Can I admit a guilty pleasure to you?

Award shows. 

There, I said it. 

Oscars, Grammys, NFL Draft Day (broadcast live in the next room as I write this)…

It’s not the achievements, per se, that give me the shot of dopamine… 

It’s the stories of perseverance I can’t resist. 

Yes, these award shows are essentially popularity contests… 

… and as a not-popular kid growing up, I get a quick sting of agita around such things…

Yet, even as a gangly, outcast teen, I have vivid memories of sitting on my living room couch, pawing at a bowl of Lay’s classic potato chips, and gazing at the flickering lights of the television casting emotional speeches from people raising up trophies they’ve long dreamed of seeing their names etched into…

And feeling a surge of yearning for such a moment in my own life. 

If the speech giver thought to give a shout-out to “all the kids out there who persist to believe, against all odds, that they too, can one day, stand right here, and have their dreams validated, then I say to you… ‘Never give up! Never give up!’

My soul would do cartwheels. 

Still today, I tear up at this stuff. 

So, tonight, as I watch these football players become “First Round Draft Picks,” – a title they will wear for life (for better or worse) – I think about all the work they put in. 

I wonder, “What drives someone to work so hard?”

Imagine how many “naturally gifted” players we’ll never see play a down.

How many genius musicians whose songs we’ll never hear.

The countless leaders who were led astray.

The people to whom the skills came easy…

But, lacked the MOTIVATION to pursue their greatest potential. 

Motivation can feel intangible. 

Or, it can decide to leave you at any point along the way.

We hear stories of mega-successful entrepreneurs, who were once broke, declaring how they long for their days of struggle. 

“You don’t know how good you’ve got it right now,” they post from their plush armchairs.

“Fuck you!” we say back, refusing to believe that living with “money troubles” could somehow make life better. 

What they’re actually describing though is an unforeseen lack of motivation

The insatiable hunger that drives us to get from where we are now, to a perceived oasis of the “good life.” 

“It may only come once in your lifetime,” they preach from the other side. “So…

“Embrace it…

“Appreciate it…

“Hold onto it as long as you can.

“Because, shit gets LONELY without it.”

Motivation is essential, but it is not a given.

The recipe for Motivation calls for 3 key ingredients…

Vision, Support, and Perseverance. 

A lack of any of them (like eliminating any member of bands like Nirvana or The Police), would destroy the result.

(No Andy Summers, no “Every Breath You Take.” No Dave Grohl, no “In Bloom.”)

In other words, you have to know what you want, have people in your corner helping you achieve it, and, most importantly, the energy and fortitude to push forward even when it feels like all the forces are working against you.

Talent? Overrated. 

Resourcefulness? Everything. 

Motivated people always find resources, even if they have to create them. 

Dave Grohl learned to play drums by setting up pillows on his bed like a kit and smashing along to the radio. 

Jimi Hendrix strung a beat-up, right-handed guitar upside down and made it a leftie. 

Misty Copeland constructed makeshift ballet barres at her local Boys & Girls Club. 

Writers become great writers by writing enough garbage to pack a landfill.

Paper, pencil, motivation. 

You’re good to go. 

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PLUS: Get fill-in-the-blank templates that instantly establish “Know, Like, and Trust”
 
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