THE REASON YOU SHOULD, THE REASON YOU SHOULDN'T

"We work to become, not to acquire."

Elbert Hubbard, 19th century American writer/publisher.

Actually, we should but not all of us all the time do.

And pity those who do not understand the difference.

SOME MORE THAN OTHERS

"God made man to go by motives and he will not go without them any more than a boat without steam or a balloon without gas."

Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American politician.

There are good motives and bad motives, motives sufficient to entice you to keep trying as well as those that won't.

Really consider what motivates you before you invest time and money attempting to achieve something you soon realize you don't want.

YOU NEED TROUBLE?

"People need trouble -- a little frustration to sharpen the spirit on, toughen it."

William Faulkner (1897-1962) American novelist/short-story writer

Whether or not you need trouble depends on your aspirations.

No one I've known, including me, was born prepared to accomplish their most ambitious goals.

We become so after seeing we did what we once thought undoable.

I DID IT FOR YOU!

"We should often be ashamed of our finest actions if the world understood all the motives behind them."

François de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French writer

Which makes me wonder . . .

Is it possible to do any good deed, at the  base of which you will not find at least a partial ulterior motive other than simply doing good?

Is the answer to that question different in our personal and professional lives?

Which Dog Will You Work For?

"Don't mistake pleasure for happiness. They are a different breed of dogs."

Josh Billings

19th century American humorist

Your career may bring one, sometimes both, occasionally neither.

Make sure you strive for the one you need as much if not more than the one you want.

Carrots and Sticks

"There are two levers for moving men, interest and fear."

Napoleon Bonaparte

Late 18th/early 19th century French general

Just as in business.

Which do you use most often?

Which are you more likely to respond to?

Working To Live Or Living To Work?

"The best work never was and never will be done for money."

John Ruskin

19th century English art critic

Maybe it takes someone from the arts to recognize this.

What You Know More Than What You Think You Know

"We know nothing about motivation all we can do is write books about it."

Peter Drucker

Business Educator/Consultant

Mr. Drucker understood the difference between knowledge and presumed knowledge.

Do you?

The Price of Worry

"We have to fight them daily, like fleas, those many small worries about the morrow, for they sap our energies."

Etty Hillesum
Jewish Thinker/Writer
Died November 30, 1943, Auschwitz

That we all worry is no revelation, nor is saying that worrying, needlessly or otherwise, affects our performance.

The goal should not be to not worry but to only worry about what is important, about things over which we can exert some control.

So easy to say, so difficult to do.

How does worry affect your business life and what, if anything, do you do to control the negative affects of worry?

Motivation: What Role Does Management Play?

"Nobody motivates today's workers. If it doesn't come from within, it doesn't come."

Herman Cain
Commentator

Few will question the benefit, possibly even the need to have motivated employees particularly in sales but I wonder if Cain is right when he says they must be that way on their own.

Can management create motivation and enthusiasm and if they can is it true by corollary they can take it away?

Motivation: Action Speaks Louder Than Words

"Believing in people before they have proved themselves is the key to motivating them to reach their potential."

John C. Maxwell
Author

Believing is one thing but demonstrating that you do seals the deal.

I'm a Big Brother in the Big Brother program and work with two brothers ages 14 and 12. Telling them I believe they can succeed in school, athletics, their relationships with others, etc., is fine but acting as though they already have, is far more important.

Banks do this when they loan money, adults when entering personal relationships, parents when giving the car keys to their new driver son or daughter. To a point employers do when promoting someone but is that enough? Are the people we promote the only employees we believe in?

Businesses succeed or fail depending on what their employees do and there must be ways to demonstrate our belief in those who deserve our trust. What are they?