3 Motivational Phrases That Suck

Feb 19, 2025

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We’re covering three popular motivational phrases that can do more harm than good.
We’ll explain what these phrases miss about the human experience, how they can backfire, and a better framing for each.
We’ll also finish with some philosophy around motivational phrases, and how to find ones that help you.

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The world is full of little quips that can help us in the right scenario—yet some popular lines can backfire.

Today we’ll cover:

Three popular phrases that may hurt us more than help us.
- A better framing for each phrase.
A quick philosophy of motivational phrases and how to find ones that help you.

Let’s roll …

Phrase one: “Nobody cares, work harder.”

“Nobody cares, work harder” is printed across t-shirts and appears frequently on social media, usually accompanied by videos of people exercising.

The phrase rose in military circles and was adopted by professional sports teams, especially in the NFL.

I imagine the phrase could benefit someone who frequently worries about what others think of them. It may help them persist despite critics.

But the phrase has never sat right with me, so I recently investigated why—and the result cemented many of my ideas about how we really improve.