Let’s give a warm welcome to Kaarina Dillabough! A former Olympic sports colour commentator and coach, Kaarina parlayed her skills into the world of business where she offers coaching in this arena. She has a high-energy, fun blog here!Take it away Kaarina!

When I think of the word Drive or Driven, I think of an outside-in approach. External circumstances can drive us, like deadlines or rewards but that’s a whole other blog post, especially when it comes to conventional wisdom about rewards, where we think the bigger the reward, the better the performance. But that applies only to basic, mechanical skills.

When we talk of higher level cognitive skills, that isn’t the case. No one points that out better than Daniel Pink in his book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us and this excellent video that’s not only packed full of information, but fun to watch to boot!

Motivation is an inside-out job, whereby an intrinsic candle gets fanned into flames of purpose and passion, and the results come, not because you’ll “win” something, but because you feel self-actualized and fulfilled. You are living a life on purpose and on potential.

I don’t believe we motivate someone else. We can support, encourage, fan the flames and “be there” for someone. But a person’s motivation starts from within.

As a former Olympic level coach, I can attest to this from an athletic perspective. Successful athletes succeed because they are motivated: not by medals, not by beating others, not by external rewards, but by being the best they can be. They are motivated to achieve to their highest level because that is their purpose…their calling…their inner stimulus…their bliss.

And the same could be said for others who are truly pursuing their passion. This quote sums it up nicely for me:

Once there were 3 bricklayers. Each one of them was asked what they were doing.

The first man answered gruffly, “I’m laying bricks.”

The second man replied, “I’m putting up a wall.”

The third man said enthusiastically and with pride, “I’m building a cathedral.”

The first two might have been driven to accomplish something, but the third man…he was motivated!

Are you fanning the flames of the candle within you? Are you living on purpose and on potential? Are you motivated?

photo credit: familymwr