Reaching Up and Reaching Deep

"Your real drive is inside and once you find it, there is no stopping you." -Maiya Kothari

Takeaway: The exploration of vision and motivation, when done well, creates an infinite energy source.

You can do an easy exercise. It will evolve over many days. First, identify a private place to store it so you can really be honest. Think of a growth charts like we had as kids which measured the inches we grew on the wall/ door-frame/ bookshelf. We would put our back to the wall and our Mom or Dad would mark a notch depending on our height. We’d be so proud of our growth; it made us want to hold onto that chart or the notches on the door molding as it reminded us of our ascendancy.

Start with a paper in the middle of the wall (post it notes work). On the upper side of that paper, add papers that have written on them your personal vision. Below the paper, in the middle of the wall, write on other sheets of paper what you think motivates you.  

As the days pass, ask yourself, “Is this really my vision?”; “Why?” and “What evidence do I have of that?” 

From those questions, form advanced thoughts about your vision (business, life, family, etc.) and add another paper above the middle paper and write those vision statements there.

As the written thoughts expand on your wall, add this question to trigger deeper vision exploration: “Is this the vision that moves me (at a deep level)?”

Concurrently, also look deep into your true motivation of why you do what you do. As an example, you may think you are motivated by intellectual pursuits. During an intense coaching session with your staff on a difficult, intellectual topic, you may notice you are actually motivated by the sparkle in your staff’s eyes when you help him/her know something (rather than you researching something by yourself). At this point, you may have researched so many times as individual contributor that you find yourself more motivated by the success of others.

As another example, you may have thought you were motivated by a title. Then, you find that, over a long project, that you are motivated by competition and the dashboard reported in the weekly management meeting because you wake up thinking about it, your mind reverts to it and you smile when you have a “breakthrough” about the project. 

The signs are nuanced and you have to be paying attention to find them. You can get “head faked” with bias. For example, “Of course, I am motivated by title and money.” But then, when you get the title and money, you realize it was an empty victory, and there is something deeper that motivated you.

As a final example, some may think, “Of course I am doing this for my family or others,” and then realize, you are (healthily) selfish and you are doing it to feel professionally important or fulfilled. Whatever your motivation, it is acceptable, but learn to discover your true motivation and don’t lie to yourself. 

You will know “you found it” when the action you take from that motivation gives you such joy, you feel you have infinite energy – you could do that activity forever, without pay, just because of the act (and the underlying motivation) itself. 

I have a client who built an 8-figure business in less than 3 years, but his underlying motivation is the health of people. He sacrifices profit percentages for it, he works long hours for it, he sacrifices family time for it, and we find he reverts to talking about helping people often, even when under stress. We are pretty sure that he is motivated by helping the masses (not one or two people, that can overwhelm him with feelings of someone being too clingy or needy).

You can also gain insight by using an assessment tool that identifies underlying motivations like Strengthsfinder. Such tools may uncover a thought for you, but I caution clients that any single assessment is never definitive …because we all can change…

We move through life so quickly. I always find an investment in understanding my vision and my motivations to return a high return on my mindshare. It is the path to sustaining, compounding growth…both professionally and personally.

Enjoy discovering your truths!