Motivation Magic

Just have a think about this for a moment. What do Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates all have in common?   Yes, they (were) are all multi-millionaires. Yes, they’re all entrepreneurs. Yes, they have all made a huge impact on technology and changed society. How do you think they achieved this?   Do you think they had to use will power? Do you think their aim was just to make loads of money so they could retire and lie on a sunlounge in the Bahamas? No! Of course they put themselves in a position where they could buy a whole island (like Richard Brandon did) and whilst this may have been an aspect of their motivation, it's unlikely to have been their primary incentive.   So what do you think the one thing is they all had in common to make things happen?

 Knowing what you want

 

They knew what they wanted, they had a passion; they were visionaries and had the big picture in mind. It is this that made them highly motivated individuals. They knew what they wanted and believed wholeheartedly that they could achieve it. Knowing what you want drives you, it drives your motivation and this motivation in turn drives you to achieve what you want. I call this motivation magic, yet there is nothing magical about it. Do you think any of these people waited to be motivated, to learn about motivation or expect others to motivate them or to be motivated for motivation sake? Of course not, they each held the key to motivation. It is knowing what you want. You too can be highly motivated by uncovering exactly what it is that you want to achieve. How can you ever be motivated without that? When what you want aligns with your core values something magical happens. So find out what you are really passionate about and what is purposeful and meaningful to you. 

 

 

Now you might say: I am not an entrepreneur, I am nothing like these guys. I don’t have that sort of drive or their ability. I don’t even want to do what they do. Can you already see a problem with that sort of thinking? You have already slammed the door right in your own face before you even opened it! True, many of us will never be, or would even like to be like these guys; we might not have their specific passion, drive, skills or interest. You might not want to be on the world stage or be famous. True, there will always be people who are more talented, passionate and skilful as well as more determined than you. The problem is that whenever you compare yourself with very successful ‘others’ you look outwards. You compare yourself with what possibly could be an unrealistic and unachievable measure.

 

 

Because you might think that you can never be like that, you get disheartened and quit before you even start anything at all! By comparing and referencing yourself with ‘best others’ you deprive yourself of exploring and expressing your own uniqueness, your own gifts; your best self. And before you think you haven’t got any, please think again! Within each and every one of us lies a plethora of gifts. Did you know that the most precious stones and metals need to be mined and unearthed? Within each person lies ‘diamonds’ and ‘gold’ waiting to be unearthed. The sad part is that most people are capable of so much more yet relatively few will ever ‘mine’ within themselves to unearth these gifts. Why? Because it is so much easier to be seduced and bedazzled by the ‘bright lights’ of the outer world. It is easier to see, envy and be impressed by other people’s gifts and success. There is nothing wrong with being inspired by others, as long as you don’t lose focus on developing your own gifts, instead of projecting them onto others!

 

 

In order to be motivated you need to uncover what motivates you and what is important to you. You need to discover what is purposeful and meaningful to you personally. You need to discover the “I” in motivation that will lead you to the “I” in Inspiration. In other words the WIIFM, (the What's In It For Me). You need to be able to answer the question ‘Why do you want to do this?’ The WHY factor. The more you can answer that, the more motivated you will be, because if you don’t, you might spend the rest of your life wondering what you could have done with your life. Then it will be much harder to reach your potential and unfortunately, you will not only deprive yourself of yourself, but you will also deprive others of what it is you have to offer, and that would be tragic. Had people like Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates not found their WIIFM, their motivation and their inspiration, they would never have achieved what they did, or contributed to the world as they have.

 

 

We’ve all heard the saying; ‘time waits for no-one’ and neither does life. Your life is the most precious gift of all, don’t waste it! In the words of the German writer, Philosopher and Physicist  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:  

 

“The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves as well. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen accidents, meetings and material assistance that no one could have dreamed would come their way. Whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now".

 

 

What will really surprise you about motivation!