The Formula for Your Success and Inspiration

The Formula for Your Success and Inspiration

What is it that separates the winners from the losers? Is it due to chance, wealth, good fortune, or skill?

Instead, it boils down to a single, essential fact: inspiration.

Successful people all have one thing in common: they are highly motivated.

Naturally, inspiration is anything but easy. That's why the self-help market for books, recordings, seminars, camps, and coaches is worth billions of dollars.

However, there is one major flaw in employing these strategies. People have different needs and levels of motivation, so there is no universal formula. The fact that each and every one of us is unique is only one of the many things that keeps studying humanity so interesting. It's one of the main factors contributing to our species' remarkable prosperity. That also means that our hobbies, goals, and sources of drive are all unique to us.

You need to know which category you belong in before you can start following any of the thousands of motivational programs out there.

My research and reflection have led me to identify four primary sources of inspiration:

The Optimist The Realist The Rival The Simplistic The Extravagant The Exhibitionist

An Optimist Among Pessimists

My husband epitomizes the pessimist stereotype. For even the slightest piece of negative news, he immediately dives into a pit of despair. Whether the issue at hand is minor or substantial, he tends to overreact. If there is even a little interruption in satellite service, he guesses that the bill wasn't paid and that our subscription was cancelled, lowering our credit rating.

It was a steep learning curve until I found a way to cope with it. At first, I mistook it for genuine terror and tried to protect him from life's inevitable minor and major setbacks. Nonetheless, I now see that this is his true source of inspiration.

He goes through the same routine whenever we encounter any sort of difficulty. As a first step, he describes the worst-case scenario, followed by his options for how to proceed, and finally his chosen course of action. And when he does something, step out of his way because he moves really rapidly and effectively. Overcome an obstacle and get the job done! It drives me nuts, yet it seems to be helping him.

The Opponent

To my brother, competition is like oxygen. Competition pushes him to be his best, whether he's competing in a sport or making a sale. If he starts to lose steam, he may quickly pump himself back up by gauging how far along others are in the same endeavor. To stay motivated, he keeps score. He has a strong desire to triumph in each contest he enters.

Please don't dismiss this strategy. My brother has gone from being a contract worker who could barely pay the rent on his two-bedroom apartment to a high-level sales executive who earns a six-figure salary with bonuses to further motivate him.

The Simplistic One

This person probably has a short attention span. They require objectives that can be seen quickly and completed rapidly. If the work is divided up into manageable chunks, they should be able to complete it. They need to keep winning the little battles along the way in order to keep pushing forward toward the larger objective. Though I identify with many aspects of this description, I ultimately believe that the third and last category best describes who I am.

The Show-Off

I recognize myself in this description because I struggle greatly with abstract objectives. One of the reasons I despise cleaning is that the results are immediately apparent, but with a busy family, you know how long that lasts!

Like the minimalist, I find it helpful to tackle daunting tasks by breaking them down into manageable bits. To keep myself motivated while grading papers for my teaching profession, I always break the stack up into multiple smaller heaps. I always start by making sure the room is clean, then dusting and vacuuming thoroughly.

Even if I manage to get everything done, it isn't enough for me; I need a to-do list that I can cross off as I go and then crumple up and toss in the garbage when I'm done. Whether it's a spotless kitchen, a stack of graded papers, or a stack of written pages, I need to have something concrete to show for my efforts each day.

In which group do you find yourself? Your search for the most effective method of self-motivation will be aided by this level of self-awareness. Check out the Words of Inspiration website, cast your vote in our inspiration poll, and then go inspire yourself!