Motivate Me

Dear Mr. Tiger, I can't seem to get motivated! Help!

Dear unmotivated friend,

I sympathize, empathize and apathize with your predicament. As is evident by my delay in answering this question, I, too, suffer from occasional bouts of low motivation, particularly at this time of year. Let's face it. Tigers are pretty lazy by nature. Given my druthers I would much rather spend the day laying about; but, a tiger has to eat. So, every once in a while I have to get up off my backside and chase down an antelope or zebra or some such. The problem is that it tends to motivate the antelope or zebra as well. Being chased by a tiger is pretty motivational. I could chase you around I suppose; although, that is not really practical over the long term.

Here's a bit of potential inspiration from Tony Robbins.
Why We Do What We Do

Now, I am no Tony Robbins; but, I do know a few things that motivate me. As I alluded to above, Hunger is a big motivator. Fear is another one. My biggest fear is being caveless. Thus, I strive to stay employed so that we can afford to have a dry warm cave. These are motivations from neccessity, though, and generally negative. I gather that this is not the sort of motivation you mean, however. Besides, doing things merely to avoid unpleasantness is no way to live.

What, then, of positive motivators? These are such things as a sense of accomplishment, pursuit of a passion or the discovery of a novelty. My personal favorite is novelty. I have had many rewarding experiences by simply trying something, or learning something new.

The sage Confucius once said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." The best way I know to get motivated is simply to make up ones mind to take that first step. True motivation comes from within. Even being chased by a tiger would last for only a short while. Tigers are not much for distance running. If you are having trouble getting up the energy to tackle a large project, for instance, I would suggest breaking it up into small manageable pieces. Start with one small piece. When that is complete you will have the positive result of having actually made progress. This will quite likely give you the neccessary energy to move on to the next task. As you progress in this manner you will build momentum and before you realize it the whole project is completed.

Ask a tiger.