Once upon a time a psychology professor walked around on a stage while teaching stress management principles to an auditorium filled with students. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the typical ‘glass half empty or glass half full’ question. Instead, with a smile on her face, the professor asked, ‘How heavy is this glass of water I’m holding?’

Students shouted out answers ranging from eight ounces to a couple pounds.

She replied, ‘From my perspective, the absolute weight of this glass doesn’t matter. It all depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute or two, it’s fairly light. If I hold it for an hour straight, its weight might make my arm ache a little. If I hold it for a day straight, my arm will likely cramp up and feel completely numb and paralyzed, forcing me to drop the glass to the floor. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it feels to me.’

As the class shook their heads in agreement, she continued, ‘Your stresses and worries in life are very much like this glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and you begin to ache a little. Think about them all day long, and you will feel completely numb and paralyzed – incapable of doing anything else until you drop them.'

Source: 30 Motivational Stories To Push You Forward In Life

“During a research experiment a marine biologist placed a shark into a large holding tank and then released several small bait fish into the tank.

As you would expect, the shark quickly swam around the tank, attacked and ate the smaller fish.

The marine biologist then inserted a strong piece of clear fiberglass into the tank, creating two separate partitions. She then put the shark on one side of the fiberglass and a new set of bait fish on the other.

Again, the shark quickly attacked. This time, however, the shark slammed into the fiberglass divider and bounced off. Undeterred, the shark kept repeating this behavior every few minutes to no avail. Meanwhile, the bait fish swam around unharmed in the second partition. Eventually, about an hour into the experiment, the shark gave up.

This experiment was repeated several dozen times over the next few weeks. Each time, the shark got less aggressive and made fewer attempts to attack the bait fish, until eventually the shark got tired of hitting the fiberglass divider and simply stopped attacking altogether.

The marine biologist then removed the fiberglass divider, but the shark didn’t attack. The shark was trained to believe a barrier existed between it and the bait fish, so the bait fish swam wherever they wished, free from harm.”

Source: 30 Motivational Stories To Push You Forward In Life

A popular speaker started off a seminar by holding up a $20 bill. A crowd of 200 had gathered to hear him speak. He asked, ‘Who would like this $20 bill?’

200 hands went up.

He said, ‘I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this.’ He crumpled the bill up.

He then asked, ‘Who still wants it?’

All 200 hands were still raised.

‘Well,’ he replied, ‘What if I do this?’ Then he dropped the bill on the ground and stomped on it with his shoes.

He picked it up, and showed it to the crowd. The bill was all crumpled and dirty.

‘Now who still wants it?’

All the hands still went up.

‘My friends, I have just showed you a very important lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, life crumples us and grinds us into the dirt. We make bad decisions or deal with poor circumstances. We feel worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. You are special – Don’t ever forget it!’

Source: 30 Motivational Stories To Push You Forward In Life

Tharseo [Administrator] | 16 December 2021

A man was strolling near a herd of elephants that were being held back by a tiny rope tied to their front leg. The fact that the massive elephants are not even attempting to break the rope and set themselves free astounds him.

He noticed an elephant trainer standing alongside them and voiced his surprise. "We use the same size rope to bind them when they are very young and much smaller," the trainer explained, "and it's adequate to hold them at that age."

They are socialized to believe that they will never be able to break free. They never try to break free because they feel the rope can still hold them."

Moral: The elephants' erroneous conviction has deprived them of their freedom for the rest of their lives. Similarly, many people do not strive to improve their lives just because they have failed in the past. So keep trying and don't get caught up in false failure assumptions.

Source: Top 12 Motivational Stories For Students To Work Hard

Filos [Administrator] | 20 December 2021

Colonel Harland Sanders' real-life story of being disappointed several times throughout his life but still achieving his ambition late in life is really motivating.

He is a seventh-grade dropout who has attempted several things in life but has always come up short. At the age of 40, he began selling chicken, but his goal of opening a restaurant was repeatedly denied owing to conflicts and wars.

Later, he tried to sell his eatery as a franchise. Before receiving ultimate clearance, his recipe was denied 1,009 times. Soon after, the "Kentucky Fried Chicken" dish became an international sensation. KFC was sold for $2 million dollars once it was extended overseas, and his visage is still used in the logos

Moral of the story: Have you given up on a business idea because you've been rejected or failed a few times? Is it possible to accept a failure 1009 times? This story motivates everyone to keep trying and believing in themselves until they achieve success, no matter how many times they have failed.

Source: Top 12 Motivational Stories For Students To Work Hard

People visit a wise man complaining about the same problems over and over again. One day, he decided to tell them a joke and they all roared with laughter.

After a few minutes, he told them the same joke and only a few of them smiled.

Then he told the same joke for a third time, but no one laughed or smiled anymore.

The wise man smiled and said: ‘You can’t laugh at the same joke over and over. So why are you always crying about the same problem?'

Source: 30 Motivational Stories To Push You Forward In Life