Motivation | Choosing the Truth

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.

Category Archives: Motivation

Get motivated and ready for action in your business!

Dear Universe: Message Received…You Can Stop Hitting Me Now

Written on July 6, 2011 by Jerry in beliefs, enthusiasm, mindset, Motivation, optimism, personal development, transparency

Last week was another one of those “learning” weeks.

It all started on Wednesday when my BFF Carolyn posted the video for Nickleback’s song “If Today Was Your Last Day” on Facebook. I’m not a huge Nickleback fan, but I love the message of this song. My favorite line: “Against the grain should be a way of life. What’s worth the prize is always worth the fight.” After all of the discoveries from the past few weeks, you’d think I’d be used to this by now, but hearing this song stopped me in my tracks and reminded me just how fragile life is and how I shouldn’t be wasting any time doing things I don’t really care about.

Then came the hard lesson: on Friday morning, I learned that a kid I had known out in Calaveras County, and who I’d spent some time mentoring when I lived there, had died in a car accident the day before.

Holy. Shit.

He was only 20…newly married…his whole life ahead of him. And gone. Just like that. His Facebook page is still up…his friends have been leaving messages and tagging pictures. Welcome to mourning in the digital age. I keep going back and reading the new posts and thinking over and over about the delicate thread we hang on by.

5 Comments - Leave a comment!

The Most Powerful Question In the Universe

Written on June 29, 2011 by Jerry in attitude, beliefs, focus, mindset, Motivation, optimism, personal development, transparency

Yesterday I promised to reveal the question that has transformed my life and taken me from playing small to playing larger than I ever have, from showing up as the janitor to embracing my inner rock star and finally, finally starting to live on purpose. But before I do, let me tell you a little about the events leading up to this discovery and how taking some of these steps can help you to finally quiet those voices in your head that keep telling you that you’re not good enough.

I’d been up visiting family in Oregon for my niece’s graduation. On the way home, we decided to stop overnight in the little town where I grew up, Cave Junction, Oregon (go ahead, Google it…you’ll be stunned). We spent Sunday night at my uncle’s house, and Monday morning we decided to putter around town for a few hours before heading back home to Sacramento.

It had been a long, long time, like a couple of decades, since I’d spent any significant time in CJ (that’s what we locals call it). I’d been back in my adult life for three occassions: the funerals of my grandparents, the funeral of my cousin, Steven, and the wedding of my niece, Kristy. Each of those trips had been accomplished, round trip from Sacramento, in a single day. Meaning in and out, no time for sight-seeing. This time was different; no one was in a hurry, and we just wandered around a bit.

And then it happened: I said I wanted to go to my old elementary school and take a picture and, as soon as I set foot on that hallowed ground, I started shaking and getting choked up, then crying. It made no sense. There I was, a grown man, standing in front of this timy little school and weeping. Ummm…WTF?

3 Comments - Leave a comment!

Watching the Ships Burn

Written on April 19, 2011 by Jerry in beliefs, enthusiasm, entrepreneur, mindset, Motivation, passion, transparency

A friend reminded me the other day of the parable (variously attributed to Alexander the Great, Cortes and others) of the adventurer who, on landing on the shores of his destination, burned his ships to send a message to his men that there was no turning back. She had recently had a “ship-burning” moment of her own and was at the same time ecstatic and nervous.

I had mine last Wednesday, and I know exactly what she’s talking about.

You see, setting the ships on fire is fun: you get to play with matches and lighter fluid, which is always a good time. It’s only when you’re standing on the shore, watching the flames engulf every last scrap of wood, that you get the sinking, “Oh shit!” feeling in your stomach and begin to wonder if you did the right thing and whether you remembered to pay the insurance premium this month.

Don’t get me wrong; I know that burning the ships was the right thing to do. If I hadn’t, I don’t think I’d ever have broken away from some of the things that have been holding me back. I’m simply acknowledging the fear, owning it, staring it in its ugly face, getting ready to let it go.

