Life Surrounded by Demotivators: Learning to Breathe in Heavy Air

 

Life isn’t always filled with cheerleaders clapping for us. More often, it feels like a crowd of demotivators stand in the front row, arms folded, waiting to remind us why we can’t, why we shouldn’t, why we’ll fail. Some are loud voices from outside — people who question, criticize, or belittle. Others are quieter but heavier: our own doubts echoing inside.

Being surrounded by demotivators is like carrying invisible weights. You wake up with good intentions, maybe even a spark of energy, and then comes the remark — “That won’t work,” or “Others are better than you.” Suddenly, that spark dims. It’s not always about dramatic insults either. Sometimes it’s the constant small dismissals, the rolling of eyes, the silence when you expected support. These moments pile up, and before you know it, they’ve convinced you to stop trying.

The hardest part is that demotivators can be people we care about. A friend who never celebrates our wins. A relative who constantly compares. A workplace that thrives on pulling down instead of lifting up. And when it’s family, the sting cuts deeper, because we expected encouragement but found the opposite.

But here’s a truth often overlooked: demotivators are loud only when we leave space for their noise. They can’t erase your ability, your vision, or your resilience. Their words may echo, but they don’t define the story.

Every person who built something meaningful in life carried their share of discouragement. They were told it was impossible, impractical, or foolish. What made the difference was not the absence of demotivators, but the decision not to let them have the final word.

Living among demotivators teaches us two things:

1. Inner voice matters more. The more you invest in your own belief, the less weight outside negativity carries.

otour attention. Some people speak from fear, jealousy, or their own failures — not from truth.

Yes, a life full of demotivators is exhausting. But it can also become training ground. The constant friction forces us to sharpen our sense of self-worth, to build a kind of armor not made of anger, but of quiet certainty.

At the end of the day, motivation doesn’t always come wrapped in applause. Sometimes it’s born in silence, when you choose to keep going despite the noise. That’s not just survival — that’s strength.