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Motivation in Hard Times

2022-03-22 · letter vlog · John · 3:33 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Philosophy & meaning · mode: Personal essay · tags: self promotion

Sharing excerpts of a pep talk he recorded for AFC Wimbledon, John says his early career ran on resentment, fear and anger, a fuel that burns bright but dirty; love burns bright and clean and can pull us through hard times, and spring is coming.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — A pep talk for AFC Wimbledon; John's daughter on the seasons; the way things are is not the way they will always be

  • ★★ John says someone at AFC Wimbledon, the third-tier English club 'we sponsor', asked him for a video message to the struggling team; his pep talk did not magically turn things around. — 00:00:00 · AFC Wimbledon
  • ★★ John's eight-year-old daughter recently said that in winter she feels it will never be warm again, and in summer that it will never be cold again. — 00:00:00 · Alice Green
  • ★★★ John says the seasons go on changing anyway: the way things are is simply not the way they will always be. — 00:00:29
  • ★★ John says he knows nothing of viewers' problems except that they are as real to them as his are to him, and knowing others have worse problems doesn't help. — 00:00:29

00:00:58 — Resentment, fear and anger as the fuel of John's early career: it worked but burned dirty

  • ★★★ John says that early in his career he was motivated mainly by resentment, fear and some righteous indignation: he wanted to prove everyone wrong about him. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ John wanted to prove his ex-girlfriend wrong for dumping him and his college creative writing professor wrong for saying he wasn't good enough to take his class. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ John says that fuel worked: he wrote late at night after work and all weekend, and his book was published, won awards and sold its movie rights. — 00:00:58 · Looking for Alaska (novel)
  • ★★ John says it also didn't work: he stayed full of resentment, anger and fear, thinking he needed them to work, and success raised the pressure as readers and others' jobs depended on his next book. — 00:01:27
  • ★★★ John says resentment and anger as fuel burn bright but burn dirty. — 00:01:27
  • ★★★ John says this fuel left a hole of insecurity and anger in him; when people said nasty things about him or his work online he often lashed out, hurting many people including himself. — 00:01:56

00:02:26 — Love as the fuel that burns bright and clean; spring is coming

  • ★★★ John says what works for him now is love: for writing, for his readers and for the people he works with; love is the fuel that burns both bright and clean. — 00:02:26

    “Love is the fuel that burns both bright and clean.”

  • ★★ John says love is forged not only in good times but also in surviving and turning around bad times together. — 00:02:26

  • ★★ John says that when he needs resentment and anger he will still use them: he is not above it and uses anything that works. — 00:02:26
  • ★★★ John believes love can pull us through hard times: love for the games we play and the people we play with, ourselves, strangers, teammates and families. — 00:02:26
  • ★★ When John writes now he tries to think with hope about what the story might mean for others rather than for him, and then the pressure and fear melt away. — 00:02:55
  • ★★★ John says it has been winter for a long time and may be for a while longer, but spring is coming. — 00:03:24

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description announces the brothers' new thing, the Awesome Coffee Club, with very limited slots now and a proper launch in a few weeks; John's channel comment calls it a monthly coffee subscription whose profits all go to stronger health care systems. — video description · Awesome Coffee Club

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: love · resentment

Also: AFC Wimbledon · Alice Green · Looking for Alaska (novel)

Only in the description or credits: Awesome Coffee Club

Also centred on love: I Love My Brother · Happy Esther Day! · Lives Made of Love - Esther Day 2016 · Two Love Stories · Uncertain and Afraid · you're bundled up now? wait till you get older.

Also centred on resentment: On Burning Resentment

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