Professor and philosopher William James of Harvard University said “The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.”

People are not pushed or pulled toward a certain fate, but are motivated from within. “What a person does is the outcome of what that individual thinks and feels. People enjoy an inner power as they discover that they can have far more control over their lives and their situations and circumstances than they ever dreamed possible.  People who focus only on what is will create more of what is. People who focus on what could be will begin to create more of what could be in their worlds.  As you believe, so shall you receive?

Mark Twain said “People who accomplish incredible achievements and become great successes do so mainly because of the way they view their lives and the world around them.  They know that outlook determines outcome.”

Our concept says that you can set your own goals and direct your own life. When you take responsibility for the things you say and do, for your attitudes and actions, then you start to live your life from the inside out.  When you seize the initiative and change the internal concept of yourself you will change your life’s outcomes forever.

And so we come full circle back to attitude motivation and we can see why it is a positive permanent motivator. It comes from within and meets individual needs rather than having outside forces as its source.  Attitude motivation or intrinsic motivation is the driving force behind all successful achievers, doing something because of a sense of passion for what it is you are doing.  Doing things because they matter, they are interesting, they are important and we are part of something important.

Knowing that that outlook determines outcome increases your personal power dramatically. Attitude motivation manifests itself in activities that are interesting, enjoyable, satisfying, fulfilling, fun, and personally challenging.  Our programs systematically foster the development of self confidence to reach for higher and more meaningful goals.

Think about that idea for a moment.  See how what I’ve just told you makes it possible for you to work the formula and increase your success significantly.  That’s what we’ll be doing throughout my blog and during my courses.  It doesn’t happen overnight, but it will happen. You didn’t get to where you are today overnight either.  So, be patient and allow the process to happen.

I believe that no one has to be a victim of the past. Attitudes are habits formed through repeated exposure to ideas or behaviors, so old attitudes can be changed by using the same fundamental learning process that formed them in the first place – spaced repetition. We know that if you use the power of spaced repetition to change the ideas you read see and hear every day, it will begin to change the way you think.

If we use the spaced repetition of powerful ideas and actions we can change our conditioning process and scripting programs and our belief systems so that our habits of thought, our attitudes, change too. As your thinking changes you will start to develop new attitudes and the way you act will change.  Your behavior will become more positive and productive as your thinking becomes more positive and productive, and when that happens, the results you get from life will become more positive and productive.

The change in attitude will bring about changes in behavior and the results you achieve will improve and grow in significance.  With improved results, the quality and quantity of the success you enjoy will also increase. People want to change their results, people want to do better.

So if you think differently, you’ll have a more positive attitude. You’ll take different actions and bring about more of the results you want in life. Attitude motivation works from the inside out.

What’s more, when people understand and apply this concept, they discover they can be proactive and select the results they want and start inputting new ideas into their brain immediately. This in turn generates new ways of thinking and being which starts to change their actions to bring about those predetermined results.  By doing this, you become a beneficiary of your own process to get the results you want. You develop a beneficiary mentality.

Before you can achieve new results in your life, you must believe it’s possible which probably means you need to change you current thinking.  Henry Ford said if you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right either way.  You will achieve only when you have the attitude that you can achieve.

We are all creatures of habits and when we change our habits, our habitual ways of thinking and acting, we change our results for the better.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, it is important to acknowledge that our thoughts are the building blocks of our lives and these thoughts build upon themselves to become the root source of our personal power. Emerson stated emphatically, “Thoughts rule the world.” What a man does outwardly is simply the expression of his inward thoughts. Disraeli said: “Nurture your mind with great thoughts; to believe in the heroic makes heroes.” It is the focus and habit of our thoughts that shapes our lives into the behaviors we perform daily.

James Allen said “You cannot escape the results of your thoughts. Whatever your present environment may be, you will fall, remain or rise with your thoughts, your vision, and you’re ideal.  You will become as small as your controlling desire, as great as your dominant aspiration.”

If our thoughts determine what we are and what we will become; then our thoughts are the root source of all our personal power; then our thoughts are the principal means of our successful achievement.   Everything in your external world started as a thought in your internal world. Our thoughts and words are very powerful.

