Motivation vs. Meaning
Motivation is fleeting. Meaning is omnipresent.
Motivation is a temporary feeling.
When you read something inspiring you can feel motivated, but after a few days that motivation may fade until you read something else that motivates you. Motivation can get you started, but it rarely keeps you going. Motivation plays an important role, but it is not a long-term solution for success.
Meaning supersedes motivation.
Meaning is always with you. When you have meaning, whether or not you feel motivated in a particular moment is beside the point. Meaning is the perpetual motion machine that does not stop. It is consistent.
So how can we find meaning?
In the words of James Allen in “As A Man Thinketh”, “A man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart, and set out to accomplish it. He should make this purpose the centralizing points of his thoughts. It may take the form of a spiritual ideal, or it may be a worldly object, according to his nature at the time being; but whichever it is, he should steadily focus his thought forces upon the object which he has set before him.”
Spend time alone with yourself and dive deep into your soul. Work to understand what you want in life. Not what the world or your friends and family want from you, but what you want.
Your meaning could be a palace for yourself or a hospital for children, but whatever it is, you have to believe in it full-heartedly. You should choose a purpose that you truly care about. Set out to do something you are proud of. You do not have to share your meaning with the world. It can be a secret only you know, but become obsessed.
When a person has a true meaning in life their priorities become very obvious. The foggy path ahead becomes clear. Unnecessary or bad habits will shed effortlessly like a lizard shedding its skin. You will have power in your steps and movements because each step has a reason. Every second in life is a second you can use to get closer to your goal.
If your meaning does not keep you locked in and focused then that means you have not peered deep enough into your soul.