Motivation is a very deep seated ingredient, or natural physiological element that we all possess. Going back to the Latin words moltivus, meaning to motion, and motus, meaning to move, the word evolves to motive, an emotion or desire or impulse that creates an excitement to action. Hence, motivation is essential in all we do in life except for the involuntary actions such as breathing, blinking, and the regular beat of the heart. These are some of our most basic built-in, involuntary actions that we rarely think about unless they are in trouble.

From there we have our acquired actions through need, desire, or habits. We need to eat food in order to survive. Survival is the motivation of that need. But taking that need a step further, desire enters the picture. Yes, we must eat, but we basically eat what we desire. And so motivated by desire for that chocolate cake, we add it to our survival list. Yum, yum. Now I won't say that eating chocolate cake becomes a habit, but ask any woman who's ever had a chocolate craving so strong that she would just about kill for a slice, and you do have to wonder if it isn't addictive. :-) And if a person continued to eat a slice of chocolate cake everyday, the action could very well turn into a habit. While perhaps not the best example of a "habit", habits are formed by repetition of same actions. "Habits form Futures." Mike Litman, Motivational Coach; Co-Author: "Conversations with Millionaires". But what if one had never tasted chocolate? Would the desire be there for it? I doubt it; not in the identifiable form of I want chocolate, for how would one know that delicious balm to the taste buds if they had never tasted it? And so taste becomes the motivator.

My point here is, motivation is a part of our most basic needs. Motivation is the force behind all of the actions in our lives. From the time we bounce, crawl, or slither out of bed each morning, until we fall, crawl, or otherwise project our bodies into bed at night, each action we take is influenced by the level of motivation propelling it. Yet the terms motivational speaker, or motivational seminar somehow seem to invoke strange responses from a large segment of our society. However, it is a much needed service requiring a dedicated commitment from the people who have stepped up to the plate to provide it. There is no room for ho-hum attitudes. Perhaps this is why many shy away from the whole concept. It does require one to reach deeply inside and explore their own goals and motives. When one takes on the responsibility of helping to motivate another individual, it is a little like venturing into a mine field. Why that correlation? Because to motivate a person, the person has to cooperate. And that mine field, is their mental mine field.

You see, a baby is born with the basic need desires. As he or she grows and eventually matures into adulthood, the mind has been subjected and conditioned to a great many of the external whammies in life of... you can't do this because... you really don't want to do that because... you'll never be able to... you really should settle down and go to work for Uncle Fred... In other words, his or her life has been directed by other people and factors.

Would you believe that in my earlier years - before Federal laws made potential employers afraid of such things - I was actually told that I was too little to be forceful enough to work in sales for that particular company. - Oooh, the good ole days of being too little. :-) And another time I was told that I didn't have a degree. It didn't matter that I had an excellent work record; that I had by that time gone to cosmetology school, had become a licensed cosmetologist, had owned my own salon, had dealt with all kinds of customers and been their unsolicited psychologist. It only mattered that I didn't have that slip of paper with a BA or higher on it. In an effort to fit more into the system of society, I did enroll and get my AA.

Then in more recent times - actually, less than 2 years ago - an employer was looking for someone to handle their web site and Internet activities part time. As I was interested in that type of activity, I went to apply. Guess what? I was actually laughed at. Yes, laughed at. Why? Oh, well, I only had an AA degree and they had people with Master's degrees applying for the job. And no, it did not matter than I had personally brought in the Internet service to the small town I was living in back in 1996 and ran the service for 5 1/2 years before selling it in preparations of moving elsewhere, or had numerous domains of my own, had created and managed client domains, and still do. But guess what else? On the spot I decided I did not need that job. I was better than that. No one could pay me to work around that sort of attitude. I didn't feel dejected; I just felt it was their loss. Mercy, what maturity can do for one. :-)

But such things encountered in life often create a mental mine field in people and prevent them from ever trying a particular thing again. It is the job and the pleasure of the motivational speaker to help those people to explore their own mental mine fields, and then to help them stretch and levitate to a higher mental plane, to learn to shut out all of the conditioning to failure. To help them learn to clear the cache of all of the garbage they've been handed about why they aren't good enough; not educated enough; not beautiful enough; not tall enough; not on the right side of the tracks... Well... enough. Enough of abusing your brain by telling it what you can not do. The average brain is capable of producing genius. Like using our computers, we just use what we want of it, while inside is stored all sorts of micro-chips and software designed and programmed to do extraordinary things. Just as we need some external motivation to prompt or push us to pursue learning and using the high tech tools, we also need external motivation to prompt and push us to pursue our God given talents, many of which may be laying dormant just waiting to serve us.

I have to reflect on the story of a wood craver. Someone ask how in the world he was able to carve out such exquisite images from the wood? He replied, "Oh, that's easy. You see, the image is already in the wood. I just release it."

Your talents are already in you. You just need to release them. And that is what Motivational Speakers and Motivational Seminars are all about. To help you release the real you. To help you envision your dream, to narrow it down, to set your sights and hone in your focus on it. To help you become all that you want to be. That is their job; their part in your success.

And then, it is your turn... your turn is A-C-T-I-O-N. Frequently people will remark that they have been to dozens of motivational seminars, read dozens of motivational books, listened to stacks of motivations CDs, and all "that junk", but it never did them any good. Would any of you like to guess why? I can tell you why. It was really the Speaker's fault. Yes. Although the Speakers probably gave excellent presentations, they left out one thing. The speakers left their can openers at home. These poor people expected him or her to open up their heads and just pour in the information, close the lid, and wham..oh... all new and improved and where's my million dollars.

Did you get it? Or do I get out my can opener? :-) Naw... you're brighter than that. But I wanted to make a point. To Succeed YOU MUST TAKE ACTION. One foot in front of the other repeatedly will move you a foot at a time until you've gone a mile. To quote an old cliché, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with that first step." My mission and goal is to help you find the courage to take the first step, and then another. One after the other, clearing your cache and leaving your mental mind field behind you. As you distance yourself from your old world of uncertainty, and embrace your new world of courage and confidence, you will not walk, but you will run to explore your dreams.

From The Sound of Music, "Climb every mountain; fjord every stream; follow every rainbow; 'till you find your dream."

Thank you one and all. Remember: God intended for you to be great. Don't disappoint Him.

Doris

EXAMPLE OF "MOTIVATION" A man had been in town partying until rather late. He started walking home and decided to take a shortcut through the local cemetery. It was a very dark night and suddenly he fell into an open grave spot. He struggled and clawed the dirt trying to climb out. But he soon grew tired and knowing he would be rescued come the morning, he huddled into a corner of the deep hole.

Suddenly, he was awakened from his dozing by another man falling into the same hole. The second man began desperately clawing the dirt and trying to climb out of the hole. The first man watching finally spoke up and said, "No need trying; you can't get out of here."

But he did.
ARE YOU MOTIVATED TO EMPOWER YOUR LIFE?
"Stretch a little every day to become the person you want to be." Doris Newnam

Copyright 2004 Doris OnLine by Doris Newnam, Issue #2. 2/ /04 All Rights Reserved.
Certified Master Life Coach: Certified Master Life Coach

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Copyright 2004. Doris OnLine; Doris OffLine; Doris UnLeashed. New Direction E-Magaine;TexasD.Net; TexStarPublishing All Rights Reserved.Doris Newnam, 1349 Western Oaks Dr., Woodway, TX 76712

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