Do You Have Motivation? Part 2…
- Comments: 7
Only Some are Successful
For the most part, each person’s motivation is determined by what they hope to accomplish. Another factor is their grasp of what it will take to achieve success. Obviously, if a person only wants to be a manager at McDonalds, they probably will not have an extremely high level of motivation. However, if someone wants to be a CEO of a Fortune 100 company or an investment banker, his/her level of motivation will probably be relatively high.
This is common knowledge, right? Only partially. Most people would agree that the more lofty the goal, the more motivation that the person has to have in order to reach the goal. We have all met the person who does nothing but talk about how successful he/she is going to be and so on, right? In reality, this person has no idea what it will entail to get where he/she wants to be. If this person had a detailed plan of exactly how they were going execute, their likelihood of success would increase dramatically and we would all be more interested.
Expand Your Thinking
One of the first things that I do when thinking of how to achieve a particular goal is think about those whom I will be competing against. Take for example an investment banker position. Who are the people applying for this position, what are their credentials, how do mine match-up, and what can I do to improve my resume according to the requirements set by the company I want to work for, etc.?
Investment banking is one of the most competitive industries in the world. Most of the investment bankers working for companies like Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley are Ivy League school graduates with their MBA’s. These are people who are extremely intelligent, have connections, and are motivated beyond belief. Can I compete? Not directly. Is it possible for me to become an investment banker with these companies? Absolutely. It is simply a question of how bad I want it. What am I willing to do to accomplish my goal? If I was unwilling to take no for an answer, I could do it.
I could figure out a way. “When there’s a will, there’s a way.” This is one of my favorite quotes, and I believe it to be more true today than every before.
Sure You Want It…
So, I raise the question, “How bad do you want it?” Do you want it so bad that you are willing to work harder and smarter than anyone else who is trying to do the same thing? Six hours or less of sleep every night, and still wake up with more tenacity to get things accomplished than the previous day?
Donald Trump is over 50, gets 4 hours of sleep a night, started out wealthy and connected, with a mentor, and still bankrupt multiple companies. What are you going to do today? Tomorrow? Next week? Next month? This year?
Go make it happen! You unquestionably have what it takes. Believe in yourself and work as if you only have one chance at life (oh yeah, we DO only have ONE chance at life).
I want to hear success stories! Give me some motivation back. Give me pointers, give me anything! Let’s accomplish our goals in record time and celebrate after they are done… PAIN BEFORE PLEASURE!
Nice follow-up post there. I loved the little bit of motivation you gave us at the end
To motivate myself, i look at my own success and see how far i’ve come. I find that it works very well.
Great post my friend. It’s about the short term pains for the long term gains. I am all over that concept. Many don’t realize that staying on top of your games requires a huge mental commitment. It’s not as though we are working each day lifting and slugging heavy machinary. We are working to excel through mental toughness.
I have to say thought that I think a person may still have a high level of motivation. We have to understand that people come from different places and times. While what we feel may be a low level of motivation it could be extremely high. It’s the starting frame of reference we have to evaluate that person’s level.
I always bring it back to Earl Nightingale - “success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal” If someone has chosen to be the manager then they are a success. Their motivation may be high in regards to achieving that role and being the best that they can be at it.
Have you heard of any stories about McDonalds management gaining ownership from the reputation they built on it?
Food For Thought?
Thanks for the comment! Yes, I have heard of McDonalds employees becoming owners and I think that is fantastic, Yu’re right in saying that we need to look at each person as an individual basis. For all I know the manager at McDonalds could have more more motivation than anyone else. You never know. Thanks for the input and perspective.
Thanks for continuing this topic. I love the thoughts you’ve put forth.
For some reason I have such a difficult time answering the internal question, “how bad do I want it?” My mind fizzles away into abstraction when I ponder that.
Short term pains are usually long term ones for me
Sometimes it takes more time to execute a simple task due to the procrastinations… Splitting it even into smaller tasks and reward myself with beer or cakes helps a lot 
Success stories - How about PlentyofFish Guy starts a dating website on one server. Now, 6 years later he gets a million dollar checks every two months from Google. Then there is the little girl who made her book reports into quizzes - now she gets over a million a year from Google. She was 12 when she started. What did you do at 12?
Why do you show us a Porche? Is that your aspiration? You need to think bigger. It’s just a car. How about making a better car? How about making a car that everyone wants? Now that is a goal. You seem like a person with drive and ambition. You can do better than a car. I would consider the message just a bit more. (Doesn’t John Chow show 2 cars? What’s his message?)
I like the idea of thinking about your competition when trying to achieve your goal. Remember as well the people who have already achieved something similar. Can they offer you insight or advice into what is necessary?
@ Roger Anderson
I’d heard of PlentyOfFish but do you have any other details on the ‘book report quiz’ story? Sounds interesting..