2 Comments - Leave a comment!

Motivation 101: Step 1 – Ask Why

Written on January 25, 2011 by Jerry in Asking "Why?", focus, mindset, Motivation, Motivation 101, Small Business Success

Since I’m giving away free copies of my Motivation 101 audio program to anyone who signs up for the Motivation 101 newsletter, I decided to dust off a series of articles about the topic of motivation that I wrote for TLT Magazine around the time that the program was originally released.

Here’s the first article in the series; please let me know how asking “Why?” has helped you achieve your goals in the comments. Thanks for reading!

When It Comes to Goals, Ask “Why?”, Not “How?”

If you’re like most selling professionals, you’ve probably got a list of written goals…somewhere. Some of you have them tacked to the wall in front of your desk, others in your day planners or PDAs; some of you have them filed away in the bottom of a drawer and would have trouble finding them if asked. Regardless of where you have your list of goals, though, you’ve already accomplished something major: you’ve engaged a powerful ally in your success by writing them down.

1 Comment - Leave a comment!

It’s 2011…Now What?

Written on January 3, 2011 by Jerry in attitude, cool people from around the web, focus, goals, Motivation, passion, Positive Mental Attitude, Small Business Success

For weeks now, all I’ve been hearing is people talking about how they can’t wait for 2010 to be over and a brand new year to begin. In fact, I joined in that chorus a time or two. No doubt, 2010 was a rough year.

But it’s over now.

We’re officially three days in to 2011, and from the looks of things, it has the potential to be a truly amazing year. Personally, I’m excited to be kicking things off in style with the International Consumer Electronics Show this week in Las Vegas, NV. This will be my first CES, and I can’t wait to get there.

It also rocks because I’ll be making the trip to Vegas with my friend and fellow blogger, Ryan Snethen. Ryan is a very cool cat who knows his music and movies, and the more obscure, the better. His “Did You Miss It?” blog is chock-full of movies you might have missed. He’s also a writer and an entrepreneur. We’re making the 10-hour trip by car, so we’ll have lots of time to brainstorm new ideas. Can’t wait!

1 Comment - Leave a comment!

Changing the Conversation – Guest Post by Gary Klaben

Written on December 6, 2010 by admin in beliefs, cool people from around the web, entrepreneur, great books, Guest Posts, Motivation, Positive Mental Attitude, Small Business Success

Gary Klaben

Today, there is a strong pull between the profit maximizers and the purpose maximizers. It is not that working on Wall Street or Main Street for large companies is all about profit maximization, or that starting a small business is all about purpose maximization. It is about the tide turning towards purpose, while maintaining profit.

In Daniel Pink’s recent book, Drive (2010), he identifies and discusses three types of motivation. Motivation 1.0 is the basic need to survive. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors spent nearly all their time fulfilling this need. Motivation 2.0 involves seeking rewards and avoiding punishment. From the time of antiquity through the 20th century, this was the primary motivator after achieving survival. Finally, motivation 3.0 seeks internal, intrinsic satisfaction — the fruit of personal freedom, challenge and purpose. What we like to call MVP (meaning, value & purpose).

Ours is a motivation 3.0 world. The unexpected and unpredictable will increasingly occur. Change is the only constant. Continual surprises! Microsoft’s digital Encarta encyclopedia — a profit maximizer — lost out to tens of thousands of online hobbyists writing and editing topics in Wikipedia’s open-source, interactive encyclopedia without pay — a purpose maximizer.

1 Comment - Leave a comment!

Marketing the Rarest Commodity

Written on November 20, 2010 by Jerry in 30-Day Blogging Challenge, Motivation

I’m a little late getting to today’s post. As far as I’m concerned, though, it’s still Friday. But, since it’s 2 AM as I write this, I’m going to keep this one short.

Back at the beginning of October, I read this on Seth Godin’s blog:

Scarcity creates value.

