When motivation is like a fading perfume.

They’re slogans that promise to light up our spirit, to lift us, to shake us from our apathy. Some sound a little trite —or, let’s say it, predictable. But does it matter? In that exact instant when you read them, something stirs inside you. A small spark of hope. And you believe.

But how long does that spark last? How long does it stay in your head, in your heart, or even just in your day? Often, not long. It fades like a delicate perfume: it scents the air, brushes your neck, and then the next day, it’s gone. The motivation sparked by a beautiful phrase can light up a moment, but it doesn’t always illuminate a path.

Many of these phrases are so generic they end up feeling like empty mirrors. They tell you to dream, push forward, never give up, but they never tell you how. What steps to take, what knots to untie. At best, they give you an initial signal, like a distant light on a dark path.

And that’s fine, even helpful. But if you don’t have a map, a travelling companion, or a concrete project —if you don’t find an anchor within yourself for those words— that light remains something to long for, not to follow.

Some quotes even border on the absurd. “Be yourself. Unless you can be a unicorn. Then be a unicorn.” It’s funny, sure, but what does it really teach to someone who feels neither unicorn nor ordinary? Or “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” It’s ironic and honest, but popular precisely because of its harshness, not its practical wisdom.

These are quotes that work better as satire, as memes, than as guidance. Some compare them to the messages you find in fortune cookies.

So why do we keep searching for them, sharing them, hoping that this one —this time— will make a difference?

Because they’re easy. Immediate. They don’t demand effort. They don’t expose us.

But the kind of motivation that lasts, the one that doesn’t dissolve with the first gust of wind or the moment you step into the office, comes from something deeper. It requires something more tangible.

It takes real reflection: asking yourself why that phrase struck you. What does it mean to me? What does it imply? Don’t just accept it passively. Write it down. Talk about it with someone. Strip it of its halo of perfection and see it instead as a suggestion, a starting point, not an absolute truth.

It takes community and friendship, a friend who asks if you truly feel motivated, not just inspired. A friend who doesn’t always applaud, but challenges you, keeps you accountable. Someone who helps you build the path, not just admire it from afar. And most importantly, someone who does it without judgement, because they care, because they feel you.

And it takes care: care for your body, your mind, your environment. Sleep well. Move. Cultivate a hobby. Read something more than “inspirational quotes”, read real stories, poetry, biographies. Because what truly nourishes self-esteem, what builds (or rebuilds) it, isn’t the viral motivational quote of the moment, it’s the fabric of life that sustains it.

In the end, if you think about it, the deepest motivation is like a rich, rare perfume: it doesn’t hit you instantly. It settles on your skin, slowly grows, and lingers even when you think it’s gone. It’s a scent you still feel when no one’s watching, when there are no likes, when the world is quiet. And most of all, it’s something you claim as your own, something you nurture within, even when, at the end of the day, you can no longer smell it in the air.