Motivation is so important to us all

I suspect that many people suffer from a lack of motivation to do things for themselves.

Very few have anything that they are passionate about.

A measure of this inactivity is the time people people depend on others to entertain them.

For instance time spent:

Watching TV

Cruising the internet - reading tweets - looking at blogs - reading forums - all with out participating - or doing so in a very superficial way

Playing Computer Games

These activities skate along the boundary of depression.

We have expended very little emotional energy so we don't end up feeling good about ourselves. We lack a sense of achievement from the time we have spent.

We can begin to change this by being encouraging to others whenever we can. This is not to say we should praise poor performance but inevitably there will always be some thing to encourage.

People really blossom with a little regular encouragement.

This is particularly true for young people they need to regular strokes when the put energy into doing something for themselves.

I have a lot of respect for Dr John Ashton who comments regularly with a lot of wisdom.



This year's report of Cumbria NHS, looks particularly at mental illness, which accounts for a fifth of all diseases in the UK and ranks even higher than cancer or heart disease. One key concern raised was that thirty thousand children in Cumbria could be at risk of developing poor mental health, as emotional problems in early years often undermine long-term health.

NHS Cumbria’s Director of Public Health, Dr John Ashton, said: “As we prevent the physical causes of ill health and early death, the emotional and psychological side has become more prominent. We spend a lot of resource making sure babies are healthy, but by the time children leave school, around 10-20 per cent are in trouble of one kind or another; either emotional, behavioural or lifestyle due to obesity, alcohol or drugs."

Dr Ashton continued: “All children need mental health coping skills, a personal life plan, and a passion for something that isn’t going to get them into trouble."

A few positive words can make a tremendous difference, particularly if they are sincere and not repeated without a good reason. This to my mind is where criticism is important.

Positive comments in amongst critical ones carry a lot more weight.

Let's be on the look out for slipping in a positive word whenever we can.

And that goes for me as well!