Momentum Partnerships

social marketing & corporate responsibility (CSR) & business and human rights

Why do we love inspirational quotes?

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Why do we love inspirational quotes?

Inspirational quote.We love inspirational quotes!  A great quote is priceless to get an idea across, for credibility or to break the ice to relate to an audience – large or small. 

Quotes are often found on postcards, posters, in speeches, on social media accounts – to name just a few. There seems to be a quote for every occasion.  Quotes are like music: reflecting a mood and relating an experience – without the music!

Why is there a quote for every occasion?

  • Quotes bring larger texts or concepts to the point  and create a collective consensus which is helpful in quickly and succinctly conveying ideas. 
  • A quote which appeals to us does so because it reflects an idea, concept or emotion we already know or reinforces what we think is right but are unsure of. 
  • Quotes reflect who we are, how we see ourselves and/or who we would like to be. Quotes express our aspirations and convictions and allow others to relate to us (or not). 
  • On the negative side, quotes also are part of the new world of instant gratifications. While a quote is all of the above, it is unable to deliver sustained motivation without us doing the work to reach our goal or to build that character. 

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Ten last minute Christmas presents

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Ten last minute Christmas presents

It’s this time of year again. We search for last minute Christmas presents.

More and more people celebrate the ‘Festive Season’ formerly known as Christmas:  a holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, who, in the eyes of Christians, is the son of God.

Why is Christmas popular to non-Christians?

Why is Christmas so popular and reaches beyond religious boundaries? Because it sells just about everything and is therefore loved by business owners around the world AND it allows us to express our love for each other. This makes for a great consumer festival where everybody wins – except the planet!

Buy less stuff ending up in landfill. Make gifts that matter instead.

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Valentine’s Day during a Pandemic

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Valentine’s Day during a Pandemic

It’s February and you know what that means – advertisers trying to sell us more stuff – cards, flowers, wine, gimmicks, experiences and the idea that we are lacking in some way if we don’t have a significant other or have and don’t wish to take part in Valentine’s Day spending.

Are you spending the right amount of time, money or impression on someone or yourself?

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Money can’t buy happiness

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Money can’t buy happiness

Or can it? The saying ‘money can’t buy happiness’ isn’t always true…

If you live below the poverty line money will ensure you can buy yourself physical security and feel emotionally better due to the reduced stress that lack of money brings with it.

Disposable income can also be used to help others. Research suggests people who help others are happier than people who spent all of their money on themselves. Spare income allows us to donate to causes close to our hearts and leads to happiness.

Once we pass a certain threshold, namely $75,000US according to Economists Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton, we won’t be any happier when we earn more and upgrade existing and add more possessions to our own private empire.

The things that bring long-term satisfaction and contentment can’t be bought with money, on the contrary, instant gratification particularly can actually have the opposite effect. [Read more…]

Inspirational quotes for a new decade

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Inspirational quotes for a new decade

A new year and a new decade.

January 2020 – the end of an old and the beginning of not just a new year but a new decade.  A decade of hope and to move into the right direction.

A time for collaboration and consensus building.  A time for integration of the different, of the poor, of the voiceless, of non-human animals, of plants, of everybody and everything.  A time to create balance.

Goals and resolutions.

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A new year – a fresh start ?

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A new year – a fresh start ?

We are half way into January and by now, your new year resolution(s) are probably already out of the window.  You are not alone:

Most New Year’s resolutions fail. That’s a fact.  

But don’t let this stop you from having one or several resolutions. Drawing one year to a close and starting a new one is a powerful tool for reflection, for taking stock and to set out where you would like to be in another 12 months time…  no goals = no results. 

Prove them wrong!

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The best Mother’s Day present

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The best Mother’s Day present

There is something unifying about Mother’s Day that few other commemorative days have to offer – we all have a mother and wouldn’t be in this world without her (our fathers have played a minor role of course… but that is a story for another day.)

Mother’s Day is for all of us and, regardless of circumstance, is an opportunity to cherish women for what they bring to the world. Women, like men are diverse human beings and come in all shapes and forms. Women are not perfect by any means however, today is not about a balanced discussion about the complexity and diversity of women. [Read more…]

Single on Valentine’s Day? Don’t stress – it has it’s benefits!

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Single on Valentine’s Day? Don’t stress – it has it’s benefits!

You are single on Valentine’s Day – you are not alone!

World-wide, the single person household is growing rapidly in line with economic development and education. The more developed and educated, the higher the proportion of single person households…it is predicted that the lone person household will rise most of all households over the next 25 years and more than half of these households are females.  And the reason is simply that people want to live an individualistic lifestyle when they can afford it.

The economics of Valentine’s Day

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Green Valentine’s Day 2016 for greenie sweethearts

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Green Valentine’s Day 2016 for greenie sweethearts

What is Valentine’s Day about ?

If love is an embrace, a kiss, caring and feeling – a fondness or affection, why then has the annual celebration of love – St. Valentine’s Day become a consumer driven machine worth an estimated $18.9 billion USD that leaves even the most reasonable of spendthrifts feeling a little sinful (estimate of figures by About News – that’s huge!)

In the 1850’s Esther A. Howland began mass producing Valentine’s cards in the US, from the 18th century custom of exchanging handmade cards to loved ones on St. Valentine’s Day and it has steadily gained momentum to the excessive holiday it is today that people love to hate and retailers unashamedly relish.

St. Valentine’s Day wasn’t always linked with love, it wasn’t until Chaucer’s Love Birds that the custom of exchanging cards began.

The history of Valentine’s Day:

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