The success of your lives depends on the quality of your thoughts and the quality of your thoughts will determine your destination in life. Thousands of years of wisdom, experience and observation have proven, beyond the shadow of a doubt that clearly you become what you think about all day long.

So the next step is to ask, what determines your attitude or the way you think? Your attitudes or your habits of thought are the result of your conditioning. You think the way you do because of conditioning experienced through family and society. You have all been conditioned to think and act in certain ways by family, friends, teachers, preachers, and others who have influenced you throughout your lives.

Your basic habits of thought and attitudes are formed early in childhood in an environment over which you have little or no control. You truly are a product of the environment you grew up in.  And finally, your conditioning developed from the repetition of certain ideas and actions over extended periods of time.  We call it spaced repetition because it occurs over and over with intervals of time in between.

Yet you retain these attitudes, virtually unchanged, throughout your adult lives. The decisions you make give rise to patterns in your lives, the situations and circumstances that tend to recur because you habitually handle them in the same way. Luckily you have the power to change your thinking.

You are all the products of the ideas you have been exposed to throughout your lives and these ideas form the basis for your belief system.  Your belief system runs your entire life. Everything you do in life is designed to gain a benefit or avoid a loss.

If you grew up surrounded by positive people, you will generally have a positive outlook on life and the results you receive will most likely going to be positive. But if you grew up in a negative environment, you are more likely going to be fearful, have low self concepts, and live far below your potential.

You can see how what you think, dictates the language you use both internally and externally, which in turn generates your feelings which impacts the actions you take which creates the results you consistently get in your personal and professional lives. That is why it is so true that what you focus on is what you get in life. Your outlook certainly determines your outcome.

As you can see, this theme of “becoming what you think about” is replete throughout history. We learn from these great sources of wisdom throughout the ages that our thoughts build our belief system, so in a very real sense, how we think is how we do. Our outlook certainly determines our outcome.  Therefore, attitude motivation is born of our thoughts; we become what we think.  In my next blog we will examine how thoughts are the building blocks of our lives and therefore the root source of our personal power.

ATTITUDE MOTIVATION will literally change your life and give you more control than you ever realized.  Attitude motivation works because it affects the way that people think and act.  It is an internal and intrinsic motivation; an ongoing internal desire to achieve and its effects are permanent rather than temporary in producing desired behavior. This method of motivating people by affecting a positive change in their thinking and attitude does not depend upon outside pressure or incentive and ultimately results in a lasting and permanent change.

The psychology behind attitude motivation is change. It is an inside out proposition. We are going to affect the basic personality of people. You learn to appreciate the intrinsic value of your work and your contribution to meaningful work.  Remember that all lasting and meaningful change starts on the inside and then moves outward. Attitude motivation grows out of the desire to do things because they matter, they are interesting and because we like doing them.  Attitude motivation grows out of the individual’s dreams and desires, wants and need for personal fulfillment.

As a leader it is our responsibility to create an environment for people to develop attitude motivation. Attitude motivation is the inner drive, the powerful why behind what we are doing to take action on your goals to keep going even when the going gets tough. Once you tap into those dreams, desires and your unique ability, you develop in yourself an ongoing personal motivation that is unstoppable. Simply stated, personality is an outward reflection of inner attitudes or feelings.

An attitude is a collection of habits of thought that are basically consistent. First we make our attitudes then our attitudes make or break us.  Attitude motivation comes from within and is born of intimate personal dreams, desires, needs and values; it is the most effective means of motivation. Our values are what we truly care about – the qualities and standards we value and aspire to achieve. These values determine our attitudes and behaviors and ultimately what motivates us. It is a function of the need to belong, to achieve, and to use the innate talents and abilities with which the individual is endowed. Attitude motivation is designed to promote development of an ever expanding, positive self-image.

 I encourage my clients to recognize and appreciate their strengths, to acknowledge their personal value and to see their environment and opportunities in the light of this expanding belief and new positive attitude. This is truly an idea whose time has come; nothing is more powerful than attitude motivation.

Stephen R. Covey says “Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly”.  Attitude motivation is at the heart of every successful person. Attitude motivation excites, energizes and generates excellence. It is easy to tap into the power of attitude motivation when you are crystal clear on your desired outcomes and crystal clear on the reasons why you want to achieve the goal.  Attitude motivation is the single most important ingredient that creates continuous success in your personal and professional life. When you strengthen the motive you increase the action. Attitude motivation turns into a never-ending power energy source to provide us with endless motivation.  Attitude motivation can be learned and developed. Attitude is simply a habit of thought.

