Motivation is necessary for success. Motivation can be described as wanting or not wanting something to happen. Motivation has different degrees. A person can be motivated by wanting to achieve a goal or seeing something happen. A person can also be motivated by wanting to avoid some kind of pain. Many people don’t skip work, not because they are excited and motivated to go to work, but because they know in the back of their mind that they might lose their job if they don't. They fear the ripple effects, such as being unable to pay their mortgage or having their lights turned off. 

Achieving goals takes many different factors. It’s like a complex dish that has various ingredients. Motivation is just one ingredient. You need to develop and maintain motivation. You also need to be motivated to take the necessary actions to succeed.

I look at motivation and inspiration differently. Inspiration is a desire to achieve big goals, such as creating a certain lifestyle or opening up a company or any creative venture. It can also be wanting to take care of your loved ones and being able to provide a certain kind of lifestyle. Being able to send your kids to a good college, travel more, and create generational wealth for your loved ones are all examples of big goals. These goals should be exciting and inspiring. Unfortunately, these goals can seem vague and out of reach. They can also be far away in the future or just intangible. However, they should always be in the forefront of your mind. Being motivated means understanding and creating the desire to do what needs to be done in the immediate future, including everything you need to do today. Limiting distractions and focusing on what needs to happen today will help you inch closer to your goals.

Motivation is just one ingredient in your journey. Motivation touches everything important, but it’s just one step toward achieving your goals. Motivation is the why of your goals. There are also the what, the how, the who, and the when.

Let’s examine each one.

The What

Once you have a goal, you need to clarify that goal even further. If you want to write a book, you must determine the topic. To open a company, you need to clarify what you want to do. To lose weight, you need to clarify what exercises you will perform.

The How

Every goal has a step-by-step process filled with actions that must be consistently executed. If you want to open a company, what are the five habits that you need to develop? What kinds of exercise will you do if you want to lose weight? How often are you going to do them?

The Who

Every goal can be accomplished easier with a group of people. For small personal goals, all you may need is your loved ones to encourage you. They can encourage you to get up and go to the gym. They can encourage you to walk after a meal or even offer to accompany you. It takes collaboration for bigger goals, such as opening a company, moving up in your career, or any creative venture. It can be a collaboration you join, like finding a new career path, or it can be having a goal and asking people to be part of it by helping you in areas where you might lack expertise. Being a disabled person, I often lean on a team for help. When I wanted to relaunch my YouTube channel, I asked Chris to put my videos on camera. I found an expert to help me with the technical aspects of the channel.

The When

Two of the biggest indicators of your true priorities (not what you say your priorities are) are how you spend your time and money. So, if you say that your relationships are important to you, but you spend your time watching Netflix, then Netflix is your priority. If you want to get a new job but don’t spend at least a few minutes a day looking for the job or getting out there and networking, that is not your priority. If you want to raise good kids but don’t spend time talking to and coaching them, that’s not your priority. Every goal takes your time and focus. You need to spend focused time with limited distractions on your goals.

Motivation is the gasoline that needs to fuel everything that you do. Motivation is not a constant. It depends on your mood. It depends on how important your goals are to you. It depends on your environment. It can even be influenced by the weather outside. Motivation and inspiration are always internal and don’t come from the outside. Yes, you can connect with a piece of art, a religion, wanting to do right by your family, or tying everything to your inspirations. But no matter what, it’s up to you to make that connection. No one or nothing is going to do that for you. It happens in your head and your heart.

Yes, motivation touches everything important, but it is not everything.