Discontent is the greatest motivator
I have been listening to Earl Nightingale's "Lead
the Field" series every night this week when I walk my dogs. I've
made it through most of the way, past the magic word, acres of
diamonds, etc... I vaguely even remember some of it.
:) However, the phrase above did jump out at me and stuck in my
head. It wasn't even a main concept of his, it was just a
supporting phrase mentioned once. When I heard it, my life ran
through my head and I realized how true it really is. I was
discontent with the environment I grew up in and wanted to get out, I
worked hard and the universe converged to help me move. I was
flat broke and had the shadow of moving back home to my parents
house looming overhead, again I worked hard and the universe rewarded
me with a job. I was discontent with my job so I worked hard and
did much more than the job required. It paid off quickly with me
getting big raises and promotions every year. Then something
changed. The stock market crashed and the company I worked for
had massive layoffs. I lost many good friends to that time.
For a long while I felt partly responsible, after all I was the one
writing programs to automate their jobs and made them redundant.
I made the job so easy it could be done with the click of a few buttons
and shipped over seas. I still feel that way sometimes, but I
know there's really nothing I could have, or should have, done
differently. Anyway, at that point something inside me
changed. I was just grateful to have a job and stay in the status
quo. Losing so many friends and money in the market made me focus
my discontent on my job. Having a manager that I didn't like
didn't really help the situation either. My motivation suddenly
went from doing the best job possible to working my 8 hours a day and
getting out of there to feel sorry for myself. I did a darn good
job of that if I say so myself. After all, I'm salaried now, why
should I put in all those extra hours if I'm not getting paid for
them. I'd worked hard for years and it was time to enjoy it.
Now, though, my original motivation is starting to
come back. I'm discontent with my environment and want better for
myself and my family. I was offered an opportunity at my day job
that would give me a lot of opportunities to learn new stuff and put me
in the spotlight more. Sure, I don't really like the attention
and would much rather just be another anonymous individual, but my
discontent is starting to build back up to be more than
discomfort. So I took it and I plan on my career starting to sky
rocket again after years of being on a plateau.
I just need to rememer to keep my discontent focused on what I'm really
discontent with and can affect, rather than focusing on something
meaningless that I can only complain about.