Bassadelic.com :: #1 samples source online! We help electronic / hip hop producers with sounds, resources, tutz, theory, interviews & more!

by StrangeFlow (aka 5ifty$ix K)

Ah, yes, overly aggressive motivation. A bodybuilder’s level of ambition; but applied to much more artistic endeavors. We all need a slap in the face from time to time, so, if you’re offended by any of these, keep in mind, they’re only trying to pump you up and get you excited about getting to work on conquering your goals. Maybe you’ll like ’em, maybe you’ll hate ’em, but you’re already on this page now, so you might as well scroll down and take a look ;)

So, a few of these were taken from sections of my new book, designed for electronic musicians (and artists of all kinds) called, Guerilla Blueprints for Creative Passive Income, and others were just inspired by some of the ideas of that book. The following text is taken directly from that ebook *which is only a few bucks, and feel free to pick it up and help out the site :)

Basically, the point is this: I hate 99% of all the motivational quotes I have ever read.

For one thing, they’re all just so goddamn cheesy. From, “You can do it!” to “Don’t Stop Believin’,” they’re just so goddamn unhelpful. You see them on people’s social networking pages all the time and you think, ‘damn, if this quality of uninspiring-inspirational quote is the norm, how insane would an actually-inspiring quote be?

For another thing, many of those quotes seem to be coming out of a barely-making-it mentality. They’re written as if they were designed specifically for people who are depressed an don’t really want to expect much out of life. I call it Low-Expectation Motivation, and generally, I’m not at all interested in it. (so, I’ve displayed a few more aggressive ones throughout this page…)

I’m not inspired by some run of the mill ‘anonymous quote’ written to motivate me to try JUST hard enough to attain an adequate or moderate level of success, nor am I particularly excited by quotes that only hint at greatness in super-vague terms, like, “Reach for the stars,” which is stupid and overused. I mean come on, “You can do it,” …? Or, another one, “Don’t give up on your dreams!” There’s a huge line between uninspiring and too-aggressive, and after all, I’m not saying it should be, “Fuck Your Dreams To Death!” – Although, that quote would probably get your attention more than the former, and in the end, shouldn’t motivational quotes shock you into some sort of action? Hmm… Just saying…

The point I’m trying to make, as I complain about Low Expectation Motivation, is that it is a great idea to develop a thought-vocabulary (yes, ‘thought-vocabulary’) of big ideas, and cultivate a “Let’s All Conquer the Shit Out of Life!!!” type of attitude.

And yes, three exclamation points are necessary…

The one below is my favorite:

I know, I know; not every quote will be inspiring to every person. But think about some of the old ‘standard’ quotes – the one that says ‘Hang in There.’ Seriously, hang in there? What a low expectation. Someone put that on a poster? But where’s the imagination? Where’s the ambition? I don’t want a quote about how a BIG life isn’t worth trying for, or even a quote about how awesome life can be IF it’s written by a person who sounds like they fucking hate living. Even if the quote is vague, it should at least reflect an expectation of high ambition, and NOT a mentality of barely making it.

One idea that motivates me is the following: “What would the most motivated man alive be doing, right now?” (or, “most motivated women”) Usually, when I read this one in my notebook, my response is something like, “Damn, I could be doing more, right now, couldn’t I?… Hmmm… What would that super ambitious freak be doing right now, and how can I become him?” So I made this one, below:

Feel free to copy any of these, change ’em around, do whatever. Scare yourself into ambition, if that’s what it takes. Slap yourself into a frenzy of disciplined hard working. Nobody wants to hear the phrase, ‘Discipline yourself,’ but the truth is, the most successful people in the world have almost always been individuals who cultivate at least SOME discipline (often, a LOT of it).

The goal here is not just putting your mind in a direction of mere positivity, but rather, forcing your thoughts into the realm of greatness and high achievement, which is far more desirable as compared to the hopeful attainment of second best. If mere adequacy is your aim, you might as well Photoshop the word, “Settle,” in quiet, inoffensively small letters atop a pixelly background JPEG of a sunset, print it out, hang it on your wall, and call it quits.

So, if ANY of these strike a chord with you, print that shit out, hang it up on your wall (WHERE YOU’LL SEE IT) and build your motivation. Sometimes, you have to push yourself. But you’ll be glad you did. Or, if you have any of your own, post em up in the comments section! I’d love to see ’em!!!

UPDATE!

I just found this motivational graphic, and though it’s cute and fun, it’s also somewhat fitting with the overly-aggressive theme I was trying to cultivate for my post, here. So, here: “You can only die once!”