Mortality and Motivation - What Drives Us?

My Grandmother passed away three days ago and I was inspired by hearing about her life story. Her achievements had a way of spurring me on toward my own goals and her death gently reminded me that we all are in this together and none of us is getting out alive.

The motivation from hearing about my Grandma’s life in detail spurred me into writing an action plan for my business that I’m sticking to instead of letting myself feel overwhelmed regularly.

After I jotted down the action steps I thought about how grateful I am to be related to such a strong and capable woman. She burned her bra, raised four kids and built a business in an era much tougher on women than today.

Then my mind wandered to motivation as I wondered why my Grandma’s passing had such a profound clarifying and motivating effect on me.

I read an interesting article about motivation: where it stems from and how to feed it within you. According to the research, separating a project from a direct monetary reward helps stimulate more creative problem solving.

The single most motivating factor is doing something for a purpose or having a sense that what you are doing is fulfilling a greater purpose. If you lose sight of why you’re doing what you’re doing and how that serves your community, it will be much more challenging to stay motivated and on task.  This makes sense as the times when I remember feeling most motivated in my life where when I had done better than I thought I could on a challenging task or enjoying helping others accomplish something that made them happy.

So thank you Grandma. Your life story inspired me to examine my own and determine action steps to move toward my purpose. I wish I’d asked you more questions about your life while you were still alive; your legacy lives on and inspires me. Hearing about how much you did in your 79 years motivated me to consider my own mortality and evaluate where I’m at in relation to where I hope to be in a few years.

Here's to working with purpose.