Hi,

It’s amazing how small an agent of change can be…

For me, it recently was a tiny fruit fly that motivated me to make a change in my life.

I’ve talked about motivation in earlier posts; and what really gets you up and moving. This time for me-of all things-it was bugs near my fruit bowl.

Picture this… It’s summertime, and fruit flies are multiplying all over the joint! Naturally we’re to blame because we see so many delicious fruits and can’t resist piling it up in the kitchen…

…And wouldn’t you know these eager little critters can’t resist helping us eat it.

See, the “fruit fly situation” in my house just got unbearable. Actually, out of control. They gravitate towards anything that has even a hint of sweetness or sugar to it.

They converge onto a spoon.

If you leave a bottle of wine open, they swarm to the rim or just plunge right in.

I forgot how quickly these suckers can procreate and multiply.

…It kind of makes me want to brush up on my biology 101 to see how long it actually takes them to create more offspring. I’d say it’s about fifteen seconds? And BAM!, a thousand more pesky Drosophila Melanogasters now fluffing around my fruit bowl.

Anyway, as I was saying, you get that it got a little out of control, right? It reaches the point where they are everywhere. They’re in your face, you walk out of the kitchen to the living room or wherever, and there they are, fruit flies galore, more friendly little guys waiting for you.

You finish putting away the dishes, head on over to the living room to ease into the couch, and there again, more fruit flies swarming around hunting for their next meal. So just when I am kind of at my wit’s end-at my turning point really-my wife has the great simple suggestion of putting the fruit in the fridge.

This is why wives were invented…

…We get ourselves all tangled up, then along comes your beloved and points out the blindingly obvious!

I took her advice (all the while telling her I would have thought of it myself at any moment) and lo and behold, within the span of a few days, we dramatically cut back on the fruit fly population.

Now think back to what we talked about in a quiz some time ago on what makes us do the things we know we shouldn’t be doing – instead of doing the things we should be doing…

Let me ask you again, what is it that makes one person stay on course and keeps another person off track?

Remember?

The answer was “motivation.”

Why did the fruit flies bother me so much? The answer to that isn’t really important. What’s more important is that they bothered me enough that I reached a tipping point-the point at which my momentum for change was unstoppable-and suddenly I was motivated to do something about it.

If necessity is the mother of invention, then motivation is the father of change. I was motivated to save my fruit. Not to throw it away (I like fruit!), but to eat it and to share it-just not with the fruit flies. And truth be told, I also wanted to save my sanity.

And there is the basic principle:

Something bothers you, perhaps for a long time without you being consciously aware of it.

Then in a single moment you cross a threshold.

Now your problem has new meaning, and you begin to call the solution to you. And presto, life change!

Something to think about isn’t it?

…I’d love to hear about a similar experience you’ve had.

Ciao!

Taylor

I welcome your comments.

Ciao!

Taylor

Hi…

It’s time for the answer to this week’s quiz…

Judging by the response, I’d say most didn’t have time to comment, which is a bit in keeping with the quiz and could be good or bad news depending on how you look at it.

Now, for the answer…

Or at least let’s head in that direction…

The answer to the question I posed (“What’s the key intrinsic reason why we do what we do instead of what we know we should do in support of our goals?”) also has a lot to do with why we do something vs. why we don’t.

Ask yourself why you do something to inch closer to a goal.

Maybe you want something. Maybe it’s material. Perhaps it’s a state. Maybe you desire it so badly you can taste it. Or maybe you don’t.

That’s a clue.

Here’s another one…

All across town, crowds of customers lined up hoping to get their hands on the new iPhone 3GS.

Which reminds me of a chilly night back in college. It was the first time I’d ever camped out to get concert tickets. Darn cold actually. But we were a big group of friends, we came prepared, we had a tent, food, beverages-you know how it is in college-and we stuck it out together… because it was worth it.

But you want to know the big reason why? Because my girlfriend wanted tickets.

Same with the iPhone fans. See, even though some stores wouldn’t open till 10 AM, Apple devotees were willing to get in line at the crack of dawn.

… Because they wanted to be one of the first to have the latest and greatest. Or maybe their reason why is because they wanted to get it as a gift for someone else.

Okay, so back to my example of the two random people who both have a goal of losing the same amount of weight.

One goes to the gym three times a week. And through persistent action and consistent effort, ultimately loses the weight. The other complains about not having enough time and remains overweight.

Here’s the reason why the second person doesn’t pull the trigger on losing weight…

Their bugaboo is “motivation.” Motivation, that combination of feeling, decision, and commitment.

That is the answer to the quiz: motivation.

Things get done in this world because we are motivated to do them. (Write that down and stick it to your wall.) And things don’t get done when we don’t have enough motivation.

There, the cat’s out of the bag.

It’s not glamorous.

Nevertheless, it’s the most critical driver for personal and business success.

Not getting the results you want? Check your motivation.

It’s not voodoo.

Setting and expecting to achieve goals without having the right motivation, IS relying on voodoo.

Because if you are not motivated enough, it is highly unlikely you’re going to do what’s necessary to achieve your goal.

I’ve lost count of how many goals of mine have fallen off the radar because I wasn’t motivated enough. I’m probably better off too for it too.

I’m guessing you can relate to this, can’t you, that to take action you need to be motivated? Even if it’s just to get the silly thing done?

My fingers are getting tired, so let me think how do I say this best again… Things are worthwhile when we have worthwhile goals.

And when things are worth doing, you’re motivated to do them.

The flip side of this is, you’re not really going to do something if you don’t think it’s worthwhile…

…In other words, you are not going to go after your goals if you’re not motivated …if you don’t have a BIG ENOUGH REASON WHY.

Okay, I’ve rambled on enough.

Now, about the prize, even though you didn’t offer the answer, I’m feeling compelled to give TWO prizes.

One for the answer that at least is on the right wavelength… which gives us a taste of the effects of fear.

And the other for shedding some light on the workings of our mind.

So, the winners:

Carolyn, the second response.

And Zana, the first response.

Both of you get access to my Personal Renaissance group coaching and mentoring program. You’ll be contacted assuming you left your correct email address in your profile when you posted your comment.

Again, you get credit for giving this some thought and taking action.

Everyone else who read about the quiz and MISSED giving a response, I wonder if you can answer next time.

Well, that’s it for today.

We’ll have to do another quiz here soon.

Ciao!

Taylor

P.S. If you are a doer, want to be a doer, want to lead a truly extraordinary life, to enhance and enrich your lifestyle, to influence the world and leave a legacy, join me for your Personal Renaissance.