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The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us At Work and at Home

You can decide for yourself whether or not this is surprising to you.

If you’ve come across motivation-hygiene theory, some of the ideas of Buckminster Fuller, or intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, some of the concepts will be somewhat familiar; but the video comes at this from the perspective of economics, rather than psychology.

The presentation also illustrates how higher pay actually leads to a reduction in performance.  And that bad things can result from this.

I have some personal opinions about remuneration which includes a high proportion of performance-related pay, precisely because of the short-termism I have witnessed in some such circumstances.  But take a look and make up your own mind.

The video presentation walks through these concepts in a fun and clear way, and I’m sure you’ll find it well worth the 10½ minutes it takes to watch.

Enjoy!

When we fail to do something we are expected to do, we almost always have an excuse for it. That’s just how our habit acts. But we have a choice to change that for good.

Despite what you may have heard – when we fail to achieve goals or to do something we are expected to do, we almost always have an excuse for it. Instead of trying to persevere in finding ways to continue achieving a goal, some of us resort to excuses.

Why?

To avoid pain. Excuses. The best medicine.

But you should not use excuses for not becoming successful! That’s self-destructive.

Whenever we look at a “handicap”, we almost always look on the negative side only. It’s about time we take a look at the positive side of it. The positive side may be the difficult side, but it’s the one worth looking into. It’s the side that is going to lead us to excel in life.

Handicap can appeared in many forms — Physical handicap, mentally handicap, emotional handicap, financial handicap, etc.

It your handicap is financial, then the more reason you have to rise above your present status. And if your financial status limits your educational attainment to improve your life, do you really think that you cannot get the education you want? Make use of libraries. Come up with creative ideas to improve your life and you will find it.

If you are emotionally disturbed with negative thoughts, it is like you are sitting on a chair with wobbling legs. Try sitting on a chair with sturdy legs; meaning, look at the bright, positive side of life. Put aside negativity and start thinking positively. The only one who can stop you is yourself.

If you always have a lot of excuses, you should strive more to overcome them because you’ll be able to double the achievement. Where the odds are greater, the prize gets much bigger. After all the efforts you have exerted, the prize of success shall be a well-deserved one.

Make sure you have full control of your life. You should have no problem managing the things you can control. Don’t let ‘excuses’ to control your decisions.

Accept things you cannot control the way they are, if you cannot do without them. If you can do without them, leave them and divert your attention to something else that will make your life more meaningful. Never pick on something you cannot control and turn it into ‘excuses’ that will block your success.

So what’s your excuse for not being successful?

We provide thousands of self improvement articles and videos at successandlife.com where you can also submit yours to be read and watched.

In addition to that, we also have a personal improvement blog where Patric shares his personal success secrets and strategies regularly.

One of the areas to which I insist we allocate sufficient focus Setting Goalswith a new coaching client, is  the importance of the “why” in setting any career or workplace goal.

Indeed, the head of an international training organisation I spoke with recently says, “When you know WHY, the HOW will follow.”

So make sure you brainstorm your big objective.

What is it you’re trying to accomplish, professionally  (and personally)?  At this step, we’re trying to get to your highest-level goal, so when you name something, ask yourself, “WHY?”

For instance, if you say, “I want to feel more appreciated at work,” then ask yourself, “Why?” You may answer, “Because I think I’ll be more successful in an environment where I feel valued.” Though that may seem like a logical endpoint, don’t stop there. You need to go further.

Next, ask yourself WHY you want to be more successful, and you’ll soon find that there are a variety of possible motivators. You may hear yourself say something like this:

  • Because I KNOW this department can be so much more effective and I can contribute to that.
  • Because I want to acquire enough money and experience to fund a start-up of my own in the future.
  • Because I’m feeling stifled now, and I want to fulfil my potential.
  • Because I know the new product we’re developing will be the best in the marketplace.
  • Because I want to earn more money to pay off debt and provide my family with greater security.
  • Because I want to become the CEO one day and I know I have that capability.
  • Because I want to be able to develop and use my strongest skills more.

Each one of these higher-level objectives is slightly different, and is going to result in a slightly different goal or path to success. Knowing your “WHY” helps you determine your “HOW.”

Keep going until you get to the logical endpoint, state each goal in well-specified, quantifiable terms and you ill find achieving them much easier!