Motivation

Motivation

By Alan Perry

Every now and then the need for motivation arises from complacency, boredom, frustration, or repeatedly being passed-over, beaten down and punished for your well-intentioned efforts. It happens in all our personal lives, or career, finances and relationships. Motivation is literally what moves you. We often get so mired down in the routine events, successes and failures, and distracted by mere survival, that we forget this. It is the desire, and why, We do things. Our pure vision of a desirable goal will get bent, damaged, and sometimes replaced with something we never intended. We must acknowledge that we only have limited control of events affecting us that involve other people. We will be tempted to accept outcomes that are not ideal or even reasonable, we will be asked to sacrifice our ideals and principals in the interest of other agendas hostile to our own vision.

Be strong, have hope and don’t give up. The most important battles are never won easily, but the one who stands on the other side uncorrupted, and able to realize their vision, will not need the validation of others. I believe determination is by far the quality most required to achieve that outcome. It is measurably easier to obtain ones goals and remain motivated when you can experience some measure of success even if it is only incremental. Being smart is nice, but having a plan is better, and it has a greater chance of working. Remember what your motivation is? Write it down as clearly as possible! Make a plan to achieve that goal, break it down into achievable steps and work your plan!

Your ability to motivate yourself is important, your ability to motivate others is absolutely critical in achieving goals that involve others. Be it your family or your co-workers, most significant accomplishments involve getting tasks done through the cooperation of others. You must be able to translate your motivation into something others will identify with as well.

The truth is, life can be cruel, not all plans are good ones, and not all good ideas will survive. It may not be the right time, it may be the wrong audience, and there may be factors you have no knowledge of that will affect the reception of your ideas and plans by others. Being realistic will go a long way toward relieving your stress and prevent ineffective use of your limited resources. The old adage “choose your battles wisely” applies here, but does not mean you should avoid fighting for legitimate and just causes when they arise. Failing to fight for something just, ethical and smart, that will have significant positive impacts for others and will redefine who you are in a negative way.

Confused yet? I am.