There’s never been a better time to reconnect to your motivation. Let’s face it, even if the last two years didn’t completely derail you, it probably rerouted you. Most of the people I talk to describe it as a kind of malaise. Your forward momentum was likely stalled. You probably have new habits to unlearn, whether these were bad habits or just ways of working around things necessitated by covid lockdowns that aren’t as effective as ways you could be doing things.

We hear a lot about finding your motivation. Some people say you need to connect to your, “why.” Others say you need a vision for your life. Still others say, no you need a purpose or a mission. I think this is another instance of people being wired a little different from each other. Each of these terms describes what I call a motivator, a product at the end of an approach to self examination. (ie a mission/vision/purpose statement, or life’s message.) I’d include in this list a Core Value Index (CVI) which accomplishes a similar goal in a very applicable format.

It’s probably worth defining each of these terms and outlining there approach. but that’s a meaty enough bite to warrant it’s own post. In this post lets focus on the 3 pillars you need to have if your efforts are going to move you toward prosperity with a purpose. Then cover 9 motivations, at least some of which are wired into your nature. Recognizing how you’re wired will let you work with not against yourself, and it will show you reasons you may have been tripped up in past attempts to succeed in life.

3 things we need to have Joy at Work: (John Garfield) 

I’m not sure you said it first but I first heard it from John Garfield. To feel fulfilled we…

• a Cause
• a Contribution
• a Community

A Cause

To be satisfying, a cause must be larger than yourself. It must be noble. Like someone in AA coming to the conclusion that if their addiction controls them, than something out there must be bigger and more powerful than the substance–a higher power they can call upon for rescue from problems instead of numbing themselves. Ultimately we need to process the wounds that leave us feeling the need to numb out, but a great start is believing that I’m not my own God. I’ve never met a person who could claim to be happy living for themselves. We get energy and excitement being a part of something larger than life.

Our cause doesn’t have to be entirely philanthropic. It’s totally okay to need energy or money in exchange for what you’re pouring out, but the key is impact. We need to have a unique impact see below.

A Contribution

Our contribution is our part of the larger thing. It must be unique. There is something innately offensive about someone who tries to put you in a box. We sense their need to reduce us to a few simple descriptors. I’m much larger than just a few attributes, no matter how true those attributes are, or how well they describe me in a given circumstance.

I’ve been through ups and downs in life. I’ve got scars and I’m proud of them. I’ve done hard things and I’ve had breakthrough. I’m uniquely qualified to help at least some people through at least some difficult times. I call this my Unique Value Add. I have a unique toolkit of strengths, aptitudes, character traits and experience to address circumstances that plague others. I come alive heling others, but only when I’m heling them toward something I believe in and doing it in a way that is unique to me.

A Community

It stands to reason then, that I need people to help. If I need dishes put on the top shelf I can get a stool, but if I have a tall friend standing right there why not hand them for help. We need to learn to lean on each other’s strengths. Together we can get more done, in less time, and have more fun doing it.

Community comes in three forms–people I help, people who help me, and people I work with to help others. I call people I help my Audience. People who help me mentors, and people who help me help others my team.

There is a fourth group of people–my tribe. We benefit greatly from associating with others who have a similar calling. We can share tragedies and triumphs. We can share strategies. The people we’re told are our competition are actually part of our success, but only if we embrace the uniqueness factor. When we realize that our contribution is unique and our audience is unique we realize that we aren’t really in competition with others who may be doing roughly the same thing we do.

13 Core Motivations – Marisa Murgatroyd

Altruism
Autonomy
Financial Gain
Intellectual Challenge
Lifestyle
Managing People
Positioning (for future)
Power/Influence
Prestige
Recognition
Security
Variety

Specifically these motivations are career related–what moves you at work or to start a business. I encourage you to look these words up and don’t assume you know what they mean, because some of them might turn you off at first, but then when you read the definition it’s actually something you’d be very motivated by.
For example, you may not feel like power and influence is a very healthy reason to be motivated, however, if you’ve ever had a great idea how to solve a problem at work and had no authority to implement it you may have empathy for someone who is motivated for power.

Notice also that a lot of these motivations work in reverse, to keep you stuck. You may decide to skip an opportunity to make a lot more more that was 100% commission because working without a net was scarier than the potential to make more money.

Understanding your motives can be a great tool for letting yourself off the hook when you’ve made career choices. Don’t agonize over decisions you made. You might be honoring your baked-in nature. Now that said, you may need to take more chances than you currently are. Sometimes you can’t get the new thing you deeply desire without leaving the safety of your current place. We tend to get stuck in zones of comfort and while we need to enter zone of challenge to feel like we’re making progress the real danger of getting stuck in comfort is that you may not be equipped to recover when your comfort zone is more temporary than you thought it was. Never forget, you feel safe in the familiar, but that doesn’t mean what you’re familiar with is safe or beneficial.

Hopefully this gives you some great thinking points. I don’t have all the answers so I welcome your feedback. You can comment here or join my FB community and post there.

About this Blog:

Welcome to the Cleric Blog Series on Sirbunch.com. I’m Andy Bunch, and I’m a Life Adventure Consultant. I help Creative Entrepreneurs find Prosperity with a Purpose by removing constraints to success. I’ve been seeking wisdom for 50 years and I’ve distilled what I’ve learned into a framework that has lead me to more fulfilling and abundant life.

This blog will outline that framework for free for the rare person out there who can read, learn, and implement things. Most of us need more to really make wisdom usable so I’m inviting you to my Facebook community where you can workshop what you’ve read and learn of opportunities to go deeper with me.

Another feature of this blog is the book reviews. I’ll be reading dozens of non-fiction books each year and reviewing them here. I’ll explain the main facts and grade them for effectiveness, then speak to how they potentially fit into the framework I’m outlining. I say potentially fit in because I believe no two paths to success are the same. Like every student of better living you’ll have to find what works for you. The smart approach is to leverage the lessons of others because you won’t live long enough to make all the mistakes yourself. Welcome to this blog, and God bless you.

“Stop living the life you’re supposed to and start living the life you’re meant to.”

Andy Bunch