Learning to be Self Motivational from Viktor Frankl

Posted on December 9th, 2008 by admin in Motivational Stories, self motivational

If you have not heard of Viktor Frankl he is the author of several works, the greatest of these is the self motivational book Man’s Search for Meaning. Frankl was already formulating his approaches to focusing on the true meaning in life before the Second World War. After the outbreak of the war he and his family were dispatched to concentration camps. As the only survivor of his family he used his experience to further clarify his thinking on the meaning and purpose in life.

He realised that in the most extreme situation of depravation the one thing that could not be taken away from him was his freedom to think. He noted at one point that his concentration camp guards had more liberty than he but that he had more freedom of thought than those who carried out orders without questioning them.

One of the things he observed among his fellow prisoners was it was the ones, that were self motivational through focusing what was beyond their current situation and a purpose for their life, who had a greater chance of survival. Those that focused only on the misery of their current situation and the lack of meaning in it were more likely to perish. In fact he established a principle that people who have led a fairly superficial existence when they are thrown into a harsh environment often come out as stronger after their suffering. When they realise they have great freedom of choice even in a difficult situation it is incredibly empowering and self motivational.

He saw in the behaviours of fellow prisoners while still incarcerated and after their release inflicting pain and cruelty on others as a result of that meted out to them. This choice and reaction is found in many who have suffered from child abuse who go on to commit the same acts on their own children. To break such a cycle needs the realisation that we have a choice in how we interpret the actions of others and a choice in how we respond. It can make us stronger or weaker however we choose to respond.

In addition his experience taught him how precious every moment of your time can be. Many of his conclusions have helped self motivational people overcome procrastination. One principle he held was to try to do anything that needed doing as soon as possible rather than leave it to the last moment. As he explained, this ensured that when he had a lot of tasks to achieve he had not added more pressure on himself by putting off important activities which then only accumulate. In this way he taught us to stay out of overwhelm. Another principle, again used by self motivational people, is to tackle the least pleasant jobs before those that are easier to do. In this way we achieve the more difficult tasks while we are still fresh and the easier ones when we are not at our best. How often have you found yourself doing the reverse? However Frankl was known to confess that he was not perfect in keeping to this principle but admitted he always sorely regretted it if he had not stayed true. If you would like more information on Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning and other self motivational works take a look at my self motivational book list.

Also take a look at this short clip of the great man explaining part of his philosophy

 

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