This Book Will Motivate You by Steve Chandler

This Book Will Motivate You (also published as 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself) by Steve Chandler is a high-octane manual for sparking personal action. The core idea is that motivation is not a feeling you wait for, but a fire you light yourself through specific actions and mindset shifts. It solves the pervasive problem of procrastination and passivity by providing 100+ bite-sized, actionable tactics to transform “have-to” tasks into “want-to” desires, making it vital for anyone seeking to reclaim agency in a distracted world.

Who May Benefit

• Professionals and Salespeople seeking to increase productivity and resilience against rejection.
• Creatives and Writers struggling with creative blocks or fear of criticism.
• Leaders and Managers looking to inspire teams rather than just lecture them.
• Individuals feeling stuck or waiting for an external “break” to change their lives.
• Lifelong Learners interested in practical psychology from experts like Nathaniel Branden and Martin Seligman.

Top 3 Key Insights

1. Action Precedes Motivation: You do not wait for the feeling of motivation to strike; you act first, and the action itself creates the chemical and emotional state of motivation.
2. No One Is Coming: True maturity and power come from realizing that no one is going to rescue you from your circumstances; you must become your own rescuer and creator.
3. Create a Vision: You must actively design a “true lie”—a vision of who you want to be—and live into it, rather than letting your past or current personality dictate your future.

4 More Takeaways

• Simplify Your Life: Confusion kills aggression and motivation; identifying and eliminating the unnecessary allows you to focus your energy on what truly matters.
• Run Toward Fear: Fear is a signal to open your eyes wider, not close them; doing the thing you fear is the only way to dismantle it and gain energy.
• Pessimism is Lazy: Optimism is a rigorous intellectual habit of looking for solutions, whereas pessimism is a passive surrender to the idea that nothing can be done.
• The Power of Small Goals: Breaking huge tasks into tiny, manageable “process goals” keeps you moving and prevents the paralysis of feeling overwhelmed.

Book in 1 Sentence

Steve Chandler delivers a high-energy toolkit of 100+ psychological shifts and practical actions designed to turn passive worriers into creative, self-motivated achievers.

Book in 1 Minute

This Book Will Motivate You dismantles the myth that motivation is a personality trait or a divine spark that hits you by accident. Steve Chandler argues that motivation is a skill you practice, comparable to a muscle you build. Drawing on his own recovery from addiction and failure, as well as the teachings of psychological giants, Chandler presents short, punchy chapters that challenge the reader to stop reacting to the world and start creating it.

The book emphasizes that the brain is a biocomputer that you program through language, action, and vision. Whether it is engaging in “resistance training” by lifting the weight of circumstances or “playing the circle game” to align daily actions with life goals, the text offers immediate methods to shift energy. It moves readers from a “victim” mindset—where life happens to them—to an “owner” mindset, where they generate their own fire, happiness, and success regardless of external conditions.

1 Unique Aspect

The book utilizes a “non-linear” format of bite-sized chapters that function like “mental espresso shots,” allowing readers to open the book anywhere and find an immediately applicable psychological tool to shift their state from passive to active.

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Chapter-wise Summary

(Note: Due to the book containing over 100 chapters, the following is a curated summary of the most impactful and representative chapters to provide a comprehensive overview of the book’s core methodologies.)

Chapter 1: Tell yourself a true lie

“Without a picture of your highest self, you can’t live into that self.” Arnold Schwarzenegger became the number one box office star not by accident, but by creating a vision of his future when it didn’t exist. Similarly, we are often unable to see our own potential because we are stuck in our current “truth.” Chandler suggests we must construct a “lie”—a fantasy of who we want to be—and then live into it. By focusing on this fabricated positive future, the “lie” eventually becomes the new truth.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Visualize your highest self.
  • Fake it ’til you make it.
  • Create your future actively.

Chapter 4: Get on your deathbed

“Death can be more exciting than life.” Using a psychological exercise called the “deathbed visualization,” one imagines their final moments to gain clarity on what truly matters. Many of us live with “intention deficit disorder,” pretending we have forever to do important things. By vividly confronting your own mortality, you strip away trivial worries and fears. This paradoxical exercise creates a sensation of being born again, providing the fearless urgency needed to live a motivated life today.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Mortality clarifies priorities.
  • Stop waiting for “Someday Isle.”
  • Live as if dying.

Chapter 18: Use your brain chemicals

“There isn’t any feeling you can get on drugs that you can’t get without drugs.” Motivation is often biochemical, but you don’t need external substances to trigger it. Activities like running, singing, laughing, or hugging release endorphins and energy naturally. Chandler argues that fun and energy are inside the body, not hidden in external events. By consciously choosing activities that alter body chemistry, you can manufacture the motivation you need on demand rather than waiting for a good mood to strike.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Create natural highs.
  • Move your body.
  • Transform tasks into fun.

Chapter 25: Run toward your fear

“Fear kills more people than death.” Most people spend their energy avoiding what scares them, which only causes the fear to chase them down like a persistent dog. Chandler shares his personal battle with stage fright and how he overcame it not by hiding, but by aggressively running toward it. He emphasizes that on the other side of the “curtain of fear” lies safety and beneficial growth. Action is the only cure for fear; avoidance only feeds it.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Face fear immediately.
  • Action cures anxiety.
  • Growth lies behind fear.

