You know the wise old woman on the park bench whose looks have faded?
She sits, reminiscing about the good old days when she was riding high on life, on the magic carpet of her beauty and youth.
But when the carpet bumped down on the runway of old age, her beauty and youth gone, she was grounded on a deserted island — alone forevermore. So now it was all gone.
Well, I don’t care about that story, and I highly doubt you do either.
To all the business motivation groupies just like me, I raise my glass.
You know what they all say, those expert YouTuber’s and online course trainers, the Tony Robbins of the world.
You name it, you can get it, and they’ll show you how.
Businesses. Money, Clients. Product sales. Likes. Views. Shares. Comments.
And of course, money. Did I say money?
Follow The Business Motivation Leader
Follow the leaders, the pied pipers of motivation and skill down the yellow brick road.
They will teach you to create your own Oz, your own fantasy world, your tribe as an entrepreneur and be the creator of your own dreams.
Single focus, single file, get in line and march to the beat of their well-worn drums of success. Do what they did and you’ll have what they have.
Laser focus, people. Laser focus, eye on the prize, blinders on. GO.
Don’t stop until you get there.
The cowardly lion in us is scared no more, the squeaky awkward tin man is now well oiled and versed on the language of business motivation and money.
We’re learning how to swat away the flying monkeys and kill the scary witches along our path, to steal our hearts, and to focus on our goals.
We’re all off to see the wizard. In fact to become a wizard or wizardess.
And I, like you, am obsessed with this trip.
Love The Journey
It’s such a rush.
Following, reading, listening to, taking classes, watching it all and finding the pieces you like best. Putting the information of all the speakers, business gurus, and authors together and creating the puzzle that is you.
You’re developing a new persona, one piece, one speech, one article, one idea, one inspiring thought, one relentless push up at a time.
One 4 AM run at a time.
This is NOT a Ferris Bueler themed essay about “if you don’t look around once in a while you could miss it”.
No.
Because we’re not missing anything we don’t care about missing.
Oh, we know the roses are there on the side of the road, but we don’t really want to stop and smell them.
We’re busy.
Doing the things we want, following the people we want, to get what we want.
All good, right?
Not so fast.
Maybe we’re onto something with that old lady story? So, let’s take another quick look.
Are You Losing Sight Of Things?
You see, there are some places inside your soul which are being looted and robbed.
Kind of like when you reach into your pocket for your wallet because you need to buy something, only to notice it’s not there.
While you were being guided, taught, and then applying the business motivation techniques you were learning, you didn’t realize that you were simultaneously in a fog.
You’ve been to so many places, done so many things, are full of so many ideas and have reached many goals. Except now you have no idea where your soul has gone.
And now there is not much time left to retrace your steps.
Kids grow up fast, lovers wilt, and friends move on, all while you’ve been on your way to Oz.
Then you’re left scratching your head, as in, “How the heck did that happen? Where was I? How did I not see it? Feel it?”
Business Motivation Masters? I guess so. Business is business. But what have we done about our life mastery?
Are we losing sightofpeople, relationships, family, friends, spouses, kids, girlfriends, boyfriends, neighbors, hobbies, and even our communities?
All in pursuit of our own business motivation?
It May Not Have To Be This Way
The message seems to be ‘out with the old and in with the new bright and shiny.’
It’s either/or, one or the other, and we often choose the ‘other’.
Then there are Robert Greene’s books on mastering human nature in order to get whatever you want in life and in business, and these are my bible.
They’re brilliant. Creating mystery, inspiring the new and unfamiliar — exotic, progressive and taboo.
Ruthlessness and psychological manipulation.
Yet, I found a single place out of all his books where he slipped some ideas in that were almost like a personal confessional about what it is that one really wants, what in this life is really real, and how to get it.
Reading it I felt frozen in fear.
What if my whole life has been wrong?
— Leo Tolstoy
As Robert Greene writes about in his bestselling books, there is always another bright shiny object luring us into futility, it’s human nature.
We envy people that seem to have it all, the happy family, the other man or woman we lust for, the exotic cultures we dream of being a part of, the job that’s amazing.
Yet, once we charge forward and ‘go for it all’, there is often a disappointment.
I find it shocking that his books are full of business motivation and life and business mastery, and yet he says it’s ‘luring us into futility’ and that at the end, it’s a path that leads to ‘disappointment.’
Maybe There’s More To The Story
His seemingly reluctant advice is:
None of this turmoil and ceaseless desire for what is most distant ever leads to anything fulfilling, it only stirs up more to pursue… With the people in your circle, you can always connect on a deeper level.
As he goes on to explain that “This can be a source of endless fascination…” he also states that,
In the end what you really must covet is a deeper relationship to reality, which will bring you calmness, focus, and practical powers to alter what it is possible to alter.
So, what are we to do?
Maybe it’s about time to pause the business motivation information and to instead look inside yourself.
Connect To Yourself
Connect to yourself, to your own reality, to seeing who and what needs you.
Run conversations with yourself, be thoughtful and honest and know how to choose what you will do based on this inner dialog.
At the end of the day, what are your motives and your purpose? Then you can answer the real questions as I see it, which is what do I need to do right now? What needs me, who needs me?
Pay attention to yourself, have this inner dialog with yourself, daily.
Go towards your business motivation goals with fervor, but if your personal life needs you more at the moment, then go there.
Then go back.
The business motivation gurus give you tools, so use them. But you don’t have to BE them.
Find your balance.
Go back and forth, quite unlike the old woman that flew above it all, had a great time and then crash-landed at the end.
I love the poetry of Charles Bukowsky.
Yet, I reject his statement that you have to lose it all to go all the way. I demand the opportunity for all of us to go all the way and at the same time not lose the ‘wives, girlfriends, and husbands, or go to jail or starvation.’
If you’re going to try,
go all the wayotherwise,
don’t even start
this could mean losing girlfriends wives relatives jobs
and maybe your mind go all the way
— Charles Bukowsky
Stop, Look, And Listen To Yourself.
Stop, look, and listen to yourself.
Then go forth and use the tools of others to have it all, but don’t forget to take your soul along for the ride.
Take a moment to stop and think — right now — about something or someone around you that you could sit with, go deeper with, and find connections with.
Something that will both satisfy your human nature to experience something new, and to connect deeper with someone already in your life.
That will give your relentless business motivation pursuits a much-needed break, some juice, some energy, so you could pick up and go forth again tomorrow.
Get off the carpet ride just for a few moments right now.
Call the person, or engage in the activity that you already love. The choice is yours. So ask yourself, what do you need to do today, who do you need to see today? This way, you secure your soul for the ride of your life.
How does your business motivation affect the rest of your life? Are you able to find balance? Share your stories with us in the comments below!