Let’s examine habits for a moment. Almost everything you do everyday is done from force of habit.  You learn to do things and they become habits and then you live in your habits. Habits are reflexive; you don’t have to think about it you just do it.  At an early age you formed the habits of walking, talking, riding a bicycle, tying our shoes and hundreds of other things. Now these things are automatic and reflexive.  People in general often talk about habits as being bad for them because they tend to focus on their negative habits. But the truth is that the overwhelming majority of your habits are good habits that make you productive. First you make your habits and then your habits make – or break – you. People form habits and habits form futures. Since habits are so important, in my next blog we will look at how they are formed and how they can be changed.

Motivation is the force that gives direction and action in our lives.  Almost everyone realizes the importance of motivation, but few know how to develop it.  This is what makes my business exciting.  My company, Achievement Unlimited, offers the answer to developing permanent, personal motivation.  We have the key to the ignition switch that turns on the adrenaline and wakes up the sleeping giant within us.

Since motivation serves as a catalyst to focus the individual’s full potential on accomplishing goals, it is important to gain an understanding of the various methods of motivation. To explain how we do this, I would like to share a short explanation of motivation theory.  There are three basic ways to motivate yourself and others:

1. FEAR/ INTIMIDATION MOTIVATION.

In fact, fear motivation has been around for a really long time. It is probably the oldest type of motivation.  The biggest and strongest people survived and controlled and ruled the weaker people.  People are motivated because they fear losing their jobs, they fear the boss, or they fear the feelings of failure. Fear motivation, based on force, coercion, intimidation or punishment, may work for a while, but people who are its target soon learn to ignore the pressure, rebel against it, develop resentments, seek revenge or walk away from it.  People build up an immunity to fear and intimidation motivation. They learn to work just hard enough to keep the person they report to off their backs or they don’t do anything without checking with them to make sure it’s okay. Fear motivation disappears as soon as the threat of negative consequence is removed. Fear ceases to motivate if the power to inflict punishment is gone. Fear, too, is an important motivator, but if people are primarily motivated by fear, the results cannot be positive or healthy.  Fearful people don’t grow, develop and live up to their potential.

Fear motivation is external; somebody has to provide the fear.  When fear is used as a motivator, its effects are temporary.  People either find a way to escape from fear or they become immune to it.  Either way, fear motivation eventually fails.

1. INCENTIVE MOTIVATION.

Incentive motivation is generally regarded as a more enlightened strategy than fear motivation as it employs the use of rewards. It is simply a process of luring people by offering prizes, brides and flattery for something they should be doing anyway. Incentives include money, bonuses, trips, prizes and other rewards for a job well done.  Money is a great attention getter but a lousy motivator. The classic example of incentive motivation is a carrot hanging from a stick, in front of a donkey, pulling a cart.  Do you get the picture? What’s required for this system to work? First, the donkey must be hungry and like carrots. Then, the load in the cart must be light enough; the carrot must be big, juicy and attractive enough; and the stick must be the right length, not too long and not too short. So if the carrot is big enough, the load in the cart is light enough, and the donkey is hungry enough, this type of motivation works and the donkey pulls the cart.  All of the pieces have to fit.

You can take away the carrot and just use the stick as a whip and you have fear motivation and that may work for a while.  But what if you could change the donkey into a thoroughbred so it ran for the sheer joy of running?  There would be no need for a whip or a carrot.

Incentive motivation can be very effective with a clear destination or goals to hit, but in the final analysis, it is temporary, because it’s based upon reward and appetite.  When the incentive or reward is achieved, the appetite is satisfied. When that happens, the incentive no longer has the power to motivate.  Rewards by their very narrow focus restrict your possibility. That creates a serious problem.  Soon, the privilege is regarded as a right and the prize must continually be increased.

In effect, we create a behavioral response of getting people to do less and less for more and more. We develop in people a tendency to have an entitlement attitude. Since the concrete needs and desires of people change constantly, incentive motivation is unstable and its results are unpredictable.

