Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 394 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Success Requires Self-Motivation

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy podcast. This is Day 394 of our trek, and today is Motivation Monday. Every Monday we hike the trails of life that will encourage and motivate you to live a rich and satisfying life this week. Today we will explore the success trail of self-motivation.

We are broadcasting from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is good to have a respite from the additional work at The Big House, and we are getting caught up with some of the backlogs of client work. We do have much to do on our podcast-related projects also, so hopefully we will be able to start focusing on those projects soon.

I am recording this podcast prior to the weekend, so I will have to update you with our weekend activities on Wisdom Wednesday. Our plans are to invest time with our daughter-in-law Chelimo’s parents Josphat and Emily Yego on Saturday. They are visiting from Kenya, and we are looking forward to discussing partnering with them as they establish a leadership institute in Kenya. If weather permits, we will also visit the Biltmore House and Gardens on Sunday after church.

We desire to invest in every opportunity that will assist us in daily creating our living legacy while we live a rich and satisfying life. This is what we consider being truly successful. We do realize that all success requires that we are motivated within to drive us forward to the success that we wish to achieve. On our trek today we will hike the trail called…

Success Requires Self-Motivation

Let’s start up our trail, and consider the following…A lot of very smart people end up as failures – failures in life, in work, and in relationships. A lot of very smart people are given plenty of opportunities for success and never take advantage of them. A lot of very smart people are born into privilege and yet turn into failures. And a lot of very smart people accumulate degrees and skills and still fail to achieve what we think they would. What is the common factor in all of these failures? It’s lack of self-motivation.

If you listened to Philosophy Friday, we focused on the universal law of planting and harvesting. When a person lacks self- motivation, they do not follow this law and, therefore, miss the opportunities that will lead to success.

All of the intelligence and all of the opportunity and all of the book learning is simply for nothing if there is no motivation to do anything with them. Let’s look at the 10 milestones that will teach us why self-motivation is the only trail to success.

· What is Self-Motivation?

A child may be motivated to pick up his toys if there is a reward for doing so (of if there is a punishment for not doing so). Someone outside of himself has created that motivation. If there were not an outside motivator, the child would probably not be so quick to pick up those toys. He has no self-motivation. As we mature, we should become self-directed individuals. We muster up the motivation to accomplish things – or not. If we don’t become self-directing, then we won’t meet with success. It relates back to the law mentioned previously, but here are 10 specific reasons.

1. With Self-Motivation, Goals Are Set

If you desire to be a successful person you must set goals and then go after them. Those goals must come from within, based on your passions. For the non-self-motivated person, if goals are set at all, they are only small temporary ones. Such goals may be to get a job that will pay the bills or to save enough money to take a vacation. They are small and short-term.

2. With Self-Motivation, Plans Are Made

Even if the unmotivated person is able to set a long-term goal, (s)he then fails to develop a plan to achieve that goal. The goal just becomes a dream for “someday.” As a self-motivated person, you will develop a very specific plan of action, you will constantly review that plan of action, make modifications when necessary, and stay on that trail toward your destination.

3. With Self-Motivation, There Is Risk-Taking

To be successful, you must take risks. In fact, you are driven to take risks, because you will stagnate otherwise. Unmotivated people find excuses not to take risks, and those excuses become a justification for their stagnation. It’s not the right time; others have tried that and failed; my friends say it’s a stupid idea; my family won’t support me.

4. With Self-Motivation, There Is Optimism

Optimism is that belief that the future holds promise. It provides you with energy and enthusiasm. When you are self-motivated, you are optimistic about your future. Unmotivated people have fear and insecurity about the future. They are therefore willing to stay in their comfort zones where they are safe and don’t have to fear an uncertain future. The fact is, fear actually grows larger every time they stay in their comfort zone.

5. With Self-Motivation, You Do Not Blame Others

Being self-motivated, you know that you alone are responsible for your successes and failures. When you meet failure, you are able to reflect on it, identify what you did wrong, and change your behaviors and circumstances so that success is ultimately achieved. The unmotivated person blames others and never looks within to see what should be changed.

6. With Self-Motivation, There Is Follow Through

Being a self-motivated person, once you set your path toward success, you will stop talking and start doing. You are a list-maker who gets up each day with actions in mind. The unmotivated individual develops his path perhaps but then spins his wheels talking about what he intends to do. No action follows all of that talk.

7. With Self-Motivation, There Is Self-Confidence

Being self-motivated, you take action and have met with some successes. Even if your successes are initially small, you have developed the self-confidence to keep moving forward and take on new and greater challenges. The unmotivated person has not taken action and, therefore, cannot muster up any self-confidence to take on a challenge.

8. With Self-Motivation, There Is Passion

Passion comes from your deep desire and a love for what you are undertaking and pursuing. Being self-motivated you are able to feel the passion, and that keeps you going through any rough patches and obstacles, even big ones. The unmotivated individual shuts down as soon as a rough patch is hit because he doesn’t have that inner passion that will push him through it.

9. With Self-Motivation, There Is Focus

When you are motivated, you are not easily distracted. When you begin a project, you never leave it half-finished. This applies to your entire life. You set a goal, begin planning and acting, and resist getting side-tracked by other events and circumstances. As a self-motivated individual you never take your “eye off the ball.” You resist distractions and move forward.

10. With Self-Motivation, There Are No Missed Opportunities

Being a self-motivated individual, you have a passion for what you are doing and you speak about the goals you have set whenever you have chance, even to strangers. You find opportunities to connect with other like-minded people; you surround yourself with other self-motivated individuals. All of this relationship-building brings opportunities for partnerships, for funding, and for all sorts of support. The unmotivated person doesn’t seek these connections and misses opportunities.

Passion, drive, planning, focus, and steady action – these are the hallmarks of a self-motivated individual. These are the very things that every successful person will tell you are the keys to success. All of them have their origin and their lives within that larger realm of self-motivation. When you are self-motivated, you realize that hard work will be the evidence of your drive. You fully understand the principles of planting and harvesting that we discussed in detail on the last Philosophy Friday trek. Here are three reminders of the results of our self-motivation and hard work.

Proverbs 10:4 – Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich.

Proverbs 13:4 – Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.

Proverbs 21:5 – Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.

On the trail of self-motivation that we have hiked today, we can clearly see the 10 milestones that will result when we follow this trail. Let us apply them to our lives so that we can create and live a positive legacy for all to see.

Tomorrow’s short trek is part of our Wisdom Unplugged series that we are now hiking on Tuesdays and Thursdays. These 2-3 minute wisdom supplements will assist you in becoming healthy, wealthy, and wise throughout the entire week. So, encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

That will finish our trek for today. As you enjoy your daily dose of wisdom, we ask you to help us grow Wisdom-Trek by sharing with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person when you meet with them and invite them to come along with us each day.

If you would like to listen to any of the past daily treks, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. Don’t forget to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek, so each trek will be downloaded to you automatically. I would also appreciate it if you would rate and review us on iTunes or Google Play so that others will find out about Wisdom-Trek and join us.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you on Monday!