That Old Chestnut

Why There’s Still Truth in Motivational Posters

My hometown used to have a gift and card shop called Clinton cards. I’d often wander in by myself, scouring the aisles to look at the mountains of trinkets, paper paraphernalia and general plastic guff England imported from China in the 1990s. Looking back, I still don’t know how they managed to shift it all. Either they were burning it or people back then had more money than sense. Probably the latter.

Clinton cards had one of those wall-mounted poster flip racks so ingeniously designed that only one person could use it at a time. When it was your turn, you’d hastily flip through Magic Eyes and ironic posters about beer and marijuana for rebellious teens to finally get to gawk at the good stuff — the scantily clad Britney Spears shots. A portion of the rack would always be “evergreen” and dedicated to motivational images of mountains brandishing tired slogans like “follow your heart” or “believe in yourself.”

“Follow Your Dreams” - Copywriter nearing retirement

The tip of the iceberg. Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

When we think about motivational phrases like these, we usually imagine them engraved onto an executive toy owned by “Steve”, a corporate highflyer who regularly outperforms his colleagues in sales revenue. But if these phrases are so nauseating, why do we still see them in our everyday lives? Have copywriters just run out of things to say or is there still some truth in these wizened sayings?

In this article, I’d like to take a closer look at some of the more common motivational quotes that are still relevant today and also the reason we overlook them.

Wretch for the stars. Photo by Fab Lentz on Unsplash

The Omnipresence of Motivational Quotes

Motivational quotes appear to us everywhere. Scroll social media for 5 minutes and I guarantee you’ll see one attached to an awe-inspiring image. Businesses build them into their narratives and they’re even used to divide sections of an article to make them more readable.

“Be careful — with quotations, you can damn anything.”

― Andre Malraux

Told you.

I’ve chosen a few phrases that I’ve seen very regularly and I’m sure you will have too. I could’ve included hundreds of examples here but haven’t for obvious reasons.

The Tip Of The Iceberg

I can’t tell you how many time I’ve seen this image or a variation of it. It’s not a motivation quote per se, rather a metaphor for success. The main premise is that people only see the outcome, they don’t see the journey and effort you put in and failures you had to endure to get to the point where you’re at.

People’s successes aren’t the result of one single action. They’re a combination of small actions taken consistently that build over time and gain traction.

Think of a house. The end of result is the entire building, the outcome. But it consists of many different constituent parts that all need to be built upon. Firstly, you need a strong and solid foundation. This foundation is below ground level so even when it’s constructed it’s invisible but it’s nonetheless essential for the rest of the house to be erected.

The next step is to build the walls. We do this step by step, brick by brick, effort by effort and little by little, the structure takes shape until we have the finished result.

Outsiders do not see or experience the process. They only see the house once it’s standing tall so however cliché the image/message is, it still holds true. There are no overnight success stories and many people still don’t seem to realise this. If you’re working on a project or trying to improve a skill, let growth be your north star. If you observe the success of others, do not be foolish in thinking it was merely down to luck and the result of a single action.

Keep Calm and Carry On

Cue the eye-rolling. The British government first printed this motivational poster in 1939 to help British citizens remain calm in the face of adversity at the beginning of World War II. Most of the population didn’t even see it.

Nowadays, you’ll have probably seen it printed more ironically on the side of a mug, a phone case or a cake tin. Even though it appears to be quite a generalised statement I think it’s even more relevant now given the global coronavirus epidemic.

It serves as an important reminder for us during these moments of hardship to do our best to keep level-headed. Little will come of feeling frustrated or panicked by the lockdown. So although many people (mainly the British) will shudder at the sight of this slogan, it would be better to exercise some stoicism when faced with an event beyond our control.

Everyone will be feeling some anxiety or worry to some extent. Do not let this take over your thoughts and drive your decisions.

If Life Gives You Lemons Makes Lemonade

Another pithy adage quite similar to “every cloud has a silver lining”. The message here is about making the most of a bad situation. It aims to encourage optimism for the reader and foster a can-do attitude. Whenever we’re in a difficult situation, we have a choice. Either we choose to make it better through action or change of course, or we wallow in self-pity and let life happen to us.

We are not helpless when it comes to challenging situations and I’ll illustrate this once again with the current lockdown situation. Either we see it as an unfavourable set of circumstances and endure the hardship, or we adjust our mindset and leverage the next few months to work on ourselves, build skills and develop healthy habits. Our outlook is everything so stop being bitter.

Make the most of it. Photo by Han Lahandoe on Unsplash

A Journey Of 1000 Miles Begins With A Single Step

This common Chinese proverb: 千里之行，始於足下 is about taking initiative through action and avoiding procrastination. It can be applied whenever something needs to be done. By taking the first step in whatever this “thing” is, we move towards our goal. The emphasis here is on the starting.

All success stories began with a single step. The internet has made it easy to discover the achievements of many but this access to information can be a double-edged sword, inspiring some: “If they can do that, so can I” whilst dissuading others: “I’ll never be as good as they are”.

As I mentioned in the “tip of the iceberg” example, only the outcome of a successful project is visible. The constant building begins with the first step. Start moving!

Start. Photo by Bruno Nascimento on Unsplash

Semantic Satiation

When you say the word “flower” you know what exactly what it means. Your mind conjures up an image of a green stem with some coloured petals. Say the word 100 times and it begins to lose meaning. This is known as semantic satiation, a process by which a word or phrase loses it’s meaning through repetition.

Perhaps we have been exposed to the most meaningful motivational phrases so much that they cease to resonate with us. If we saw “You can do it” in spray-paint each time we turned a corner we’d begin to assume it just meant “deface a wall”. If you walked in front of the pyramid of Giza each morning it might start to become part of the furniture.

Recent trends have led marketers, for example, to reconsider how they advertise “Black Friday”, the ubiquitous nature of which prevents it from standing out.

Just another building. Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash

The phenomenon of semantic satiation is not solely restricted to sound. Gestaltzerfall refers to “shape decomposition” and Olfactory fatigue describes the temporary inability to distinguish a particular odour.

The next time you see a seemingly cheesy motivational phrase, instead of turning your nose up, I invite you to learn something from it. Perhaps there’s still some undiscovered wisdom written on the posters of Clinton cards.

Thanks,

A friend

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