The Overlooked Power of Spite

In 1994, one of Disney’s most powerful executives was disgracefully sacked from the company. He wanted to be promoted, but wasn’t (for a plethora of complicated reasons), and was immediately fired. Enraged and chock-full of spite, he went on to found DreamWorks, the studio that went on to become Disney’s biggest rival in the animation industry. In 2002, it bagged Best Animated Feature at the Oscars for Shrek, beating Disney Pixar’s Monster’s Inc. He even made Lord Farquaad a nearly identical caricature of Micheal Eisner, the CEO who fired him.

I totally see it.

This man was Jeffrey Katzenberg, and I think it’s pretty neat that Shrek exists because he was petty. Let me tell you why you should embrace spite too, and utilize it as your biggest motivator, just like Jeff.

Finding motivation, especially for academics, can be a pain. There are plenty of ‘handy’ tips and tricks everywhere that masterfully show you how to be constantly motivated to ace schoolwork and get nought but A’s on every exam. Study for the aesthetic of it, some say. Visualize your future and create goals, say others. Well, none of those seemed to work, and good old-fashioned ‘natural motivation’ just doesn’t come to some of us. And so, from within the suffering, came a brilliant discovery — spite works. Wonderfully so, in fact. Sheer, concentrated anger and spite at everything and everyone made me motivated like nothing else had.

So, they think I couldn’t get above an eighty on that test? Well, rethink that, because I’ll get nothing less than a hundred now, moron. I may have to study for it all month if I have to, but I’d rather eat raw eggs than lose to you now.

You think I couldn’t make a batch of cookies without burning the house down? Not only will the kitchen be wonderfully intact, but my chocolate-chip cookies will now be putting Gordon Ramsey to shame.

Oh, I can’t be productive, you say? Watch as every second of my existence now contributes to a higher purpose that will help me achieve every single goal I’ve set for myself.

I’ve realized now that nothing comes near to the power of spite. Nothing makes you want to accomplish your goals like being told you won’t be able to. It may not be the most aesthetic and pleasant method of motivation, but I know now — through experience and research — that it is by far among the most effective methods.

Sure, it comes with the price of despising everyone and everything — but it works, it really does. So, try it out. Fill yourself with hatred and contempt, and watch as you (somewhat) get your life together. Do what they say you can’t.

Happy hating!