The Myths of Innovation

Chapter 14. How to stay motivated

All great tasks test our motivation. It’s easy to court ideas over beers and change the world with rough sketches on the backs of napkins. But like most things taken home from bars, new challenges arise the next day. It’s in the morning light when work begins, and grand ideas become more complex than they seemed hours before. Doing interesting things in this world requires effort, and it’s no surprise we often abandon our passions for simpler, more predictable things. Although we like to talk about talent—that callow, overrated, but useful bastard—it can’t do anything for us if it’s locked in the basement by our ever-flighty motivations. Achievement demands discovering personal motivations and learning to use them. The masters in all fields are foremost great self-manipulators, orchestrating their will to achieve what the rest of us cannot (or will not). However, there is no true handbook for motivation—only a treasure map of landmarks and a handful of bones to roll.

The big motivations

These are the ones I’ve found in myself and in some of the notable legends mentioned earlier in this book. If these factors hit home, I hope you kick much ass. But if they fail you, think about what’s missing and you’ll be on your way to discovering what works for you.

Anger

What pisses you off? What is wrong in the world, in your community, in your workplace, in your ...