Declare something, say all the motivational speakers.
What do you want? Declare that you shall have it. Want to be in better shape? Declare that you shall be. Want to get a better job? Declare that you shall have one.
We are comforted, energized, enthused by these declarations. Our mood, self-image, and self-esteem improve.
Unfortunately, the effects are temporary and diminishing. When the outcome doesn’t happen, we feel bad. And when we make our next declaration, it will be harder to work up even temporary enthusiasm as we recall the effects of our last failed plan.
Success comes not from self-motivating tricks and declarations of desired outcomes but from a steady, informed effort at progress.
When David Cynar was hit by a car at age fifteen, doctors told him he might lose a leg. He thought his life was ruined.
As he looks back on the incident fifteen years later, David sees that the adversity may have saved his life. At the time he didn’t care much about anyone or anything and had no motivation in school.
The accident took away his physical strength and made him look inward for new hope. “I became humbled at a second chance at life. But getting anywhere from there depended on self-confidence and self-worth.”
Rehabilitation led him to study karate, and slowly he regained use of his leg and transformed himself not only into an athlete, but also into an intense and driven person. “Dedication and commitment have to come from inside you, but once you have them, you can go anywhere.” Today, David juggles multiple passions as a successful salesman, a budding country musician, a black belt in karate, and a volunteer mentor for teens.
“I learned the hard way that positive thoughts and actions mean a healthier, happier, more successful life—and I love to share that with everyone I can.”
For 87 percent of us, declarations of self-change produce a temporary improvement in self-image followed, in a few weeks, by disappointment, which makes our self-image worse than it was before the declaration.
Polivy and Herman 1999