What motivates you

What motivates you?

Tim Connor

Or a better question could be – what de-motivates you? Let’s take a brief look at both issues. Motivators and de-motivators.

Motiv-ation – motives (goals, objectives, needs, wants) linked to action.

For years many people have relied on outside-in motivators such as fear, incentives, rewards or punishment to cause them to act but real motivation is inside-out not outside in.  Why?  Well, if you need or wait for an outside-in motivator what if it doesn’t happen or show up?  Do you just sit there and wait? Not a good strategy if you want success, achievement, happiness or results.

I am not going to delve into what success and happiness are but know that people who enjoy both take responsibility for their motivation and don’t turn it over to the outside world – supervisors, spouses, parents, friends or any other source – they get it – that if they want some degree of control over their life they need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get moving with a degree of consistency, purpose and passion. They don’t wait for the world to give them what they want or need – they move and if their movements fail to yield the results they want they learn, adjust and act again.

The world owes us nothing as Mark Twain once said and he is right.  Yes, we don’t always get what we want or think we need.  Yes, bad things happen and yes, life doesn’t always behave the way we want it to or think it should but – that’s life.

Motivated people don’t let failure, mistakes, adversity or problems keep them from pursuing their goals, dreams or desires with dedication, commitment and purpose.  They understand that life often gives them something they didn’t want or expect but in the end they keep at it in spite of negative circumstances or disappointment.

I have never met a successful or happy person during my world travels that didn’t understand this simple truth – if you want something you go after it and you are not sidetracked by temporary or unwanted circumstances.

So, what are some common motivators that drive successful and happy people?

There are many but a few of the common ones are; the desire to serve others, the desire to have a certain degree of control over their lives, self-satisfaction, the ability to pursue creative expression, the inner need to achieve, the will to not let the world control them, the awareness that what they achieve is up to them and the willingness to do what is necessary or what they can to leave a positive legacy of some type.

And the de-motivators are; fear of failure, the need for approval, the desire to be perfect, disappointment, a lack of patience or control over things they can’t control, guilt, resentment, anger, feeling like a victim and common today – an entitlement mindset.

In the end we all achieve or don’t due simply to our definition of motivation and our behavior when dealing with the negative motivators and our desire to have as much control over our lie as we feel possible given all of the world circumstances; the economy, weather, opportunities – perceived or real, difficulties – again perceived or real and evil that exists every day everywhere.

The choice is really simple – do what you can, take charge, get moving and keep moving, trust God, keep learning and growing or give in and give up.

“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what

keeps you going.”

Jim Ryun