The Chicken and the Egg of Motivation

It’s an age-old question, what comes first, the chicken or the egg?

It must be the egg.

But then who laid it?

But then where did the chicken that laid the egg come from?

I guess we’ll never know.

The same question arises when it comes to motivation.  What comes first, motivation or action?

Want is Better than Should

I know that I should eat healthily and exercise regularly.

I know that I should spend as much time as I can with my family.

I know that I should read if I want to have a healthy mind.

I know that I should pray and read the bible every day.

I know that I should work hard if I want to maximise my capabilities.

But if I don’t want to do any of those things, I probably won’t.

Light the Fuse

Alcatraz Island cannon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When I was young, I used to enjoy visiting playgrounds that had old decommissioned cannons in them.

I would climb them and pretend that I was shooting bad guys with them.

They always looked impressive and powerful, especially to a young child, but of course, without a fuse they just sat there like a giant paperweight.

Latent potential, but nothing to energise it.

Are we that different?

I believe in the huge potential that God has placed within everyone I meet.

I believe that we all have the capacity to do remarkable things.

But first we need to light the fuse.

We need to find the motivation to get started.

We need to generate the energy that we need to fulfill our potential.

We need to find what makes our heart beat faster, giving us the passion and enthusiasm that’s required to persevere during the challenging times and inspire those around him.

Because if we don’t, we end up like the old cannon in the playground.

A relic, with unrealised power, just gathering dust.

Do you feel motivated to achieve your purpose, or do you need to light the fuse again?

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I Need a Coffee!

Image via Wikipedia

It’s the standard comment that most of us make on a Monday morning.

So many of us need that morning caffeine fix to get us up and running for the day.

But what if there was another way to get us going?

Aspiration versus Desperation

I have conducted Career Workshops for a few years now and the theme of Aspiration versus Desperation is a consistently resonating idea that I use that has the potential to reshape how you consider your career aims.

The basic principle here is that most career decisions are made out of either aspiring to do something or desperation to do something.  This relates to our basic human motivation either towards pleasure or away from pain. 

Why does this matter when making career decisions?