Motivational videos can only take us so far when it comes to inspiration. With that said, I do my best to listen to one every morning. Sometimes its a new one, other days I listen to one of my many favorites.
Enjoy! Hope at least one of these motivates you today.
#1
There’s just something about Les Brown that really rings true to me. The first story in this video is told by Les and it’s hard to disagree with his message: Two similar men who used completely different approaches to get where they want to be in life. There’s lots of greatness in this video, but what really does it for me is the message that you have to change your mindset and surroundings — get the toxic out, in order to find success.
#2
This video has a very clear message: “If you’ve never failed, you’ve never lived.” Unlike a lot of the motivational vids on YT, this is like some kind of infomercial type video that I’m pretty sure predates the modern Internet, certainly YouTube. Learn about some of the world’s biggest achievers and the rocky start they had before hitting it big.
#3
“The person who works the hardest wins.” Nice message from Will Smith in the following video. He summarizes success as requiring two specific actions — running and reading. Running because running hard makes you want to quit, but that perseverance will make you stronger. Reading because it teaches you the skills you need to get where you want to go.
#4
We’ve all been taught that it’s not how you win or lose, but how we play the game that’s most important. I don’t believe in living in regret, so if you do finish second — or last — then there’s nothing you can do to go back and change that. However, this video makes it clear that few people remember the also-rans in life. Time to get to work!
#5
I have to admit that I missed the Steve Jobs bandwagon by several years. Like many of the greats, he was dead before I noticed his massive contribution to the world. You learn a lot about Jobs and his unique journey — including the faith in himself that led him to dropout of college so he could go to life school. Warning: Windows bashing in this video!
#6
I can’t stand the ding-ding-ding of Steve Harvey’s game show. So, I was more shocked than anyone that a Steve Harvey speech would touch me so much. A major success in his own right, Harvey talks of some of the people he’s surrounded himself with throughout his life. One such guy was a young man who didn’t want to hang out with his friends at night because they stayed out too late — he had to get up early to cut grass. Harvey and friends laughed at him then. Now the man owns a multi-million dollar grass cutting business.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypDytWpLcOo
#7
This video likely needs no introduction if you’ve watched this type of stuff on YouTube for any amount of time. This video basically started the next phase of Eric Thomas’s career. Taking him from a college-level motivator to a global one. “When you want to breathe as bad as you want to succeed, then you’ll be successful!” Inspirational stuff!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRfoFGGyRvU
#8
I’m a sucker for athletic triumphs. That doesn’t mean that a good story such as the one below can’t inspire us in our business or other life goals. This is a real tear-jerker in my opinion — the music’s real fitting for the story. Warning: NSFW due to the extreme potential to bring you to tears!
#9
I’ve listened to this video for awhile, had no idea it was funnyman Tyrese Gibson narrating. He really sounds so mature and grounded — far from the comical guy who starred with Paul Walker in Fast and Furious 2. Anyhow, the main takeaway from this video for me is always that tomorrow’s a new day, there’s always time to change until you’re dead. Also, getting the losers out of your life is essential to getting to where you want to go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iaLQZ73ujQ
#10
Another man that many would find it hard to believe to be a great motivator is comedian Jim Carrey. So inspirational, this one quote from him “I don’t believe in hope. Hope’s a beggar. Hope walks through the fire and faith leaps right over it.” There’s several other speeches to listen to including Will Smith, Wayne Dyer, Eric Thomas and Les Brown — to name a few. Love the well timed bass hits during Eric Thomas’s speech.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRaTpTVTENU
What’s your favorite motivational video?
Post up a link in the comments.
