What motivates you?

What motivates us as humans and as individuals varies as much as what we like to eat from person to person.  Why wouldn’t it, we are all so different and have different priorities and preferences.  However there are certain values that all human beings have ingrained and built into us and hasn’t changed since the beginning of time.  They are innate motivators that only we as human beings experience and therefore we strive to develop throughout our lives and our careers.

Wisdom:  We all seek to have wisdom.  How much wisdom we want on a particular subject or event varies from person to person.  You can see this in life everyday.

• Some people just want to know how to do it!
• Some people want to know how to do it and why it needs to be done that way.
• Some people want to know how to do it, why it needs to be done that way, and they want to understand it enough to instruct others to do it.
• Then lastly, there are some people who could care less about how to do it, they know that it must be a done a certain way and they only care that it is being done, but know its importance in ensuring it is done and how it fits in the bigger picture.

As you can see with the above illustration everyone has varying levels of desire to know certain things.  It is in humans DNA to understand and know what is going on with current events and staying abreast of developments that they think can benefit them.

Power (Control): We all want to grow and have wisdom, but the second human motivation is having power or control in their life.  I use power and control interchangeably.  To the extent you have the ability to control your environment, that is the extent to which you possess power.  Power is a measure of your ability to extend your influence and control in the world around you.  We all seek to have this control.  The more you feel like you are in control the more satisfied you are.

Wealth: The great Zig Ziglar said that money isn’t everything, but it is pretty close to the top, right up there with oxygen.  A definition of wealth can mean your ability to take care of yourself and survive on this earth.  The question is then:  At what level do you want to take care of yourself and survive?   Some people can survive off the bare minimum and be perfectly happy.  While others need and want a lot more.  And guess what, that is ok!  Wealth and survival can be as small as food and clothing up to owning a yacht. To some wealth is very simple, I can eat, I have a place to live, and I am paying my bills.  While others that just isn’t enough.  Control and power is a more dominant motivator than money, although money definitely increases your ability to have that control that you seek in your life.

Esteem of others: We all seek to have the approval of others, which isn’t a bad thing, it is ingrained in all of us.  We want to belong to something.  How many Facebook groups are you in, do you belong to any clubs or organizations, are you an active person with any of your alumni organizations, do you have a favorite sports team that you wear apparel to show that support for?  All of these are ways we seek approval from others.  It is human nature. We all seek to achieve something in life and out of life, which in turn we believe it will earn the respect or the attention from others.   You must realize that it is a basic human motivation.

I have outlined four basic human motivations. The choices we make and the decisions we come to all revolve around these four areas and drive us to accomplish the things we seek to accomplish in our lives.

To your success and your future.