What is your Motivation?

What is your Motivation?

It might be the hardest question to answer. What drives you? What guides the decisions that you make on a daily basis?Why do you work in the specific profession that you do and why do you work for the company that you do? Why do you own your own business…or why don’t you? All of those are different ways of really asking the same question – who are you?

More than likely, we’ve all asked ourselves that repeatedly over the course of our lives.  Maybe the answer has come quickly or maybe you are still waiting for the answer.  Maybe the answer that you get today is different than the answer that you would have received 20 years ago.  Trying to find purpose and passion is one of the largest pursuits that every individual has while on this earth.  It’s such a complicated question that there is not one answer…and the answer is different for everyone, as it only answers the question for that person.  Sometimes we lose our motivation, our passion, or our purpose…or all of those.  Here are a few ideas on how to keep the wind in your sails:

1. Do a SWOT analysis on yourself.  SWOT is an acronym that stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.  Mindtools has a great article here that tells you what an assessment like this entails.  After working through a SWOT analysis, you will get a good picture of where you are today and some of the road that lies before you.
2. Make some goals based on your SWOT.  Maybe your goal is to get a promotion at work, spend more time with your kids, pay off that expensive watch that you just had to have.  A goal is a road map to success.  The master of goal setting is Brian Tracy and he has an excellent worksheet here that will teach you about goal setting.
3. Believe in yourself.  Sometimes, we just need to know how great we are.  Let’s face it, sometimes things get tough.  I’ve heard one of my dearest friends in the world quote repeatedly that, “Life is Hard…Wear a Helmet.”  After a hard day, a hard week, month, or year, it can feel like the shine has been taken right off of our shoes.  A little motivation can go a long way.  There are great audio books, sermons, podcasts, and videos that can brighten any of your darkest days.  Here is one of my favorites.

BONUS FOR THE DAY – YOUR ATTITUDE DETERMINES YOUR ALTITUDE.  CRANK UP THE ALTITUDE!

Aside from taking an analysis, setting goals, and believing in yourself, take some time to get in the right frame of mind to make things happen.  Kick that pessimist to the curb and let the world see the motivational optimist inside of you.  Doing the following two things can drastically change your opinion on everything.

1. Laugh!  Forget about reading the news and guzzling coffee (a depressant)!  Take time to laugh.  Today is filled enough with depressing news about global warming, politics, and international terrorism.  Roll back the clock and laugh like you did when you were a kid.  Watch your favorite funny movie, trade funny stories with your co-workers, or if you can’t come up with anything else, just watch babies laughing.
2. Pray.  Sometimes to find motivation we just have to be still; to stop and realize what’s truly important in life.  Understanding who and what is guiding you can bring a balance to any and every situation – good or bad.  Why were you put on this earth and what should you be doing with your life?  Maybe that’s the first thing you should start praying about.

At ZaccariaUSA, we understand that life is bigger than milling equipment.  We understand that we, as humans, all have similar struggles as we walk through this event called life.  In our journey, if we can help make this world a better place by offering great agricultural machinery to our friends while helping them succeed in their journeys, then we are taking a positive step in fulfilling our mission and purpose as well.