The Attitude – The Passion – The Motivation
In the business world and also in life, there are three words that can ultimately define who you are, what you will actually do and how successful you may be at accomplishing it. Those words are Attitude, Passion and Motivation. Each has its own unique meaning for each of us, however the simple dictionary meaning is:
Attitude: a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something
Passion: any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling
Motivation: having a strong reason to act or accomplish something
These three simple words can have powerful effects on our feelings and ultimately in how we see the world and achieve different things in our lives. They lay deep within each of our inner most self and can be positively or negatively triggered for our own benefit, but also for our detriment. How well each of us understands and manages these three words can easily progress us far beyond where we may currently be in life.
Have you ever thought about what they mean to you? How do you see the world around you? What is your attitude toward it? What do you desire? What really is your passion? What makes you get up early or stay up late each day or night? What motivates you? These are questions you may have thought about at some point in your life. What have you done about providing a solution or simply answering the questions for yourself?
Napoleon Hill (1883-1970), a very influential writer on personal success once wrote, “Whatever a man can conceive and believe he can achieve.” I myself do believe this with all my heart. If the Lord provides you with the ability to conceive an idea that helps or benefits your fellow man, He will also provide the way for you to achieve its end. It might take a while for you to accomplish it and in the end how it gets accomplished may look nothing like what you originally thought. But if you have the right attitude, are passionate about what you are trying to do and are properly motivation to accomplish what you have set out to do, I believe it can be achieved.
The Attitude: a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something…
Have you ever heard the saying, “Your attitude determines your altitude?” How you see things has an effect on you and where you go. When you see someone in an RV or camper, do you wonder where they are going, what new exploration and fun awaits them; or do you wonder if they are coming home to the grind of their everyday ordinary life? When you are in an airport, do you see everyone coming home or leaving for an exciting adventure? These are the eye glasses of “attitude” that shape how you are viewing the world and they have an impact on your life. What pair of glasses do you have on? Are you a glass half full or half empty type of person? Are you always looking for more to put in or always thinking its way to full?
A positive attitude of wanting more will tend to make you focus and see many more opportunities in the world around you. Everyday each of us interacts with others and events happening around us which may present opportunities to do good, to help someone or maybe even create a better mousetrap that has great business potential for you and your family.
A negative attitude, on the other hand, will make your world much smaller. You may tend to turn your head away when opportunities present themselves. You may move away from challenges that will make you grow and become the person you have always dreamt about being. A negative attitude may make you trust people much less and not see the good that does exist in most people. How would you describe attitude to your children? What are they learning from you as they see your attitude toward others? What advice would you give your best friend about their attitude? The way you think and see the world will impact your life and others around you, make sure it’s positive.
The Passion: any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling…
What is your passion? A compelling positive feeling to do something is what we are discussing here. What are you compelled to do in the world with your life? Do you know what that is? Are you working toward that end? Are you feeding that passionate emotion you have to do your great thing? Maybe writing, painting, singing, coaching or helping others are what you are passionate about? Maybe starting a business is your passion? Maybe you have a strong compelling emotion to help those in need in another country or make sure your family is all happy and well cared for? Maybe you have a desire to share a belief with the world and that has become a passion? Maybe you are passionate to simply see the world and experience all its wonders? There are many things we can feel passionate about as you can see.
What if you don’t know what your passion is? What if you don’t have one? What if you don’t know how to tell what your passions are? A simple test at http://thepassiontest.geniusu.com/ will help you decide this. This is a fun quick test that sorts you through 30 different passions and helps you select your top five. I did it and it works pretty well (for me at least). Have fun learning something new about yourself!
The Motivation: having a strong reason to act or accomplish something…
I am an avid believer of listening to motivational speakers in person or on audio books. I have quite the digital collection and use them often. I will almost always be carrying an earpiece to listen to them on my iPhone or iPad when I am out. Listening at the right time can get me to do things I normally may have stopped doing long ago, if I were to continue to go it alone. It’s kind of like have a spotter when weight training…”just five more reps” the spotter may say. They will make all the difference and they will.
What motivates you to go the extra mile? We are not talking about doing the things you would normally do everyday…like eating, sleeping etc., although, hunger and fatigue can certainly be motivators. What we are talking about is going the EXTRA mile; the mile that is above and beyond the norm, the average or beyond what others do. That is the extra that makes its special, the extra that has an impact for you. What motivates you to do this extra?
I have often heard a story of motivation that goes something like this: a man is out walking and decides to take a short cut across a pasture. Unknown to him, in this pasture is a big bad mean bull (soon to be Mr. Motivation). He quickly sees the error of his decision, but he is too far in the pasture to make a retreat. His only course of action is to run to a large tree and somehow jump to the lowest hanging branch (about 11 feet up) out of the reach of the bull. The bull has now made eye contact with the man and begins to charge. The man runs with all his strength and speed to the base of the tree and with the bull now only feet behind him makes a mighty leap up toward the branch….and misses….luckily, he catches it on the way down.
This is motivation, wanting to go the extra mile, putting in the extra effort and is what may get you what you are looking for. Sometimes it is negative, like with the story of the bull. What truly motivates you? Money? Fame? Love? Family? Success? Fear? No Debt? Freedom? Health? A Bull? Use it to go your extra mile, it pays off in the end.
Do you see how important these three words are? How having the right attitude in life is? Can you see now how when combining your positive attitude with your passions how focused your life may become? Can you imagine the opportunities that you may be able to see and act on when doing this? Now add in your motivations. When you are properly motivated, doing something you are passionate about and have the right mental attitude toward it, the possibilities can be endless. When you have all this going for you, and you drop in an idea, event or purpose, just think how gratifying it can be for you…That is the real power of these three words: attitude, passion and motivation.
I hope you are able to align your attitude, passions and motivations toward a common goal of your choosing. If one of the three is missing, misaligned or negative it will lessen your chance of succeeding at what you are trying to do.
To be able to work and do something you love for the right reasons can add so much to your happiness and enjoyment in life. I feel it’s important for each of us to learn to do this as well as teach how it can be done to others if we can. So please continue to learn, grow and share with others.
Good luck!
Gary J. Kiecker