It’s Up to You !

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.” So says Cassius in Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar.

Although you’re not debating in a Roman portico, much of what is said by Cassius applies to you in your job and ultimately, in your career.

That’s because your future is not determined by your stars, but by you. And only you can decide what goal to aim for.

Your current job may be much less that you’d like it to be. It may even feel like a dead-end. More probably, it’s a stepping-stone to something else, though this is easily overlooked.

While managers have a habit of demotivating their employees, you are responsible for motivating yourself, whether it’s at work or not.

 

In a job, where the shine has worn off, this can be a challenge; but it’s not an impossible one provided that you have three things.

 

1. Purpose.

Your more immediate purpose might be to make a living; but by itself, it will not make you want to do outstanding work or stay with it for very long.

Instead it will continue to be a form of drudgery that’s laid upon you by the stars.

And so to overcome that you need to have a “higher” purpose; one that transcends all others.

Your purpose has to be bigger than yourself: Much bigger. It has to take you outside of yourself.

Some of the greatest causes in human history began life this way.

 

2. Belief

You need to believe that you’re capable. You need to be absolutely sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that you could do it if you knew how.

You’ve probably heard the saying that “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.”

The same thing holds true here. When you have a compelling purpose, the resources to achieve it will seemingly come out of the woodwork.

Many successful entrepreneurs will bend over backwards to help another budding entrepreneur.

Resources can suddenly appear, too.

The reason for that is that so many people have no purpose; and so they’re attracted by those that do.

Think of all the volunteers that work the telephone lines in an election to put someone they believe in into the government. The vast majority of them will never have a job in the White House, so why do they do it?

It’s because they share the purpose of the candidate.

 

3. Reward

You must also have a reward at the end of it all that makes it all worthwhile to you.

This, too, can be a challenge.

If you’re overweight, then it’s unlikely that you’ll treat yourself to a meal when you reach one of your goals.

The reward needn’t be complicated. It could be something as simple as feeling better about yourself because you did it.

So what steps can you take right now to get yourself motivated? You need focus on those things that you can do, rather than on those that you can’t.

Stephen Covey, in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People talks about the Circle of Influence and the Circle of Concern. The two make up a whole: 100%, if you like.

Most people live in the Circle of Concern. They’re constantly thinking about what they can’t do. And that means that, over time, they have less and less influence.

The few who live in the Circle of Influence concentrat on what they can do. And the more they think about it, the more they find that they can do.

 

It’s not a false belief made up of morning affirmations.  It’s faithfully doing what you know you can do.

If you get into the habit of thinking about what you can do and get on with it, then you’ll have less time to mull over your limitations.

And when that happens, you really will kindle the excitement of realizing your purpose. You’ll see the job that you’re doing right now as the means, rather than the end.