The boy has the right idea. If the choice is between becoming mediocre (whatever that means) or spending your life doing something you hate, he’s making a wise choice. The interesting thing is the uncle is a school teacher. How many students do you think he would motivate with that attitude?
I remember once being completely bored as a kid, wondering how I would get through the summer, and my father saying I should play and enjoy myself while I still could. When I became an adult there would be nothing but obligations. It was depressing at the time, but it ended up being extremely motivating. I decided if I wanted to save my sanity I would have to create an adult life style that was more rewarding. Among other things it was finding something I loved to do that people were willing to pay me for. That was worth searching for.
What about you? Who/what has motivated you in life?
June 4, 2015
Till I got my Bachelor’s Degree, my mother. She just could not stand the idea that her first born was just a post school drop out. And I would not call that motivation, but nagging. After that, it was providence all the way. I was just at the right places at the right time. By and large, I sat there quietly, doing nothing, the rivers flowed and the grass grew by itself.”
It sounds as if your mother started you on the right path and after that it was easy for you. Yay for your mother!
Gosh, Jean, WHAT has motivated me? How big is the ocean, how long are rivers, how deep a whirl pool?
This minute, and for the last twenty three years? My son’s existence. A life force if ever there was one.
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What, if anything, motivated you before he was born?
After I got the job I really wanted — nuclear operations instructor — I looked at a lot of motivational stuff. Some of it was mandated by the company, some I searched out to help me be better at what I did…, to give me an edge.
Out of all of that motivational material, two main things stuck for me.
1. Provide a valuable service came from “Lead the Field,” a set of motivational audio cassettes by Earl Nightingale.
and
2. Leave a legacy is from Stephen Covey — the actual quote from Covey is “Live, Love, Laugh, Leave a Legacy” — but, for work, the leaving a legacy part was/is a significant motivator and is still very rewarding.
Were they successful for me? They keep asking me to come back and teach! 😉
It sounds as if you have been very successful. Good for you!
Smart kid.
The biggest satisfaction for me is good contact with others.
A big motivation for me is to understand. If I had a few billion I’d set up the “Kill the Market Foundation” tag line, “a market in necessities kills people – so kill the market instead”.
I’m glad you’re clear about what your main values are — that is worth a lot.
My Dad use to say things like “Don’t get your hopes too high and you won’t be disappointed” and “Expect the worse” and… well, you get the idea.
He refused to sign financial aid papers to help me get into college because I was a “girl” and I’d be married in a few years and wouldn’t need it.
So growing up I didn’t have much motivation from him or any adult.
Later, my best friend and roommate was so UP and cheerful and was always coming up with inspiring ideas and thoughts. So she was the first person who ever got me to think that more than average was possible. and my biggest motivator.
And now? who motivates me? You and Tammy and Grace and Vicki and…
so many wonderful people who I have never actually met but who I count as dear friends.
xoxo
Yes. It’s never too late! And you have talent worth sharing with others. You can count on us to be in your rooting section. 🙂
Enjoyment has always been my prime motive. However worthy or intellectually challenging a job or an activity, if you’re not enjoying it, it just becomes a tedious chore. Which is why I’ve spent my life in poorly paid but enjoyable jobs rather than lucrative and soul-destroying ones.
Good for you! I thought I had answered this earlier, I’m sorry about the delay. You’re a man after my own heart.