“Give Your Dream A Chance”

How do you start off your days?

A lot of motivational messages use metaphors related to playing a sport or fighting a war. You will often hear motivational speakers ask rhetorical questions that will force you to compare yourself to an NBA All-Star player or a military man on the battlefield. Those motivational messages often include statements such as “the greatest players don’t cry or quit after they miss a shot or lose a game … they go and train. They train harder. They train from sun up to sundown.” Or “a soldier in battle knows there is no retreat. They have courage and never back down. They fight until the end. They never quit!”

When it comes to motivational messages, the moral of the story is always to believe in yourself. The moral of the story is always to allow your passion to drive you across the finish line. Another moral of the story is, your finish line is going to look different from someone else’s. We all have our own version of success and we define success and victory differently. We also define challenges and setbacks differently. But the reason why those metaphors about magical sports players and fearless warriors in motivational messages resonate so much with us “regular” folk is that we possess those same characteristics and qualities whenever we face life, its challenges, and the hurdles standing in between us, our goals, and success.

Last week I found a podcast called “Motivation Daily by Motiversity.” I have always desired to start my days off with more mindfulness activities rather than my usual R&B music on Pandora. I searched “motivational message” on my Podcast app and when I saw it, the graphic of the Show drew me in. I listened to the episode that was uploaded for that day (they upload new episodes just about daily), and I was instantly hooked! I still don’t know what kind of podcast it is because it seems to just feature snippets and motivational message recordings that may have aired somewhere else rather than having the same spokesperson share a motivational message each day, but the versatility is what I like most about it! (Update, Motiversity is a record label that produces the Motivation Daily podcast and its mission is to “find, create, produce and share the greatest people and products that will make the largest positive impact on the world”). I also enjoy how it delivers just the right amount of a pick-me-up; most of their messages are around just 10 minutes in length (outside of their “compilations” that are usually around 30 minutes in length but share the best parts of some of their best motivational speeches).

I found a new addition to my morning routine!

Here is a transcript of an episode published on Monday, February 14, 2022, titled “I CAN DO IT!” It is part of a motivational speech by Lisa Nichols (reading it won’t be the same as listening to it with the emotion and passion in the speaker’s voice and the accompanying music, but the message is definitely still there!).

See, we want to grow, but we want to stay liked by everybody. I was willing to be my own rescue at the risk of your approval. Most of us aren’t like that. Facebook is an example, we want to be Liked! Well, I woke up and I Liked myself today, so your Like is extra. My job is to Like me first. I was willing to say everyday, ‘Lisa, you like you? Lisa, are you proud of you? Lisa, are you playing full out?’ Everyday before I checked in with anybody else.

I was willing to inconvenience my entire life, my entire life. I was willing to disrupt my entire life to buy my future. To buy my possibility. To give my dream a chance. See, we’re not supposed to tuck our dreams in on the pillow when we get up in the morning. We’re not supposed to leave them at home. We’re going to fulfill sombody else’s dream; we’re not supposed to do that, that’s not what we’re wired to do. That’s not who we are.

Your human spirit doesn’t care about the economy … The human spirit doesn’t care about the past … Your human spirit doesn’t care about any of that. Your human spirit simply says, ‘what’s our command for tomorrow?! What do you want to create?!’ It’s not keeping score; your brain is keeping score. Because your brain is designed to keep you safe. Your soul, your intuition, your human spirit is designed to make you soar.

When you get to the edge, your brain will always tell you to step back. It’s always going to tell you to step back because you could fall. Always. It’s going to tell you to step back. Because before you fail, ‘the last time you did this, you saw someone else fail, you could hurt, you could be off work,’ it’s going to tell you it’s designed to keep you safe. So you have to be willing to play between your brain and your soul. And on some days you gotta just listen to your soul … Most people are at the edge, and you’re standing at the edge and you’re watching everyone else fly! … Wondering what it’s going to be like when you jump without ever jumping. And I’m just here to tell you, JUMP. Because only 3 things can happen. You’re either going to JUMP + FLY, or you’re going to JUMP + FALL on something soft, or you’re going to FALL DOWN HARD. Either way, you’re going to GET BACK UP. You already know you got what it takes to get back up.

You’re greatest fear is not that you will fall, you’re greatest fear is that you will live a full life and never fly. That you never leaped. You’re not afraid of dying, you’re afraid of dying before the world sees who you really are. Before they really get your fingerprint. Before they really feel your breath. Before they really get your contribution. …

Most people want the convenience of transformation without the inconvenience required for transformation. So, my grandmother says, and I love to repeat this, “your conviction, what you’re passionate about, your conviction, and your convenience don’t live on the same block. They’re not even in the same Zip code.” So, if you want to have a conviction for something, you have to sign up. Sign up to be inconenienced.

We’re trying to find convictions and passion and breakthrough on the inside of our box. Well, when you realize that the box doesn’t even exist, … I don’t even own a box … when you start thinking like that, all of a sudden, everything is possible. …

Your story is not meant to be your fortress, your story is meant to be your fuel. …

“I CAN DO IT,” Episode 119 on Motivation Daily by Motiversity, 2:51-9:17, speech by Lisa Nichols, (emphasis my own)

How did that motivational speech make you feel?! Did it make you turn inward and really check yourself?! I know that’s what it did for me. I strive to do everything I do in excellence, and I always prefer to embrace a challenge rather than maintain complacency. It’s okay to be content. Please, don’t compare yourself to your neighbor who is starting that new endeavor, because that will just get you off track! But, embracing a challenge can mean jumping. Flying. Stepping out of your box. Pushing yourself over the edge. Inviting your next chapter to come in. Give your dream a chance! The world is already so cruel; please don’t rob this world of your amazing gifts, talents, and contributions!

I hope you enjoyed that snippet of Lisa’s speech. I am looking forward to starting my days with episodes of Motivation Daily by Motiversity. And if you’re looking for more motivational messages, you can check out my Motivational Messages on my YouTube Channel here! I post a new message every Monday morning.

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” — 1 John 4:1, NKJV.

Moni Jay, Off the Record