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Can I be happy and motivated at the same time?

Andrew Crabtree
2 min readAug 2, 2022

In a previous post, I discussed if meditation was making me lazy. I referenced a quote, “Motivation is borne out of discontent with the state of the world at present.”

This statement immediately jumped off the page.

I hadn’t seen the statement before and hadn’t thought about motivation this way. As usual, my brain quickly fell down a rabbit hole of curiosity:

“So, if you are happy with the world, you will never be motivated?”

“But, if you are not motivated, can you be happy?”

“Can I create discontent with the world to produce self-motivation?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m3hGZvD-0s

I am learning to take a step back when facing a challenge rather than react in a way my brain has been conditioned to over the last two decades.

Previously, I have been constantly on edge that I was not doing enough, not successful enough and regularly entered a spirling loop of self-loathing and criticism.

I have been like this for as long as I can remember. It isn’t a pleasant state of mind, but it has meant that I have constantly been motivated and relatively successful so far in my life due to this drive.

I have been constantly discontent with the state of the world and motivated to make a change. The motivation hasn’t…

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Andrew Crabtree
Andrew Crabtree

Written by Andrew Crabtree

I write about what I'm currently geeking-out over. What I read, watch and listen to, as well as my experiences as a Dad, Husband and Nuclear Energy Consultant.

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