2 Comments - Leave a comment!

Getting Ready for MyLife v2.0

Written on November 17, 2010 by Jerry in 30-Day Blogging Challenge, Motivation, Positive Mental Attitude, transparency

I’ve been spending a fair amount of time lately preparing for the re-boot of the game I call MyLife, and I’m crazy-excited about the release of version 2.0. For the non-geeks out there, that basically means I’m getting ready for a fresh start.

For those of you who weren’t there to see it, here’s the short version of the last three years of my life: they sucked.out.loud. From financial ruin to broken relationships to a roller-coaster ride of emotional turmoil, I’ve been a complete wreck. Don’t worry, though: I can say with total confidence that the dog days are over.

The last year has been a re-building period for me. In December of 2009, I started working full-time for Karl Palachuk who is, without a doubt, the best boss I’ve ever had. I sometimes even forget that he’s the boss (except on payday, of course…I always remember it then) because he’s such a blast to work with. That’s right: we have FUN at work. It’s part of the culture, and I love every minute of it. And we’re good at what we do, which makes it even more fun…and profitable, too.

The training business I tried (and failed miserably) to start has morphed into a blog building and mentoring business that I work on nights and weekends. Simply put, I love it. I have a blast, I love my clients, and I’m good at what I do. I’m picking up new clients every week, and, so far, they’re thrilled with the results. 2011 is going to see the explosion of that business, too.

4 Comments - Leave a comment!

If You Motivate An Idiot… – Guest Post by Carl Taylor

Written on August 3, 2010 by Jerry in entrepreneur, Guest Posts, mindset, Motivation

Carl Taylor, Entrepreneur and Author

There are a lot of websites and speakers that are trying to motivate you. They motivate you to take action, to get off your ass and achieve more. But if you’re an idiot and someone motivates you, you are now just a motivated idiot, and you are going to do idiotic things faster.

Motivated idiots are those people who go to their first property seminar, hear a sales pitch disguised as education that says you must invest right now in this off the plan unit block, immediately sign on the dotted line and a few years later wonder why they don’t have the returns they expected.

I’m not meaning to have a go at seminar selling, or even property seminars; they are viable business methods and have their place. What you should be focusing on is “their first” as in it was their first seminar. The presenter did a great job and got them motivated, but at this stage they were just a motivated idiot and they made an idiotic decision because they didn’t know what questions to ask.

1 Comment - Leave a comment!

Calling All Members of the Choir: It’s My Un-Bio

Written on July 22, 2010 by Jerry in attitude, beliefs, Motivation, passion

Great: they asked me to write a bio for a new collaboration project I’m working on. I hate writing bios. No matter how hard I try, they always come out sounding plastic and fake and manufactured. So instead of writing a bio, I just wrote a bunch of stuff about me. I know that sounds like a bio, but it’s not. In fact, you could call it my Un-Bio.

And since I’ve been railing on in the last several posts about sharing who you are and what you believe in and why you do what you do, I decided to post my Un-Bio here, too. Let me know what you think. Or, better still, share your Un-Bio (or a link to it) in the comments.

1. I’m pretty opinionated. I don’t think that’s a bad thing; in fact, I embrace it. Really. I even include it in my bio sometimes, usually preceded by the word “outrageously”. And if you don’t believe me, just ask my friends what I think of James Cameron’s “movies”, or anyone who’s ever met me what I think of Bob Dylan’s “music” (I don’t know how, but it always seems to come up in conversation…genius my ass).

2. I love ideas. I think ideas are what make life fun. I love having ideas, and I love sharing them even more (see #1). I love hearing other people’s ideas, too, especially the brilliant ones. I love it when my ideas have sex with other people’s ideas (you can blame Matt Ridley for giving me that phrase to play with), and my ideas are pretty promiscuous. They also refuse to practice safe sex, so don’t be surprised if our ideas get together, have loads of idea sex, and spawn lots of tiny new baby ideas.

8 Comments - Leave a comment!