Interview with a Motivational Influencer

Everyone is chasing success, and success comes from hard work. But where does hard work come from? It comes from a tingling internal feeling called motivation. We've been seeing gurus take to the internet and provide this invaluable gift through their posts, videos and online activities. If you regularly follow their content, you'll be able to sustain enough motivation to achieve your dreams and get the life you really want.

So to learn more about the motivation industry, I decided to interview one such internet motivational guru, who has inspired millions of people into ambitious action through his social media. His name? Mr. Yetty.

Q: Hello, Mr. Yetty! I'm so glad you decided to talk to us. I want to start off by asking what inspired you to start making motivational videos in the first place?

A: Thank you, I'm really excited to be here.

Well to be honest, I never really intended on making motivational videos to be honest. I just wanted to be a big internet celebrity. So I bought some gear and started shooting videos and uploading them. But you know, the tough part is coming up with content ideas that people want to see.

One day, I got to learn about this idea of being a motivational content maker. There are endless topics to make videos on, they are really easy to make, and if you include the right buzzwords like "toxic" and "gratitude", you're an instant hit.

Q: Wow! I did not expect that. Is it really that simple?

A: Well, yes but no. What's important, is to have charisma and exceptional public speaking skills, so that people believe that you're giving them original and useful information. Not everyone can pull that off.

 The "product" I'm offering is pretty vague and subjective in nature, so people tend to judge how legit you are mostly on your presentation and marketing.

Q: I see. But surely, you give out a lot of good advice in your videos. May I know how you come up with them?

A: If you observe closely, you'll realise everything I say is just generic life advice that you've been hearing from your childhood. Like I said, it's all in the presentation. I make videos with a very straightforward, simple and unrealistic script where I show someone doing something bad and then them suffering the consequences.

The production quality is high, so people don't mind how naïve the story is. Then I show up at the end and blurt out the obvious. Throw in some random analogy about trees or water and boom! People think you know what you're talking about.

Q: I never noticed that but come to think of it, it all makes sense. Anyways, do your fans come up to you and tell you about the impact you have had on their lives?

A: All the time. My inbox and comments section is filled with my fans complimenting my wisdom and how I have changed their lives. Perhaps I did, perhaps I didn't. I don't really know. But you can't really provide hard physical evidence of what I teach. Perks of being vague and subjective, I guess.

Q: That was very insightful. Would you like to conclude this interview by saying something to our audience?

A: Of course! Your journey in life is like growing a tree.

First you plant the seed, which is your potential. The soil the seed is planted in is your environment. Just like how the quality of the soil will determine the growth of the tree, the people you surround yourself with and the environments you're usually in will greatly affect how far you go in life. Then you need to regularly take care of the little plant as it grows.

You need to water it, provide fertilisers in the soil, and protect it from harsh weather conditions and insects. Similarly, you need to provide yourself with the necessary education, learning and beneficial practices such as exercise and eating right. Also, the tree needs the help of the sun to grow. That's you requiring the help of others in life. Then after all that, the tree grows into this giant glorious living being and bears fruit for everyone to eat. That's you, achieving success and then giving back to the world.

Finally, the tree meets its demise when a group of men appear with axes and chops it down. This means that in life, if you encounter an angry mob armed with sharp objects, you better run for your life.

Q: *in tears* Oh my god, that was so beautiful! Thank you for giving us your valuable time.

A: My pleasure.

Mushfiqur Rahman Shanto is a lost and confused soul going through his early twenties' crisis. Send him life advice at [email protected]