So it’s Monday morning, or very late Sunday night (yeah I know you), and you’re in need of a pick me up since you’re dreading the week ahead. If you’re totally basic, like me, you may head over to Pinterest, search for a motivational quote and post it all over your Instagram, captioning it “Monday come at me”.
I totally get where you’re coming from and the need for a pumped-up, not-so-blue Monday. But, let’s be honest people, does one quote comprising some measly motivational words really change our outlook on the week? As a self-confessed post-er of said quotes (you only have to check out @scanfash on Instagram), I’m going to over-analyse these questionably persuasive phrases.
- The extent of motivation produced
Monday lands, and I post a quote – be it something as cheesy as: “Add a little confetti to each day”, or even worse, “You can’t make everyone happy you are not Nutella.” Yes, I have pinned these before. Shamefully, not that long ago. But this motivation to make every day of the week happier, or to not bother so much about making every single person in the world happy at once, is questionable. How long does it really last? Admittedly, I think I make it through about half an hour and then I’m back to feeling blue, and dreading leaving my warm bed.
- Just for girls?
I conducted my own little experiment, taking a risk and posting 9 quotes on ‘Overhead at Lancaster’ and asking the members’ opinions. One member, Jon Story, commented saying: “It’s just ‘improve your life’ rubbish that people post on Facebook rather than actually going out and improving their lives.” In many ways, I totally agree with Jon here, since most of the morals of the quotes are never appear to be acted upon. Another Facebook member called them “vacuous nonsense”.
After all this asking around, I have come to the conclusion that these quotes really seem to be a girl thing, and girls are almost positioned to read and post them. And it seems to be girls that find them most inspirational, whilst guys generally brand them “pretentious” and “meaningless”. However, some members of the Facebook group are more positive, pointing out how “the quotes themselves mean well, it just depends on who is using it as to how meaningfully it comes across” says Ben Gledhill.
- Do they have a purpose?
Sometimes, these quotes are taken out of context to become an inspirational “life quote”. But, I pose the question, do they have a true purpose? Are they to inspire us? Or should we simply take them with a pinch of salt? If your purpose is motivation then you may find them helpful, but kind words from a friend or pushing yourself to actually go to the gym in the morning, might motivate you more…
The conclusion? If they appeal to you, and help your Monday morning much better then go for it. Pin away, post away, life quote your week away. But if you would prefer to make it happen in real life, get out of bed on that Monday, and bad-ass walk your walk to campus. Sorted.
