You can do eeet!!

So far this blog has been a resounding success. Well, maybe not in page-views and web traffic, but it has succeeded in the two primary goals I wanted to achieve. It managed to drive my friend to resume her blog, and it's encouraged me to resume writing consistently. I'm hoping to get to work on a few writing projects that have sat on the backburner, and to increase my audience in the near future. It all boils down to motivation.

Motivation is a peculiar creature. There are so many different sources of it, and an equal amount of responses to it. I'm not going to list all the different types of motivation. What motivates one person to put in 110% may cause another to sit on the sidelines with their arms crossed. I'll let down the curtain (just this once... :-P ) and explain some sources of motivation for me.

Disappointment

Wait, what? If I wind up disappointed, doesn't that mean my motivation wasn't there? Yes it does, but it's not about my disappointment. That fear of disappointing others is what drives me to do many things. I have a helper attitude. I want to be dependable and not let others down.  I don't want something I'm responsible for to be a disappointment for others. I guess it's a bit of personal pride as well, but it really boils down to the satisfaction of knowing others can count on me.

Competition  

I am extremely competitive in nature. Even though I'm far from the best at many things, it doesn't stop me from giving my all. I can't throw a fight no matter how stacked the odds. One thing, though, is that I am never competitive at the expense of others (maybe at times I should be... the subject of another blog, lol). If I'm going to succeed at something; it's because I did everything I could control, not because I shot down others.

I was only 3 hours behind first place!

Seeing a finished product

I'm a very creative person. One of the reasons why is that I enjoy seeing the fruits of my labor. Finishing that novel or seeing and tasting that new recipe is my carrot on a stick.  This doesn't always mean a physical product, but I am far more motivated when I can see the results of what I'm doing. This is sometimes a hard thing to do in the Military, especially now that I'm "upper management". I still find ways to make it work, even though now instead of seeing fixed equipment,  it involves paperwork, putting people in for awards, etc. While I do enjoy hearing praise and compliments for my work (who doesn't) that's not my primary motivation for getting it done. I just want to able to pat myself on the back and say to myself "I did that".

Crisis 

I thrive in chaos. If there is a crisis going on and a figurative fire needs putting out, that's when I shine. Deadlines are my friend (though I'm more likely to wait till the 11th hours). I am a problem solver, and what better time to solve problems than when everything is on the line?  Some of it is from my military background, but when people are milling around, not knowing what to do, I step in and take control. Once the crisis is over, I'll fade back into the background.

Somehow I don't think you're going to embarrass me. I got that covered.

Fear and threats

 This last one is actually anti-motivational for me. The more you threaten me, the more I'm going to resist doing whatever it is you want me to. I'll either flat out refuse to do it, find a way out of it, or I'll do it in a way that is so smart assed and bare bones that you'll never ask me to do it again. I do things because I want to do them, not because you have a gun to my head. I'm afraid of very few things (except snakes... why does it have to be snakes...), and public humiliation has almost zero effect on me (I'm not afraid to make an ass of myself... and that's BEFORE drinking that beer).  Don't tell me what I can't do. That'll only motivate me to prove you wrong.

One thing I struggle with is self-motivation. If I have a goal, competition, or group that needs me, I'm there. If it's just me on a Saturday morning and the laundry needs folding; unless I'm totally out of underwear, it's probably going to lose out to Netflix. It's a good thing I'm a fairly social person now, but if I were the last man on earth, those dishes will just have to clean themselves.

It's good to look at yourself and figure out what motivates you (or doesn't). Everyone has motivations. Once you figure it out, you can guide yourself towards those motivations and use them to make you more productive (and happy) in life.