The broken centerpiece of our personal motivation strategy

There’s a novelty coffee mug with three phrases printed on it, each corresponding to the level of liquid in the cup.

From top to bottom it reads as follows:

Unable to communicate in full sentences.
Slightly more coherent but still unable to hold a conversation.
You may speak now.

It’s funny, it’s accurate, and it’s the perfect gift for people who can’t function until they’ve had their morning joe.

But if we dig beneath the surface, this gift also sends a deeply flawed message. Because the mug is basically enabling a person’s addiction. And in a world where people will use almost any excuse to justify their bad manners, isn’t it time we stopped letting each other off the hook just because we didn’t have our precious before coming into the office?

Besides, have you ever met some of these people? When did a lack of morning coffee become an acceptable excuse for being a jerk?

We need to stop accepting chemical dependence as a legitimate reason for poor work and disrespectful behavior. The rest of the office shouldn’t have to suffer through other people’s addiction withdrawal symptoms before being able to do our work.

And not to deny the deliciousness and usefulness and importance of the ritual around coffee. There’s a study from a molecular psychiatry journal that identified several genetic variants associated with highly habitual coffee drinkers, clinically proving that a given amount of coffee has different effects on different people.

No argument there. Coffee is a wonderful thing.

But the bigger issue here is isn’t really about coffee, it’s about motivation and regulation, two behaviors that are at their best when they come from within.

Whereas, if our energy level and ability to communicate feels inert and at the mercy of coffee as an external force, then there will always be something to complain about, something to blame other than ourselves.

Discipline is not a response to some external should, it is part of an inner strength.

Just because something is delicious and helpful and habitual, doesn’t mean it should be the centerpiece of our personal motivation strategy.

The goal is to cultivate internal sources of power so that our energy isn’t dependent on an external stimulus.

What if your refuge was not outside yourself?