The Now Habit at Work: Perform Optimally, Maintain Focus, and Ignite Motivation in Yourself and Other

Chapter 7. Ignite Your Motivation

What motivates you to pursue a distant goal and to keep at it even when difficulties and distractions arise? Is it money, fame, recognition, making a contribution, or the drive to escape the struggles of the past and avoid anticipated pain in the future?

Regardless of whatever external reward motivates you, you know you have an internal motivation to succeed if you've worked hard to complete technical training, a college degree, or a professional license. You know that you must be naturally motivated if you had to put aside immediate gratification to work toward achieving a long-term goal. This is you at your best, acting in accord with your human talents and higher nature.

In spite of evidence to the contrary, all humans are naturally motivated to learn, advance themselves and their families, do good work, and make a contribution to their community. When a person is not exhibiting these human qualities, some fear or negative experience is suppressing this powerful and natural drive to learn and improve. And sometimes it doesn't take much to suppress our energy and keep us stuck in inertia and fear of criticism. Often what is blocking our progress can be like a pebble under the tire of an 18-wheeler that is keeping it from moving forward. Small emotional and cognitive blocks can keep us from seeing new opportunities and creative solutions that ignite our native motivation to break through inertia and get rolling again.

When you are effective and achieve ...