Look at yourself after watching this

[chiro]

Keeping on the vibe of the subject there's a guy called Sean Stephenson who is wheelchair bound who does a similar kind of thing like this guy is doing.

David DeAngelo (for those of you who don't know he's one of those "Pickup-Artist Coaches") did a segment with him and said the same kind of things as this guy but in the context of relationships with women.

Personally in terms of "motivational" speeches, I think most people know what they have to do to accomplish whatever they want to accomplish but they just make excuses and fool themselves to believe that these excuses are justified.

When you see people like this guy, it does remind you that sometimes these excuses are pretty lame and that you're only fooling yourself to think that the barriers you put up are hard enough to stop you.

Also with regard to these other people "helping people", these people can't do that. The only way people can be helped is if they ultimately choose to help themselves. The precursor to that happening is often something dramatic: maybe you're a drug addict and your friend has died, maybe you're working in a dead end job and have had enough of it to want to pursue a degree, start a business, or have a career change.

It might even be that someone you know has cancer. These are often the things that get people to change whether its for the better or for the worse.

Also a lot of people are afraid to fail. We all look up to the people that win. What we don't often see is the process that went behind getting to that "win". People don't want to put themselves on the line personally, socially, financially, emotionally and so on.

 

[Evo]

I'll ask again, is it so different from a preacher comparing your situation to, "the suffering of jesus?" Just an example that springs to mind... because we should be concerned only with the quality of the message, not the nature of the messenger.

I didn't see any preaching, or chastising. I've been forced to attend all of the top motivational seminars, my company paid for all of them and we had to attend.

I hate these people, but he's not one of them. If I can't find fault with him, that speaks volumes. I am always ready and willing to rip apart anyone that has a touchy feely message. His position was, here are my challenges and this is how I've dealt with them. If it makes you rethink your own challenges, great, if you don't have challenges (as pythogorean suggested) then you're lucky.

 

[wrongusername]

b) Evo has been feeling particularly down lately and needed an emotional reminder of something she already intellectually knew.

Aww really? About what? :(

 

[Pythagorean]

I didn't see any preaching, or chastising. I've been forced to attend all of the top motivational seminars, my company paid for all of them and we had to attend.

I hate these people, but he's not one of them. If I can't find fault with him, that speaks volumes. I am always ready and willing to rip apart anyone that has a touchy feely message. His position was, here are my challenges and this is how I've dealt with them. If it makes you rethink your own challenges, great, if you don't have challenges (as pythogorean suggested) then you're lucky.

Sermons aren't always so Puritan. Ther was actually one particular night I was on a long drive flipping through stations and I heard this very soothing, intellectual structure of words describing social and personal issues and a very objective manner.

It took about fifteen minutes before I realized it was a sermon, but I lost some of my barriers to religious people that night. I also had a preacher for a teacher in a psychology class who was very respectful of neuroscience and evolution and knew from his psychology background that chastising was a shame association that can lead to psychological problems in youth.

I imagine he actually had informative sermons.

Anyway, I think both the motivational speaker and the preacher are remnants of our campfire days. Tell us a story, shaman! It doesn't devalue what their social contributions, but it's rather subjective as to what kind of people are willing to receive what message.

 

[nismaratwork]

I didn't see any preaching, or chastising. I've been forced to attend all of the top motivational seminars, my company paid for all of them and we had to attend.

Chastising?! No no no... that's not what I meant at all. I think I used the wrong word, "sermon"... I don't mean to bring the emotional baggage of practicing religion. Probably there was some error in using the "jesus died for you" example, but I didn't mean it in the context of, "FEEL BADLY THAT HE DIED"... more, "Look at this wonderful thing that was done for you." Note, I don't believe in any of it, nor am I Christian so... sorry!

One thing I'd note: Your company is not your friend, you aren't a kid, and you know going into it that it's not even for your best interest. This is arguably a very different situation, but none of that touches on the SPEAKER yet, just the setting. If you'd been forced by your company to attend THIS seminar (no arms no legs)... would you have been so moved?

I hate these people, but he's not one of them. If I can't find fault with him, that speaks volumes. I am always ready and willing to rip apart anyone that has a touchy feely message.

This is where you're a decent person, and I'm who I am: I'm always ready to rip apart any argument, person, or position, regardless of the source (myself included) or my own tastes and beliefs. Touchy feely certainly tends to annoy me, but it's much less insidious than intelligence and ideology in a mix.

His position was, here are my challenges and this is how I've dealt with them. If it makes you rethink your own challenges, great, if you don't have challenges (as pythogorean suggested) then you're lucky.

It's a challenge to be alive, and I don't mean for humans alone. Beyond that, his challenges are extremely unique in that they're highly visible and draw pity. By contrast, if you're saaaay, a poor mother in the Phillipines, nobody cares what you have to say... too many others with those challenges.

If there's a way to take his message without it relying on the messanger for its impact and quality, I'm interested. As it stands, I'd rather hear incredibly useful information from a boring and mediocre source, than a rousing presentation that is mostly feel-good. I don't like any message that requires a suspension of disbelief and critical thinking to appreciate it in the long run.

 

[nismaratwork]

Keeping on the vibe of the subject there's a guy called Sean Stephenson who is wheelchair bound who does a similar kind of thing like this guy is doing.

David DeAngelo (for those of you who don't know he's one of those "Pickup-Artist Coaches") did a segment with him and said the same kind of things as this guy but in the context of relationships with women.

Personally in terms of "motivational" speeches, I think most people know what they have to do to accomplish whatever they want to accomplish but they just make excuses and fool themselves to believe that these excuses are justified.

When you see people like this guy, it does remind you that sometimes these excuses are pretty lame and that you're only fooling yourself to think that the barriers you put up are hard enough to stop you.

On the other hand, do you think that anyone there believes he's going to win a foot-race? Not to be cruel, but if the message isn't plumb with the messanger, it's just "be happy, it could be worse, I live like this and I'm happy! You can be happy to if you just ignore what everyone else says, and believe me, because I live lke this, and I'm happy." (not a real quote)

Also with regard to these other people "helping people", these people can't do that. The only way people can be helped is if they ultimately choose to help themselves. The precursor to that happening is often something dramatic: maybe you're a drug addict and your friend has died, maybe you're working in a dead end job and have had enough of it to want to pursue a degree, start a business, or have a career change.

It might even be that someone you know has cancer. These are often the things that get people to change whether its for the better or for the worse.

...And sometimes you've already had those experiences before you get to the speach. Would a little girl with terminal cancer make a good motivational speaker, if she's genuinely positive? Live long enough, (and I'm hardly old) and you'll have friends come and go from cancer and more. It's less dramatic than you think, which is part of the problem.

Also a lot of people are afraid to fail. We all look up to the people that win. What we don't often see is the process that went behind getting to that "win". People don't want to put themselves on the line personally, socially, financially, emotionally and so on.

I can find no fault with this, and in fact I think that's a genuinely useful message. Evo, why didn't you point this out... I could be agreeing with YOU right now too! :crys:

 

[nismaratwork]

Aww really? About what? :(

If she wanted us to know, we'd know.