What Motivates You?

As a business leader and entrepreneur, I’m often asked, ‘what motivates you’.

It’s not an unexpected question. I have endured horrible failures, survived a life-threatening illness, and seem to work every hour there is, so it is, perhaps, inevitable that people will ask how I have kept going.

My answer is quite simple.

I constantly strive to be better today than I was yesterday. I am constantly pushing to be the best possible version of myself. That is my motivation.

This has been the mindset I have lived by since I was about 15. I knew that academically, while I was good at the things I enjoyed, I was never going to be the best at everything. I realised that not being the best is okay, as long as you are always pushing to be better, striving to improve yourself.

This extended beyond school into my early working life. I had my first jobs at a young age, through necessity, and I took the idea of always trying to better myself into each of those. Whether it was doing my Saturday job better than I had the weekend before or trying to attract more tips when waiting on.

Whatever I was doing, I measured myself against my previous performance. That motivated me always to try harder, learn more, and be better.

I have continued that into my adult life, both personally and professionally.

Frustrations

Self-improvement is my answer when asked, ‘what motivates you’. It is, however, also one of my biggest sources of frustration.

That’s because I look for the same value in others and try to instil this motivation in people. I challenged them to ask, ‘what is their why’. Why do they go to work? Why do they do that job? What is it that gets them out of bed in the morning?

For me, the answer is improving on yesterday. It disappoints me when people’s only motivation is the salary. They go to work to pay the bills, and that is all. They are not passionate about what they do and are never excited about the possibility of improving their own performance every single day.

Of course, bills must be paid and a regular salary is a necessity for many. But when so much of your life is spent working, there must be more to it than that. Why continue to do something you don’t enjoy, or are not motivated to make the best of, for the rest of your life? You are just ticking away the moments to retirement, plodding along and treading water, rather than living your best life.

Professional and Personal

From worker to boss, striving to improve has always been my answer to ‘what motivates you’. But my passion for self-improvement extends beyond the office.

Like most of us, I want to be the best father, husband, and friend I can be. I take time to look at what I’ve done before, then push myself to do better. Again, this is about being the best version of myself.

Am I always successful? No, of course not. I aim to be better, professionally and personally, every day, but sometimes I fall short. We all do. But it is the intention that motivates me.

Ironically, this drive to always be better in every area of my life is often the reason I fall short. Focusing on self-improvement in my working life leaves less time for my private life, and vice versa.

That means that, despite my best intentions, there isn’t always enough time to achieve everything I would like to. But the ambition to be better keeps me motivated to keep trying, even when the results are lacking.

Failure is an Option

There are many ways we can try to be better than we were yesterday. For example, I like to learn, expand my knowledge, and soak up the experiences and information shared by others.

I used to focus on tasks, trying to do more than I did yesterday. Sometimes, this simply isn’t possible and you are left with a feeling of failure.

While I have addressed that by shifting my mindset to celebrating the achievements rather than bemoaning the failures, there’s more to this.

Failure is arguably the best teacher you will ever have. If, like me, you answer the question ‘what motivates you’ by saying always striving to be better, then you already know this.

Identifying where you have fallen short, and why, gives you the knowledge you need to avoid repeating the mistakes. You will stumble, professionally and personally, but what matters is getting back up, learning the lesson, and using it to refocus on trying to do better.

Quitting Can Be a Sign of Strength

Giving up on something can be seen as a sign of weakness and failure. I take a different stance.

Deciding to quit can be not only the right choice, but also the brave choice. I mentioned earlier people who do jobs they don’t enjoy just to pay the bills. Quitting to pursue a passion, and losing the financial safety net, is a sign of bravery and a commitment to self-improvement.

This applies professionally and personally. Being able to identify when a project cannot work and it is time to walk away is a skill and a necessity. The same can be said of toxic and broken relationships.

As you strive to be a better version of yourself, understand that failure happens and allows you to grow and learn, and that quitting isn’t always a weakness.