Motivation, motivation, motivation
June 13, 2008
You know what the three most important attributes of a great house would be? Well, a realtor would tell you:
location, location, location
And I would argue that the three greatest factors in succeeding in any business are:
motivation, motivation, motivation
Of course other factors come into play. A good idea, some skill, a little time to implement something. All those things are pretty powerful and essential. But let me ask you this question. If you have no motivation to get up and do what you need to do, what good is your skill? What benefit is there to having a good idea?
Good ideas are ten-a-penny. I have hundreds a day and so do you. How many do you act on? Hmm, let me rephrase that: how many do I act on? I’m going to be really honest and answer. Not enough of them!
And at the back of that inaction quite often you find lack of suitable and effective motivation.
Jon Leger has just blogged about motivation and in his case the motivation to exercise is spurred on by a very powerful and personal reason. He’s soon to have a baby son who will have more energy than he does. That’s motivating, right?
Yet he still had trouble actually doing the exercise routine he set out for himself. Even with powerful motivation.
That’s because whenever you set up external motivation to change something that is already a habit, you are actually battling yourself. Internal motivation, the kind that can be harder to achieve, is also the more powerful kind because it does not rely on something outside of yourself.
You, like me, spend time at your computer. I don’t know how much time, but I do know you spend time at it. Right now, as I sit typing this blog post, I’m motivating myself 1028 times an hour, completely automatically. I’ve set up my computer to do that for me so that I get a double whammy from my time spent at the keyboard.
Jon Leger leveraged his time on the treadmill with his iPod to make something he didn’t like easier to do. I leverage my time at the computer to make it easier to do the things I want to do - like create an income and a lifestyle for my family.
We’re both motivated by the same need to protect and nurture our families, but we’ve taken slightly different paths to do it.
One other thing you might find brings a smile to your face. If you’re stuck with some tasks you don’t enjoy and some tasks you love to do and you just can’t bring yourself to do the ones you don’t like, try playing the banjo every morning.
B.A.N.J.O.
It stands for blast a nasty job off. Get it off your list. Do it first. I can promise you, having it sit in the corner waiting for you to get round to it is not going to make it more pleasant to deal with!
Let me finish by asking you a question:
What can you do today that will motivate you?
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