Motivation...

What do you think motivates you?
Personally, I think what motivates me is the need to feel accomplished and balanced as an individual. This plays into all areas of my life- my job, daily activities, and relationships. I have a constant self-motivation to stay in shape and active, to have a career I am proud of, to keep myself challenged at all times, and most recently I have been feeling the motivation to figure out a way to use my MBA degree to give something back to the community. I think the latter motivation is stemming from a new sense of obligation to take the knowledge that I am acquiring through this program and figure out a way to use it in a way that will not just make me more successful financially, but that will also help others in a self less way.

Are there times when you are just trying to get by and are there times when you are striving something really great?
There are definitely times when I am just trying to "get by", and other times where I am actively pushing myself to be better and accomplish things that I have set out to accomplish. For me, I have noticed that the times when I am just getting by are usually times when 1 or more factors in my life are feeling particularly out of control, whether it is struggles I am experiencing in my personal life, at work, financially, or elsewhere. It is during these times when my emotional and intellectual energy are being drained in excess in a particular area of my life that I have found that I just settle with getting by day to day in the other areas of my life. In contrast, when I am feeling at my best and all of my ducks are in a row in all areas of my life, at least for the most part, those are the times when I feel the most motivated to take on new challenges and push myself to accomplish more and take on more.

I am definitely more comfortable wtih the feeling of being on my game and in control of all the different areas of my life- that is for me how I prefer to exist on a regular basis. Of course, there are always exceptions to this, and everyone goes through rough and trying times in their life. For me, I like getting things accomplished and having the mental and emotional energy to come up with new ideas and challenges to take on... that is what keeps me going. I also like being in control in general, so I have a very difficult time when certain circumstances push me into a corner or make me feel like my hands are tied and I am just trying to stay afloat.

Having considered what motivates you, think about how you might motivate others. Can you shift gears between different styles and types of motivation when working with your followers? Can you use fear? Can you use anger? Can you use inspiration? How can you improve your motivational repertoire?