"Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice"
About this Quote
The subtext is classic self-help with a clinician’s edge: your inner life may be influenced by history, trauma, systems, and chemistry, but your day-to-day orientation still contains decision points. Dyer isn’t denying hardship so much as refusing to let hardship be the final editor of your behavior. “Whatever has to be done” widens the frame beyond inspiration posters; it suggests the unsexy chores of change: therapy appointments, difficult conversations, quitting the numbing habit, taking the walk anyway.
Context matters. Dyer rose alongside the late-20th-century self-actualization boom, when psychology migrated from clinics into airports and talk shows. That era’s promise was empowerment; its blind spot was how easily “choice” can sound like moral judgment. The quote works because it’s deliberately provocative: it risks sounding harsh to puncture the comforting fiction that inertia is neutral. If you’re waiting to feel ready, Dyer’s message is that readiness is optional. The choice is already being made.
Quote Details
| Topic | Motivational |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Dyer, Wayne. (2026, January 18). Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/be-miserable-or-motivate-yourself-whatever-has-to-2299/
Chicago Style
Dyer, Wayne. "Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice." FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/be-miserable-or-motivate-yourself-whatever-has-to-2299/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice." FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/be-miserable-or-motivate-yourself-whatever-has-to-2299/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.






