“What motivates you?” That was the best question I've ever been asked in an interview. I wasn't prepared. I pulled a quote from the only useful motivational speech I've ever heard. “To be a little better than I was yesterday.” I learned in that moment, that is the principle of Kaizen, a philosophy I hold dear, but it’s not what motivates me. I guess the answer worked, because I got the job. More importantly, I believe the question changed my life as I began to search for the answer.
I think most people define their motivation (if they define
it at all) extrinsically. I want to be
champion. I want to be my boss’s
boss. I want to be the best parent
ever. If these things motivate you, to what
length? Would you take performance
enhancing drugs? Step on your friends
and colleagues to get ahead? Kill a girl that made the cheer squad over your
daughter? There’s nothing wrong with
extrinsic motivation, but I think you must define the whole picture or you can drastically
miss your mark.
That motivational speech to which I referred, the man was a millionaire. His greatest accomplishment was to be
successful as a parent, husband and friend.
He also said that no matter what he forgot when he left home, it could
be shipped or replaced, the only exception was his integrity. This was a man who had his goals and his
motivation defined and separated.
I define my motivation as this: I want to be a person I can be
proud of. I want to be a person that awkward
eight-year-old tomboy Katie is ecstatic that she grew up to be. I’m a professional athlete, how cool is
that? I work hard, and don’t cut
corners. I’m devoted to my family, my integrity
is intact. I speak my truth, and I truly
care more about being myself than what other people think of me. I think I have found coherence in that, and
when I achieve my goals, I will still have the same motivation. This goes back to my original answer, Kaizen. Every day I try to make that eight-year-old a
little prouder.
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