Motivation
I was recently asked to speak at a luncheon on “Motivation.”
Normally, I would just wing it but I decided to actually plan what I was going to say.I love words so I decided to look up the word, motivation in the Oxford Dictionary.
Here’s what I found out… Motivation is, “the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.”
Now, I don’t know about you, but I realized that it is not necessarily a good thing. It’s rather ambiguous. Interesting.
Then I started thinking about examples, like Joe Blanton, who is pitching for the Phillies tonight. He has a lot of motivation to pitch a great game on the world stage tonight, for himself, his team mates, the fans in Philly, to name a few. But what of the criminal who is motivated to score enough to make his life easier for a day, a week or a year.
Motivation is further defined as, “the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.”
That could be the desire to climb Mt. Everest, lose 10 lbs. or make a sale.
Ah, but here’s where I come in (and where it gets interesting), as a coach, I am hired to ‘Motivate’ my clients. The definition of motivate is, “stimulate (someone’s) interest in or enthusiasm for doing something.”
So, what are we trying to motivate? Ourselves, to accomplish our daily, monthly or yearly goals. The truth is that ultimately it is our responsibility to accomplish our goal.
Here is a quote from Elaine Maxwell, American Writer, which underscores this point. “My will shall shape my future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man’s doing but my own. I am the force. I can clear any obstacle before me or I can get lost in the maze. My choice, my responsibility. Win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny.”
And, another awesome one is by John Wayne, American Actor. He states, “Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes to us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learnt something from yesterday.”
Hope you make the most of your tomorrow!!!
