Today is Martin Luther King Day

He said, “If you can’t fly, then run

                 If you can’t run, then walk

                 If you can’t walk, then crawl

But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward”

Do you want to get out of bed in the morning? Have something you want to do? Want to go somewhere? If you answered NO, you probably need a motivational speaker. We used to get our weekly pep talks from the Priest in Church but that was when we all used to go to a place of worship every week. So, now we book a time to listen to the professional Rah Rah People! They are called motivational speakers and they make a lot of money.
They are can do people. They can certainly make a lot of money for themselves but their job is to make you feel that you can do whatever.

People are eager to be motivated. I guess they cannot find any motivation by themselves so they seek help. Maybe you cannot buy success and happiness but there are plenty of people willing to help you find both.  They say stuff like, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together” stuff you have to think about. There are self- help seminars all over the country. One group is called the I Can Do It. They have stars in the industry like Wayne Dyer who has one basic mantra, “Think good thoughts and good things will follow.” Things your Mom always used to say when she fixed your tie or something.

He says to take the last 5 minutes of your day and reflect on or put your attention on everything that you would like to attract. I am well, I am healed I am abundant. I am happy. Just say these things to yourself and you will feel better in the morning. He rose from being raised in an orphanage to becoming one of the best- selling authors ever. He also has plenty of company as speakers. According to the National Speakers Association, there are more than 40,000 paid speakers in the United States and roughly a third , about 13,000 work as motivational-speakers.  Do we really have a market of insecure people in this country to merit the need for so much motivation? I would hate to think that America is such a sad country.

Americans are always disgruntled. We want a better job, better husband, better home and better kids. Americans do like a good speech. Like Martin’s I have a dream rant. We love the General Patton speech in the 1979 movie where he is standing in front of a giant flag saying, “Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a looser.” We may give up on our dreams at times but no one wants to be a looser. In grade school when the teacher asks the young children , What do you want to be when you grow up? No one says a Convicted felon, or Drug Addict or Thief. Hell there was a guy who just ran for Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island who recently spent 4 years in prison. Marion Barry won reelection after a cocaine bust caught on tape. When motivated, anything is possible.

Guys like Tony Robbins are very wealthy motivating others. Right now the business of motivation is booming. Like a successful comic who needs a good laugh from their audience every minute in order to be considered a good comic, a good speaker must keep his audience engaged somehow. There is no motivation in a boring speaker. A good speaker earns about $20,000 per speech and sells books and products. A message of hope over adversity is still in demand as it was in Martin Luther King’s day.