MOTIVATORSNow is the time of the motivators. Anyone granted the gift of the gab thinks oneself as a motivator. We are today bombarded with thousands of motivators and hundreds of motivational courses, seminars, workshops, summer camps and what have you. (Of all things, 'summer camps' here in sunny Malaysia!!!) Each claiming victory over laziness, stubbornness, thanklessness, ungratefulness and all the other 'ness' around.
Every motivator comes out with a book of some sort. The success to this, tips to that, secrets of this, untold stories of that, pit falls to avoid for this and all other sorts of 'this' and 'that'. In fact we could probably find a motivational book for anything under the sun, if we search hard enough.
More often than not, whatever is written is just common sense. It has just been translated into written words, that have been arranged and put in a certain order. These books do not usually contain any mind boggling revelations, fantastic discoveries or astounding ideas. In short these books contain nothing more than rehashed material in a new binding.
Motivators who speak better are more popular. Many listeners are 'mesmerised' by what they say. But what do they actually say?
They use many different words that mean the same thing. They make a list of tips/ideas, claiming each one as a motivational point. But, lo and behold, most of the tips are actually the same thing put in a different way using different words. So in essence there is only one point!
Then they give tips for the husband, the wife, the children, the teacher, the student, the maid, the neighbour, the driver, the gardener, the undertaker and anyone under the sun. Not satisfied with that, we get tips for all and any kind of relationship, be it real or imagined. But alas, just as in the written word, the spoken word is no different. All the thousands of tips for all and sundry are actually the same essential common sense of life's characteristics.
At the end of the day what we have are just pages upon pages of the same thing and a repetition of words given a different twist. Nothing new and definitely nothing profound.
