External Motivation, Part III: The Role Model

Part 1: The Playlist
Part II: The Workspace

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My childhood hero was Sailor Moon. She was an irresponsible, clutzy crybaby on the outside, but on the inside she had a huge heart. She cared for her friends and family deeply, held more self confidence than I could ever hope to have, and believed that everyone was worth saving--everyone, even the bad guys. Her grades sucked--there's no delicate way of putting it--but every night she saved the world from whatever evil made itself known. She didn't win every time, but didn't let it stop her; she held an incredible amount of hope and faith in her heart. I wanted to both be her and be friends with her at the same time.

She was not only someone to look up to, but a friend when I felt like I had none. She and I go way back; she taught me to dream without hesitation, love without consequence, and fight for what I want out of life. The influence the character and the show had on me as a kid was a big factor in making me the person I am today.

In this case, I didn't consciously choose my role model. It's something I didn't even realized had happened until later, after a significant amount of thought and reflection. But often, a role model is someone we purposefully pick out; someone we see and say, "Hey, I wanna be like you!"

A role model can be a great source of motivation. Sometimes it's hard to mentally picture the person we want to be, and seeing this person who is excelling at all of the things we want to do gives us something solid to shoot for. In some cases, they can even give us adivce on how to get there!

But there's a danger in idolizing someone, be them fictional or real. We don't often see their failures, making it that much easier to ignore their faults and the reality of the life we want to live. When we see someone with the skills, talents, and attitudes that we lack, it's easy to feel discouraged with our own progress. It's easy to think that we'll never be as successful as they are.

It's also easy to lose yourself; when you're trying so hard to be like this other person, it's all too easy to drop the "like" and focus on being their twin. Instead of shooting for our own accomplishments in our own way, we try to do it just like they did. We drop our own opinions and interests and pick up the ones that made this one particular person so successful. We try to follow in their footsteps instead of forging our own path.

It's great to have someone to look up to, and knowing that they beat the odds to get where they are not only motivates us but inspires us to do the same. But you have to be careful that you use this role model to fuel your motivation, instead of letting the idea of them hinder it.


Who's your role model? Tell me in the comments!

Until later,

- Justyne