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Can you be motivated in an adverse scenario?

The new normal so widespread and talked about to live and get along in the post-pandemic period seems to have become more difficult to achieve.

Without wanting to get too much into the economic issue left by the Covid-19 pandemic, which cost immeasurable amounts and we are still paying the bill.


No sooner had we associated the blows suffered by this crisis and soon after comes the Russia-Ukraine war, further complicating the world economic scenario, affecting even more the financial situation of all of us. And to make matters worse, there is a new fact in international geopolitics, the tension between China and Taiwan, which further destabilizes this scenario.


But I actually want to talk about the other side of the crisis, the one that gets harder to measure: the negative effect on physical and mental health. As harmful as the economic effect.


We know that every crisis is a challenging time of a lot of stress, which usually causes physical, mental and psychological imbalance and usually leaves sequels, sometimes irreparable.


The devastating effects brought by Covid-19 directly affected people's physical and mental health, as in every crisis, but this time it seems it went much deeper. According to the UN there was a 33% increase in cases of depression and anxiety. In fact, the latter is considered the evil of the century.


To make matters worse, a new disorder has emerged: languishing. Literally translated as abatement or blackout. A persistent feeling of apathy, hard to define, a middle ground between extreme happiness and agonizing sadness.


You know that feeling that your life is stagnant.


While in burnout syndrome the sensation is of an engine stalling due to overheating, in languishing it is like the engine just kicking in.


The person cannot fit into any of these situations: neither pessimistic nor optimistic.


It reminded me of the story of the father of two identical twins, very similar physically, but totally different when it came to facing life. A happy and optimistic. The other totally opposite: sad and pessimistic.


The father on their birthday decided to play a game with the boys. He gave the pessimist a bicycle and the optimist a pot of horse poop.

The first looked at the bike and began to complain:

- What the hell! I'm going to ride a bike, and I'm sure I'm going to fall and bust my ass.

The second opened the can and, seeing that it contained horse poop, came out happy shouting:

- Cool! I just won my first horse.


Another story tells that a President of a certain country, concerned about the very critical economic situation, asked for a survey to find out how the people were facing that situation.


In possession of the research, the Minister of Economy started reading the report, saying that half of the population was optimistic, thinking they would eat shit.

The President, surprised by the information, asked the Minister:

- Aren't these the pessimists?

Without batting an eye, the Minister replied promptly:

- No sir. They are the optimists. The pessimists are thinking that shit won't work for everyone.


Everything changes the way you look at the situation. Although the reality is the same, for some, crises are problems and for others they are opportunities.

There is a popular saying that a glass with half water is half empty for the pessimist and for the optimist it is half full.

I complement this saying: when motivated when he sees a glass half full, he already asks for another bottle.


The motivated goes beyond the optimist, because he not only reacts positively in normal situations, but especially in adverse situations, when he uses his instinct to overcome.

Only the motivated can turn the adverse situations in their favor, thus leaving stronger than when they entered, because they can look with optimism, even if the scenario is totally unfavorable to them.


John Maxwell says that life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it. Our life is nothing more the result of what we believe and how we react to situations.


I often say in my lectures that dreaming without action is illusion. Attitude is everything. React positively, even if the situation seems unfavorable to you, and you will be surprised at the result.


Remember that you can wake up each morning, feel pessimistic and complain about everything. Or you can feel optimistic and motivated and be grateful for everything. The day will be the same, but the results will not.


Can you be motivated in an adverse scenario and come out a winner?

It only depends on you. It's your decision!


Eduardo Martinez is CEO of Top Training – Training and Lectures, Speaker, Writer, Specialist in People Management and columnist for Gente Mais Portal.

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