It is what encourages you to do something. Your boss uses many means to get you to do your work. He pays you a salary. He may offer promotions with additional pay. Some managers threaten, curse, or even reprimand. For those of us who are in school, the same types of things can be used by teachers, parents, and others that feel they are in authority over us.

Your husband or wife uses many of the same methods to spur the results they are hoping for. I want to talk to you about self-motivation. We have all heard motivational speakers. I heard a feeble one once. He walked onto the stage after a fifteen-minute introduction. He stood staring at us for a minute. Then he yelled, “What are you doing just sitting here? Get up and get back to work.”

We all glanced around wondering what we should do. We were in a hotel meeting room and most of us had driven for hours to attend this training session. The organizer who introduced him was smiling off to one side of the stage. The speaker glared at us a minute or two longer.

A smile crept onto his face. He laughed and asked if we were motivated by that. Some whispered, no. He said, “Of course, you weren’t. Why do you think that will work for those under your control.” The rest of his seminar was interesting, informative, and inspirational. That was over thirty years ago, and I still remember it.

I want to give you the ability to do that for yourself. There are things that you have wanted to do for years. What will it take for you to convince yourself that you can get a better job? What else have you considered doing? Start a business. Ask someone to marry you. Move to the community you’ve always dreamed of living in.

It is time to weigh your options and try what you always wanted to do. Write a book. Paint a picture. Sing a song. Try stand-up comedy. Quit procrastinating. Step up and become the person you always knew you could be. Analyze where you want to be next year and make it happen today.

Goal setting is the first step. Planning what you need to do is the next one. Put one foot in front of the other and begin the journey of a thousand miles. All it takes is to get off your backside and make the changes you always wanted to. Start now.

©Copyright 2022 by Charles Kensinger