Motivation/Success

Chris201W

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We all know that in a country like the US, there are certainly a lot of people who strive for fame, status, power, and material wealth. A lot of people work hard at the things they do in order to attain more money. Success to many is having more than one's neighbor. Many people in this world are motivated by the pursuit of wealth and the endless cycle of competition. This brings me to my questions:

1. What truly motivates you in what you do? Is it the inner sense that what you are doing is worthy, good, and fulfilling, or the outer gains that may result (wealth, power, status, fame)?

2. Can success really be measured by how much money you have, or how big your television is, or how many vacations you take each year? Or how much more of all that you have than your neighbor?
 

Kiessling

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Ah ... the quest for the Grail. I am trying to figure it out for years now, and I think I am getting closer.

There are some key questions that will help:
- Who are you?
- What do you want?
- What would you think of your life if you were about to die and looking back at what you did ... would it be what you had wanted?

I think I'll completely give up the notion of "success" as it is defined by our society and look elsewhere. The life energy invested in "success" is rarely worth it, at least for me.
Shrugging of the burden of all this will be hard though ... as human beings tend to compare themselves to others and tend also to be fixed on wealth and status ... which might result in others looking on you as a loser, and if things go wrong, I might consider being a loser myself, too. UNfortunately humans depend on other humans and their opinions, at least to a certain extent.

The key is finding satisfactory ansers to the key questions in life and pursue you own happiness without letting you get manipulated by our societies course. I hope that one can reach the point where material success or fame or whatever of those things just don't matter any more.

bk
 

cobb

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For me, its money. Ive met many like in the last call center I worked who were fine with 9 bucks an hour. They could care less the next dept paid 13 an hour or the one beside them offered over time.
 

Chris201W

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What about satisfying the part of you (we all have it) that wants to do something productive that you enjoy doing and can commit yourself fully to, regardless of how much money you make doing it?
 

Kiessling

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Such a thing would be an ideal goal in life ... where work and pleasure as well as fulfillment all meet together. If there could be a living made of it ... even better. Would love to, but unfortunately in my life this isn't the case (yet).
bernie
 

vaism

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For me now, an ambition to be wealthy and successful, to be able to afford a good life for my mom and myself is at the top of my list.

I'm not shy to say that i want to be rich, sure money doesn't buy happiness in many ways, but it is the stem where many daily troubles come from, freaking out from bills, arguments over who should pay what, worrying about cashflow etc.. which has the ability to affect overall peace of mind, and in turn relationships. And having been through plenty of that 2-3 years back, i'm even more resolved to reach that goal and prevent all that from recurring, since it's within my control anyway!

So my motivation stems from accumulating wealth for a better life, fulfilment from being able to afford what i want to and a "good to have" would be fame and power, though too much is not a good thing either.

I'm still on track? :ohgeez:
 
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Santelmo

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I think it's a matter of discerning the difference between HAPPINESS and CONTENTMENT, which is more than just semantics in a greater wholistic sense.

Most of the time, I think people believe that contentment is only arrived at or a by-product of the the sense of being happy (acquiring stuff, needing acknowledgement or recognition, reaching an enviable position). It might just be the other way around.

Of course that's easier said than done, especially when I see a Gladius. . .
 
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Sub_Umbra

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Success may be measured by any criterion but there is a trap hidden in your question. IMO success only has real meaning as a self applied term. The range of individual human complexity and desire is so incredibly broad that I think that we are fooling ourselves if we think we can look briefly at one segment of another's life and make a pronouncment that he is or is not a success.

Everyone can think of famous people who are generally regarded as successful whose lives are like a series of train wrecks. Success may only be accurately measured if you know what someone is actually trying to do with their lives -- and that information is anything but obvious in many people.

I'm not into wealth, power, status, or fame. I have been very successful at avoiding those things. For most of my life my strongest motivation was a need for excitement and I was successful in avoiding things that were so exciting that they would kill me outright.
 

Sigman

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Anyone ever listen to any of Zig Ziglar's tapes/talks? Positive stuff and easy to listen to! Some of his quotes:

Every obnoxious act is a cry for help.


Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.


I believe that being successful means having a balance of success stories across the many areas of your life. You can't truly be considered successful in your business life if your home life is in shambles.


If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.


If you want to reach a goal, you must "see the reaching" in your own mind before you actually arrive at your goal.


It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through.


Money isn't the most important thing in life, but it's reasonably close to oxygen on the "gotta have it" scale.


Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.


Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business.


Success is the maximum utilization of the ability that you have.


You can have everything in life that you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.


You cannot tailor-make the situations in life but you can tailor-make the attitudes to fit those situations.



You don't have to spend an arm & a leg for his tapes/CDs. I've seen them in our public library and on eBay for reasonable prices as well.
 

DFiorentino

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For me...

Motivation = To do better than I have done before.

Success = To have done better than I have done before.

-DF
 

lambda

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Your question about success brings a short story to mind:

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented
the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took
him to catch them.

"Not very long," answered the Mexican.

"But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the
American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs
and those of his family.

The American asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with
my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village
to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs
. . I have a full life."

The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you!
You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra
fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."

And after that?" asked the Mexican.

With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one
and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.
Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate
directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You
can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or
even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."

"How long would that take?" asked the Mexican.

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied the American.

"And after that?"

"Afterwards? Well my Friend, That's when it gets really interesting,"
answered the American, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you
can start selling stocks and make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And after that?" said the Mexican.

"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast,
sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with
your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."

And the moral is: Know where you're going in life...you may already be
there.



And another short one that sums up my personal philosphy on life:

When things in your life seem almost to much to
handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough,
remember the mayonnaise jar........and the beer....

A professor stood before his philosophy class and
had some items in front of him. When the class
began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and
empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with
golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar
was full.

They agreed that it was. So the professor then
picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the
jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled
into the open areas between the golf balls. He then
asked the students again if the jar was full.

They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and
poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled
up everything else. He asked once more if the jar
was full.

The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cans of beer from
under the table and poured the entire contents into
the jar, effectively filling the empty space between
the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided,
"I want you to recognize that this jar represents
your life. The golf balls are the important
things--your family, your children, your health,
your friends, your favorite passions--things that if everything else
was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. "The
pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house,
your car. The sand is everything else--the small
stuff.

If you put the sand into the jar first," he
continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the
golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all
your time and energy on the small stuff, you will
never have room for the things that are important to
you. Pay attention to the things that are critical
to your happiness. Play with your children. Take
time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out
to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be
time to clean the house, and fix the disposal.

"Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really
matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired
what the beer represented. The professor smiled.

"I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that
no matter how full your life may seem, there's
always room for a couple of beers."


Hope you enjoyed the stories - Lambda
 

nerdgineer

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Everyone has a perspective. If you observe the full range of human experience (a lot of it pretty bad), then other people's perspective of success might be:

1. Survival
2. Safety
3. Family
4. Food/shelter/basics
5. Convenience
?. Welfare of community
?. Well being of mankind
?. Comfort
9. Entertainment
10. Philosophy

My perspective of success is feeling real glad that - through no particular merit on my part, just by living in a lucky time and the right place - I get to work on the bottom part of that list and not the top part.
 
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