Jeff bezos was asked how he became so passionate.
Most expected a reply long and sour, but he kept it short and sweet: “You don’t choose your passions. Your passions CHOOSE YOU.”
THE MOTIVATION HACK
I. YOUR DREAM is CALLING YOU . . . PICK UP!
Before he starred in the role as rapper "Jay-Z," became a billionaire and married Beyoncé, Shawn Carter was just one of the guys in the hood. In Brooklyn, Carter was the gangly dude seen around town "walking down the street eating a $1 slice of pizza."
Carter—a high school dropout—found himself in the unwanted position of street pharmacist. It was in the midst of petty drug-dealing, however, that Carter’s dream came calling.
In an interview with Oprah, Carter recalled:
I use to stand outside the bodega, and my mind would be overflowed with these poems . . . ya know. It got to a point where I’d have to rush inside the store to borrow a pen and brown paper bag to scribble on. It was like something was chasing me . . . trying to motivate me to do something more with my life.
Eventually Carter answered the call from his dream to such an extent that it motivated him to become Jay-Z.
Indeed: you don’t choose your motivation, your motivation chooses you. …
In 1990 Jeff Bezos had a comfortable position at the hedge fund D.E. Shaw & C0. At just 30, Bezos was making well into 6 figures and on his way to a comfortable lifestyle.
Yet friends and family were shocked when Bezos randomly quit his secure, well-paying job to start Amazon.
And what was Bezos’ response?
“You don’t choose your passions. Your passions choose you!”
II. WHAT EINSTEIN KNEW ABOUT “GENIUS” and SELF-MOTIVATION
For almost a century now, people have marveled at Einstein’s intellectual feats. In fact, if not in name, if you look up the wordgenius, notice that listed among its synonyms is one rather “peculiar” addition.
Think about that for a second. …
Indeed, it borders on unbelievable that the last name of an actual flesh and blood person serves as a nickname for Genius.
Listed along with the usual suspects—brilliance, mastermind, etc—all of which are abstract nouns, there’s one name that stands out like Shaquille O'neal in a room of gymnasts.
Think about it. …
To put it plainly, so far as intelligence goes, Einstein was the Paul Bunyan of intellects.
Of all the sciences, physics is considered the king. And guess whose work is single-handedly responsible for both major fields of physics?
Einstein!
Think about that for a second. …
Einstein’s general theory of relativity describes the universe when seen via telescope; his paper on the photoelectric effect (E photon = hv) describes the world when seen via microscope—quantum physics.
Now, given that Einstein was genius personified, wouldn’t you suppose he knew a thing or two about uncovering the source of your motivation, aka your genius?
Here lies the reason Einstein went so far as to have said:
Bingo!
Long before the word genius got distorted, it had a far simpler meaning. In fact, the original meaning of genius is Latin: “attendant spirit present from one's birth, innate ability or inclination [aka, motivation].”
Bingo!
According to the ancient Romans, then, each person comes into the world stamped with a genius! In the Vedic tradition, this ancient wisdom is known as one’s dharma (धर्म).
To put it simply: so far as each man, woman and child is an individual—which simply means UNIQUE—as a consequence each individual has the capacity to do ONE thing in a special way.
III. MOTIVATION is a RESULT, NOT a GOAL
The Delphic Oracle called Socrates “the wisest person in Athens.” He in turn justified the crowning by noting:
One glance at the definition of motivation and its DNA becomes clear:
To “arouse” means to awaken, to inspire to take action. For this reason, it’s no accident inspiration derives from the Latin meaning “breathe or blow into.”
Bingo!
Your genius, or natural ability, literally breathes life into your mind, body and soul. And this “breath of life” is what we today call motivation.
Just as the mad scientist Dr. Frankenstein had to first breathe life into his inanimate creature, the same holds for our daily motivation.
How?
By simply staying true to the age-old wisdom:
Because each individual has the capacity to do ONE thing in a special way, it’s only in honoring the call to do that one thing in a special way that motivation will shadow the behavior.
Think about it. …
To the extent that you can somehow . . . someway express your individuality, your genius will literally motivate you. … “Genius” is just a fancy word for individuals brave enough to live truly from their uniqueness.
After all, the very meaning of the wordindividual is “single, distinct, unique, a one-of-one.”
And what is the most general definition of genius? The expression of talent or ability deemed “single, distinct, unique, a one-of one.”
IV. In CLOSING: MOTIVATION LIES in the QUEST
The reason we all tune into our favorite movies and books boils down to one thing: there was, is and will always be only ONE story.
Every such hers- and history repeats the same storyline. Hence History is said to have a bad memory because she’s always repeating herself! In every such case, the protagonist is confronted by a quest.
The word quest derives from QUESTion.
Hence each man, woman and child is posed the same question at birth: Shall you—mortal—unfold your genius upon the world’s stage?
After all, your genius is the mother of your motivation! Here lies the true meaning of the Oracle at Delphi’s maxim: Know Thyself.
Because each person has the potential for expressing genius—in at least ONE particular domain—the sooner you figure out your quest, the sooner the question will be answered.
To put it simply:
because life is a promise to fulfill, you make good on that promise by discovering what you’re good at, and only then will you know what you’re good for, which can only lead to good results!
If you’ve yet to uncover your gift, well:
Be resourceful.
The human mind is the most powerful instrument in the world. With that very mind of yours, mortals have turned water into wine . . . turned laundry lists into poems . . . turned emotions into motivation.
Aye, there’s the rub.
Walk the path blazed by your passion. In fact, follow your “weird,” so to speak. After all, weird is synonymous with genius insofar as both terms connote unique.
What exactly is it that makes you . . . well: YOU?
Or as Shakespeare advised:
Figure out what exactly is it that you naturally do well. …
Are you the person about whom friends and family make comments such as “you sure can debate well . . . should’ve been a lawyer—I tell ya?”
Do you naturally sing with a voice so lovely even the hummingbirds stop chirping just to hear you perform live in the shower?
What’s your hobby?
If money were no object, what would you do for a living?
In other words:
Bingo!
And so, if indeed your heart longs for lasting motivation, I suggest you follow Einstein’s advice:
In short, figure out what exactly breathes life into you, and let your heart overflow and spill over into motivation!
“Don't ask yourself what the world needs,” Howard Thurman advised. “Ask yourselfwhat makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
After all, motivation = come alive.
DOG fo DNIM ehT
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