What Really Motivates A Person?

"If a blade of grass can grow in a concrete walk and a

fig tree in the side of a mountain cliff, a human being

empowered with an invincible faith can survive all odds

the world can throw against his tortured soul!"

—Robert Schuller (b. 1926)

American televangelist, pastor, author

"Motivation to do something is a powerful driving force. We know that people have literally done the impossible because they were motivated by some tremendous force. An example of a tremendous driving force that becomes the motivation for non-wavering action is the New York City Marathon. Some thirty-eight thousand marathon runners are fortunate to be selected by a lottery system. Only those selected are eligible to run in the marathon, which is made up of over twenty-six miles of hills and valleys running through the five boroughs of New York City.

So, if approximately forty thousand runners are allowed by lottery to race, how many people request to run each year? In 2008, there were over 105,000 entry forms submitted to the Road Runners Club. I would assume most of the 105,000 entrants were prepared to run the marathon. What type of commitment does it take to prepare for such a grueling race of twenty-six-plus miles? How many weeks, months, or years in advance must the runner practice and exercise for such a long race?

I estimate that a runner would have to practice for at least a year to build up the stamina needed for that distance. Regardless, the entire 105,000 runners requesting entrance were committed to practice and work out and race in the historic marathon. What commitment and drive! The ultimate goal of finishing the New York City Marathon was enough to motivate the runners to get up early before work or to go out late at night to run so many miles in preparation for a marathon that they might or might not have the chance to run in.

What is the motivating force that drives someone to work so hard for a far-off goal? Why do inventors try the impossible when striving to invent something new? An inventor may fail thousands of times before succeeding with a new invention. What sustains his faith in persevering until he has succeeded? Why do some succeed while many more fail?

Well, the way I see it, those who experience repeated failure are often unwilling to go the extra mile that the successful inventor is willing to go. Let’s go back to the marathon race. In 2008, there were over thirty-eight thousand actual runners allowed to race. Of the 38,835 at the starting line, the vast majority—37,899 runners—actually finished the 26.2-mile distance. That is commitment. The oldest runner was a man of eighty-seven! He finished the race in eight hours and thirty-nine seconds. Talk about motivation!"

We Are Each Born into This World Destined for Greatness!

"Sir George Cayley is considered the father of aerodynamics. In 1800, Cayley was the first person to invent and perfect a glider that was controlled in flight by a human being through the movements of the person’s body.

In 1853, fifty years before the first powered flight was made at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Cayley built a triplane glider (a glider with three horizontal wing structures) that carried his coachman 900 feet (275 meters) across Brompton Dale in the north of England before crashing. It was the first recorded flight by an adult in an aircraft.

Every day, in every way, we are each improving on formerly proven and workable ideas, methods, words, and science. And each future generation will continue to improve on our proven and monumental ideas.

I can’t help but think of the first cavemen, and how they surely failed and succeeded so many times in their then-short life spans. We truly do live in the best time in the world’s history.

Today a former president can have his life saved and extended merely by having fairly routine by-pass surgery performed on his heart. And if need be, his heart can then be re-energized years later by the use of stents to prop open failed arteries. Years ago many of these heart patients simply died for lack of the technology that is readily available today.

A few weeks ago I got the inspiration to try to invent a new way to lift fingerprints off tape—specifically, duct tape. Duct tape is that gray-colored, very heavy, and strong-holding tape that was originally invented to repair aluminum heating air ducts, thus the name duct tape. It also is the tape of choice of many killers. To my knowledge, fingerprints are not easily lifted from the underside of duct tape. But I figured I could find a new way to lift fingerprints. What was my motivation? I was just frustrated with seeing many killers not being brought to justice because the technology of the day lagged in this specific area of forensics.

Now, I didn’t really have the time to invest, the knowledge, or the tools needed to invent some new-fangled way of lifting prints, but I had the desire. Of course, I have not succeeded, as of this writing. But I gave it a valiant effort and even surprised myself in my elaborate and extensive experiments in my inventive pursuit. I did not give up, but I have suspended my duct tape experiments for the time being.

My point in this example is this: The inspiration was there. But that intense, never-ending drive was not, at least not at that time. Otherwise, I would never have suspended the experiments, no matter how much failure I encountered."

"We learn wisdom from failure much more than

from success; we often discover what will do, by

finding out what will not do; and probably he who

never made a mistake never made a discovery."

—Samuel Smiles (1812-1904)

Scottish author and reformer

"Writing books is much like inventing. A writer undertakes a tremendous endeavor when he plans to write a new book. In the books I have written, I would estimate that it took four to six years per book from the thinking, planning stage until the first printing of the final version. Talk about the need for perseverance and fortitude! There are many times during the writing of a book when doubt sets in. Doubt that I will be able to write enough words, or that it will make sense. Doubt that the readers will like it at all. And doubt that the subject matter is good enough. A seasoned writer can fight through all these negative impulses, realizing that this is normal in the process of writing what you hope will be the best material you have ever written.

But think about maintaining that intense drive for four or six years. And it is an intense drive that motivates a writer to keep picking up that pen, keep writing word after word, even when the words stop flowing. There are times when I sit staring at a blank page, unable to write anything worthwhile. A writer fights through this feeling, this black and negative impulse. In my case, if I can push out even twenty words, I feel better, at least for that moment, knowing that, with time, the flow of words will resume. You see, with an intense desire to finish a book so deeply etched into my subconscious mind, I know the positive impulse to continue writing is ever-present. I will be motivated to continue writing, and also to continue the thinking process that will work through any obstacles I may be facing at that time."

"Do what you fear and your fear will die!"

—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

American philosopher, essayist, poet

"That brings me to something I’ve been pondering recently: What really motivates us? Do we do great things because we are moved by positive influences, or are we driven by the emotion of fear—the fear of sickness or dying, or the fear of failure? How many great accomplishments might have been the result of actions that grew out of fear?"

Tuesday, March 27, 2012