Motivational Speaker

So, like I said. I am a person who wants to be heard. Since most students tune their teachers out, I thought, I'm in the wrong profession. I need a job where people pay money to hear what I have to say.

TaDa! Motivational Speaker!!! I looked into it. Turns out, it's a hard profession to get started on. Still, I thought, if I was a motivational speaker, what would I have to say? And so, I started writing down my ideas. This is what I came up with.


Are you tired? Tired all the time? Raise your hand if what I describe resembles your life. Wake up early (if you’re crazy) go to the gym, then eat breakfast on your way to work, put in 10+ hours with a quick unhealthy lunch hunched over your keyboard, come home too tired to cook and wash the dishes that follow, so you order out; eating something quick and unhealthy again, then plop into bed just in time to wake up and do it all over again. It makes you feel like that kid with the melting two-scoop ice cream cone? You’re trying to enjoy every lick, but it’s melting so fast, it’s all gone before you realize what happened.

So what do we do? We play the lottery in hopes that we’ll win big, never have to work a day again in our lives, and we’ll spend away all of our problems. Or we pick up a bad habit trying to cope with the stress in our lives.

So how do we slow things down, how do we put happiness and meaning back into our lives? Everyone has a different recipe. There are hundreds of books out there that will give you step by step instructions on how to organize and simplify your life, how to be healthier so you can live longer and be happier, how to meet the right person, how to buy the best house. The list goes on. All these things are supposed to do the trick. But what most researchers say, and what I have found to be true are three simple things. They are:

1. Pursue your dreams.
2. Surround yourself with people whose company you enjoy.
3. Nurture your inner child.


Ladies, notice none of those had anything to do with a clean house. Gentlemen, notice none of those had anything to do with your favorite sports team winning a championship!

I know you’re probably thinking, surely it can’t be that simple? I truly believe it is. Think about the people you know who seem to be truly happy. I bet every one of them has at least one of these three qualities.

Now you’re probably thinking, okay well, it works for them but it can’t work for me because _________ fill in the blank. I disagree.

Let’s go back over the three keys to happiness in more depth.

1. Pursue your dreams / a.k.a. follow your heart. How is this done? Well, let’s take Jamal for example. Jamal wanted to grow up to be a professional basketball player. The only problem is that Jamal is 5’6” weighs 140 lbs. And has scored more women than he has points in a game. We can safely guess that Jamal will never be a professional basketball player. But the truth is that Jamal loves the game of basketball, not the fame that comes with being a professional. So he can pursue his dreams by coaching a basketball team or just playing with some friends on the weekends to relieve some stress. What I love about this idea is that Jamal could incorporate all three keys to happiness in one game. By playing basketball, he is following his love of the game, by playing with friends, he is surrounding himself with people he enjoys, and with a little imagination (remember what that is?) Jamal could beat Michael Jordan every weekend. But, I’m getting ahead of myself.
2. Surround yourself with people whose company you enjoy. Humans are social animals. Some of our fondest memories revolve around big gatherings, Christmas, Weddings, Birthdays, Cookouts, Church, sleepover, sports, etc. Some of you may say to yourself, NO, I just want to be alone! I’m an introvert. So then hang out with other introverts!! But find a way to be around people. But be picky about who your share your time with. Don’t get so desperate to be with people that you would allow abusive or harsh people into your life. Make sure they are people that you really enjoy. That is not an easy task. There are very few people who the more I get to know them the more I like them, but these are the kinds of people to include. Now if you’re like me and it is difficult to make friends, read some books, ask others how they do it, or just face your fears head on and give it a try. It can be a scary feeling, but just don’t take any of it personally and you should do just fine.
3. Last, but not least, Nurture your inner child. The best advice I ever heard was to nurture my inner child. First off, I didn’t think I had it in me, but I was told that everyone has an inner child I just needed to find her. I’ll never forget the time my husband made some corny joke and I rolled my eyes at him. This was early in our dating and he said to me, “You know you can play along?” I didn’t understand what he meant, and he explained that when he joked like that, I could continue the joke by playing long. This would make it more fun. So, my husband had to teach me how to joke around! Needless to say, my inner child was buried very deep. I’m still discovering parts of her I didn’t know where there. Most adults feel uncomfortable with this idea. So the best way to start is to make a complete fool of yourself. To start, I'll need everyone to stand up and push in your chair. We're going to dance the "Tooty-Ta!" It's easy to do. We simply move our bodies to the beat while we follow the directions.

A tooty-ta, a tooty-ta, a tooty-ta ta!
A tooty-ta, a tooty-ta, a tooty-ta ta!

Thumbs up! (Thumbs up!)
Elbows back! (Elbows back!)
Feet apart! (Feet apart!)
Knees together! (Knees together!)
Bottoms up! (Bottoms up!)
Tongue out! (Tongue out!)
Eyes shut! (Eyes shut!)
Turn around! (Turn around!)

A tooty-ta, a tooty-ta, a tooty-ta ta!
A tooty-ta, a tooty-ta, a tooty-ta ta!

Now, the next time you feel silly indulging your inner child, just remember that you did the "Tooty-Ta!" in front of hundreds of other adults. I promise, nothing will feel silly after that.

So, what do you think? A budding Motivational Speaker, right? ;)