We’ve all seen what happens when we have the wrong motivations.
Great companies fall. Bankers rip off their investors. Shoddy products are produced. Employees are treated poorly.
This is why you must discover the proper motivations for the projects you undertake.
Image via Creative Commons
Falling into the improper motivations can be easy. We’re drawn to the quick and easy. To what benefits us the most.
When we focus on these motivators, we will never achieve our full potential.
Instead, we need to find the proper motivations. Motivations that are not self-serving but other-serving.
Why?
When all is said and done, this world isn’t about you or me. It’s about US. What we’re doing to serve the world and make it a better place.
Think about it. When do you feel most satisfied?
When you:
- Put yourself first. Finding every little way to benefit yourself. Squeezing every last drop of personal benefit from the company.
or
- Putting others before yourself. Helping someone who needs a helping hand up. Giving something of yourself to benefit society.
I’m betting you’re a person who finds more fulfillment out of helping others and bettering the world. Now that’s the proper motivation!
Meghan Vogel lived out this principal during a track meet. Here’s her story –
Vogel was running the 3,200 meter race and about 50 meters from the finish line when she saw Arden McMath, a sophomore from Arlington High School, collapse. Instead of passing her, Vogel stopped to carry her competitor across the finish line.
Meghan could have finished the race and left the injured competitor behind. Instead, she chose to help her cross the finish line.
Her motivation wasn’t in winning or losing. It was in helping other people.
Begin looking for ways to help others in your life.
Is there a way you could help improve your customer’s life? How could you improve your employee’s working conditions? Is there a way you could help your competitor succeed?
When you begin to look for opportunities to help others, your chance of success begins to rise.
Success isn’t stepping on and over anyone in your path. It’s helping and encouraging others to become better.
Let this become your motivation.
Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, ‘What’s in it for me?’
— Brian Tracy
Question: What’s your motivation? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.