When a company depends on incentive motivation, it must increase its incentives in order to motivate a person whose appetite has already been satisfied. Incentives must become progressively more impressive to continue to motivate the desired behavior. If, eventually, a person becomes completely satisfied, it is impossible to motivate that person using incentives.  Have you ever seen this happen or has it ever happened to you?

Despite the shortcomings of fear motivation and incentive motivation, these are the most common forms of motivation used in business and industry, in our schools and even in our homes, but fear and incentives just don’t work as well as they should.  They are both — external and temporary. Unfortunately, both of these types of motivation soon become less effective since they’re rarely accompanied by any kind of ongoing follow-up to change people’s attitudes or habits. The solution is not to entice people with sweeter carrots or threaten them with a sharper stick. These external motivators actually do more harm then good in the long run.

Fortunately, we’re not dealing with donkeys; we’re dealing with people… and people are thoroughbreds to start with… and if they are treated like thoroughbreds, they will perform like thoroughbreds. That is where attitude motivation comes into play. The good news is we have developed and will share with you a practical method which permanently motivates people in my next blog post.

Author Carl Rogers says that “the good life is a process, not a state of being.  It is a direction, not a destination.”  It is the realization, the accomplishment of personally meaningful goals.  Success is a choice not a destination. Success is a life-long journey to which one continually adds goals for growth in all areas of life.  This is exciting because you don’t have to wait to be successful.  Resolve today to write down your definition of success, and then lay out in writing the steps needed to get you there. Even a mediocre plan is better than no plan. Remember, you can make progress or you can make excuses, but not both!

You are on your way to success the moment you set a goal and take the first step toward it.  You can experience the thrill of success and the satisfaction of accomplishment today, you don’t have to wait. The miracle of successful living is that the smallest step towards success attracts more success. When you set a goal and take action toward it, you experience that rare mixture of excitement and inner calm which is the basis for successful living. Success is goal directed action that allows us to grow in a positive, meaningful, productive way. When we cease to grow, we begin to die.

We have to recognize that, despite their good intentions, some people do fail while others lead lives of mediocrity. Many people do attain some level of success, some level of satisfaction and then after a period of time get stuck in their comfort zone, the dead zone, the no growth zone.  And when you settle in the comfort zone of your life, life ever so slowly begins to deteriorate.  That’s why Henry David Thoreau said “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”

When we examine why, it becomes apparent that while some people have talent, education, and opportunity, they lack motivation.  You cannot have success without motivation. These two concepts go together; they are really inseparable. Motivation is by far the most talked about and studied theory of peak performing individuals and companies.

What is Motivation?  When you take a look at the word motivation, you can see it’s really two words:  motive and action.  The first word “motive” is the reason for doing something, the drive, purpose, goal, benefit, objective or outcome.  The second word “action” supplies the go and the do to invest in the change. Action is another word for movement or motion.

The key to motivation is motive.  It’s the why behind the what, the reason we really want the what.  It’s the deeper “yes” burning inside of us. Motivation is the stimulant, the burning desire to a life of purpose.  Motivation is not some magical or mystical pump up or psych up seminar.  Motivation is the ability to see in the present the future that you want for yourself and your family and the willingness to design a plan of action to achieve your goals no matter what other people say, think, or do. When you strengthen the motive, you increase the action.

Motivation is movement toward a goal.  Like success, motivation means goal-directed action.  In essence, the words are synonymous; they go hand-in-hand.  If success and motivation were really as simple as that, more people would be successful and more people would be motivated.  In my next post I will examine the kinds of motivation used by companies and families and we will look at reasons why they have not always been effective as well as ways to make success and motivation work in your life.

We have been examining the definition of success; not just the textbook definition, but our individual definition of success and how that manifests in our lives.  Drilling down on the definition of success is an important step to take on your journey to achievement.  As we further examine the concept of success and the actions that we must take to achieve it we can see that success is not a spectator sport, it is progressive – achievement demands action.

Progressive: The word progressive means moving forward, advancing, and proceeding in steady steps.  It is an ongoing process. It’s dynamic.  It’s a journey rather than a destination and you cannot expect to arrive at success without having made the trip. Progressive means that you are successful as soon as you set a goal and begin working on it. Initial success comes as soon as you start to take action on your goals.

