Everyone loves a good movie and it’s even better when you can take something from your entertainment and stick it into your life. In the movie Jerry Maguire, we see Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.) coaxing Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) to scream “SHOW ME THE MONEY!” at the top of his lungs. Now, why is this important? All it looks like is that Rod has Jerry humiliating himself for fun, but what Rod has really done is discover Jerry’s motivation and he’s using it to benefit everyone. Rod gets to play for the team he wants, Jerry gets his money, the fans get to watch the games, and it continues to ripple out.

Motivation is a powerful thing and sometimes we all need a little help to find it. Maybe we need to coax someone into moving forward because we know the root of their motivation. Facing challenges, moving past fear, even something as simple as making dinner at the end of a long day takes motivation. Sometimes finding that motivation is easy and other times it’s hard. I’m gonna suggest that when it’s easy to find your motivation, write it down. When it’s harder to find your motivation you can look back on what you’ve written and remember what’s kept you going in the past. Situations change and motivations change but remembering that motivation doesn’t leave might just be the key to our successes.

Sarah Deats

Sarah Deats is a Behavioral Health Technician at RI International and the Hope Inc. Stories Inspiration Engineer.