Chapter 38: Come to your own rescue

“No one is coming.” This chapter introduces a core concept from psychologist Nathaniel Branden: the realization that no one is going to save you. We often harbor a childhood fantasy that a parent, spouse, or boss will fix our broken lives. Accepting that “no one is coming” is terrifying but ultimately liberating. It shifts the burden of survival to the self, fostering independence, self-esteem, and the power to generate your own happiness without dependency on others.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Abandon rescue fantasies.
  • Accept total responsibility.
  • You are enough.

Chapter 53: Keep thinking, keep thinking

“The pessimist, as far as the use of the human mind goes, is a quitter.” Optimism is not just a happy feeling; it is a rigorous cognitive process of looking for solutions. Chandler contrasts a pessimist, who sees a messy garage and gives up, with an optimist, who keeps thinking until they find a “partial solution” (cleaning just one corner). Pessimism is intellectual laziness. Motivation comes from the persistence of thought—breaking big problems down until a small, actionable step is discovered.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Pessimism is quitting.
  • Find partial solutions.
  • Thinking creates motivation.

Chapter 92: Try becoming the problem

“I am the problem.” As long as you view your problems as external (the economy, your spouse, your boss), you remain a victim with no power to change them. By voluntarily accepting the statement “I am the problem,” you immediately shift the power dynamic. If you are the source of the problem, you are also the source of the solution. This radical responsibility eliminates finger-pointing and activates the creative mind to fix the situation.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Victimhood destroys creativity.
  • Own the problem.
  • Be the solution.

Chapter 103: Catch life by the handle

“You can catch life by the handle or by the blade.” People obsess over a “negative imaginary future,” which causes them to catch life by the “blade,” cutting themselves on worries that haven’t happened. Chandler advises slowing down and engaging with the present moment—the “handle.” By focusing on the present (the handle), you gain control and leverage. Racing ahead into catastrophic future scenarios renders you powerless and anxious.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Avoid future-worrying.
  • Stay in the now.
  • Slow down to succeed.

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10 Notable Quotes

1. “The funniest thing about fire is that it takes fire to light it.”
2. “If you want to be motivated, shift your inspiration to someone else.”
3. “Problem-solving is taking action to have something go away… Creating is taking action to have something come into being.”
4. “We don’t sing because we’re happy, we’re happy because we sing.”
5. “A goal without an action plan is a daydream.”
6. “Action doesn’t care who you are.”
7. “Worry is a misuse of the imagination.”
8. “It’s hard to be aggressive when you’re confused.”
9. “Love is always creative and fear is always destructive.”
10. “The way we choose to see the world creates the world we see.”

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About the Author

Steve Chandler is a world-renowned life coach, keynote speaker, and corporate trainer based in Phoenix, Arizona. A former recovering addict who transformed his life, Chandler has authored more than 30 books, including the bestsellers 100 Ways to Motivate Others, The Prosperous Coach, and Reinventing Yourself. He is often referred to as “the most powerful proponent of self-esteem and personal transformation working today.” His work focuses on shifting clients from a victim mindset to an “owner” mindset, using humor, psychology, and hard-won personal wisdom. He has trained over thirty Fortune 500 companies and teaches at the University of Santa Monica.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is motivation something you are born with? No. Motivation is a skill you create through action, not a trait you inherit. You can “program” yourself to be motivated.
2. Does fear ever go away? Fear shrinks when you take action. The only way to cure fear is to do the thing you fear; avoidance only makes it stronger.
3. Why do affirmations often fail? Affirmations fail if you don’t believe them. It is better to use “self-conversations” or “debates” where you logically prove to yourself why you are capable.
4. How can I stop worrying? Turn worry into action. Ask “What small thing can I do right now?” Action makes it impossible for the brain to sustain the state of worry.
5. Is it bad to be pessimistic? Pessimism is ineffective. It shuts down creative thinking. Optimism is a superior “system” for navigating life because it leads to solutions.
6. How do I find my life’s purpose? Look at what makes you happy. Your purpose is usually hidden in the activities that give you energy and make you lose track of time.
7. Should I focus on my weaknesses? No. You should exploit your weaknesses by reframing them as strengths, or focus on building your strengths. Focusing on shame kills motivation.
8. What if I don’t feel like doing the work? Do it badly. The permission to do a “shitty first draft” or a “bad run” breaks the paralysis of perfectionism and gets you moving.
9. Can I change other people? No. You can only change yourself. However, by changing yourself, you inspire others to change. Lead by example.
10. How does death help motivation? Confronting the reality that your time is limited destroys procrastination and clarifies what is truly important to do today.

Theories and Concepts

• The Biocomputer: The brain is like a computer that runs the software you feed it. If you feed it tabloid news and gossip (“GIGO”), it produces anxiety. You must consciously program it with inspiring inputs.
• Visioneering: A concept from Dennis Deaton involving active mental imaging. It is “engineering dreams into reality” by diving into the mental picture of success before it happens physically.
• The Ladder of Selves: A model where “The Mind” sits above “The Emotions” and “The Physical.” Successful people move up the ladder to think with their minds, while reactive people get stuck thinking with their emotions.
• Active Relaxation: Unlike passive relaxation (TV), active relaxation (hobbies, games) refreshes the mind and restores creativity by engaging the brain in a different way.

How to Use This Book

Treat this book as a non-linear toolkit rather than a novel. Keep it in your car or on your desk. When you feel stuck, open it to any random chapter, read the one-page tip, and take one small action immediately. Use the “jingles” and quotes as daily reminders to reprogram your thinking.

Conclusion

This Book Will Motivate You strips away the excuses that keep us small and hands the controls back to you. Stop waiting for a rescue party that isn’t coming. Pick one idea, take one small action, and light your own fire today—because the only time you can ever create the life you want is right now.