Realization:  Realization is the actual process of actively achieving your goals–step by step, day by day-the building blocks of success. This is the realization that the successive steps you are taking are advancing you toward accomplishing your goals.  You don’t just set goals; you are realizing them.  You immediately start to experience the progressive development of your potential.

Worthwhile: Are your goals truly worthwhile?  Do they provide you with real and lasting satisfaction? Are they soul-nourishing goals that have a significant impact on your world? It is important to examine your goals through this lens and determine if they are meaningful and compelling enough for you and worthy of your best efforts. Are they compatible with your own inner sense of values from your wheel of life?  Are they valuable and important enough for you to spend time, effort and energy on achieving them?  Goals have no intrinsic value unless they are meaningful to you. People who follow their inner sense of what is worthwhile minimize emotional static for themselves while achieving what is rightfully theirs.

Predetermined: You must make a conscious decision before and after serious thought and deliberation about what you want to accomplish.  Predetermined means you’ve thought it out and designed a plan of action for your journey.  Individually defined, premeditated personal goals hold your attention.  Predetermination suggests that you decide what your goals will be; you chose a deliberate and specific road map for your live, someone else did not choose them for you.

Personal: Your goals must be just that, yours.  They must be your intimate and internalized goals, reflecting your innermost dreams and desires, truly your personal vision of success. When you work to achieve someone else’s goals, you are not as motivated as when you work to reach your own.

Goals: A goal is a specific target, a result or a well defined outcome that you want to achieve. A goal is an end toward which your time, effort and energy is directed. The goal satisfies your wants and needs and is your objective toward which you aim your attention. Your goals must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and tangible – and encompass the six major areas of your wheel of life. The six wheel of life areas are: financial & career, mental & educational, physical & health, social & cultural, family & home, and spiritual & ethical. If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.  Success is growing in goal directed action.

…Success is a journey, not a destination.

PERSONAL GOALS.

Take that definition, examine it, reflect on it, and look at it carefully. Let the full impact of that definition enter your mind; let it germinate and incubate.

Success itself has taken on a new definition of constant and continuous preparation to meet the continuous change of the economic system today. Success really is achieving “what matters most” to you in every area of the wheel of life and in all of your personal and business relationships. Success is really embracing a personally meaningful journey, integrating your personal and professional lives in ways that can make a lasting difference.  And when you look at success in that way, you have the potential to create a legacy that can serve the world long after you’re gone. Success is really personal, that means it’s different for each individual. Success is a choice.  Success is the intentional, deliberate, pre-meditated use of choice, decision and attitude. Unless you choose specifically what you want in life, by default you will get whatever the world gives you. You must decide what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it.  No one else can, will, or should do that for you. Everyone has their own personally meaningful definition of success.  When you look at our definition, there is an ethical and moral quality about it. When success is understood in these terms, you can see that it is an on going journey, not a destination.

The greatest power on earth is the ability to grasp onto an idea or concept that inspires people to reach their greatest potential. This power allows people to develop and use more of their potential, to achieve and enjoy more success and balance in their lives, and to lead and motivate other people during these turbulent times. The enduring strength of any company, organization or even family encompasses the values and purposes to which it has dedicated itself and by which it lives.

I’d like to share with you the ideas and concepts to which I am committed. When properly understood and applied to your lives, these concepts will lead to a more enthusiastic, productive, and confident living and working environment.

We all come from different backgrounds; however, there is one common bond that interests all of us. The truth of the matter is that we are all interested in greater success and balance in our lives.  Everyone wants success. No one wants to fail. Let’s see if you can really understand success and its closest relative- motivation.  If you can understand and internalize the meaning of these two words, you will understand a powerful concept that will wake up the sleeping giant within you.  Everyone has vast untapped potential within them that just needs to be awakened. We have developed the tools and strategies to tap into that potential and help you achieve a maximum level of success. I help individuals and organizations set and achieve their goals in order to help people unlock more of their potential consistently and with a greater impact affirmatively.  We are all about helping individuals and organizations continually create bigger and better futures.

I think you will agree that this is exciting.  The important question, however, is, will it work for you?  Right?  Absolutely! It will work for anyone who is serious about tapping into unrealized potential!