audience when they ask....

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iterationx
They work for some people. Not for others. News at 11.

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mtrn
Nice description: synthetic inspiration.

