ARE YOUR GOALS WORTH THE CANDLE?

This year, you might have read about the New Science of Success,
the concept that achievement can be predicted based on
specific principles. The theme is, "Success is the
predictable result of consistently applying the
fundamentals." Success, from riding a bicycle to building a
business is essentially an engineering problem. Do the right
things, in the right way, at the right time, and your
success is assured.
Several people have asked how motivation fits into the
equation. They argue that skills, financing, even timing can
be controlled, or at least influenced with good plans and
good execution. But they feel that motivation is different.
It's subjective. It's emotional, variable, and elusive. Aha!
They claim, "Doing the right things may be a science, but
having the energy and motivation to do them is deeply
personal and not scientific at all."
As you might suspect, I beg to differ.
Motivation—passion, energy, enthusiasm, determination and
persistence—are relatively easy to understand. We never lack
for motivation when we are profoundly convinced that our
goals are worth the effort. The real question is, are your
goals worth "burning the candle at both ends?"
Think of a small child who wants a cookie despite the fact
that mother has said no, and inconveniently stored them in a
cookie jar, on the top shelf, in the cupboard, out of reach.
For a really determined ("motivated") kid, this is not a
problem. You push your high-chair over to the counter. You
hoist the kitchen stool onto the counter. You climb the
chair, walk across the counter, stand on the stool and enjoy
your cookie. No problem!
This is the Science of Success at it's finest! The child
has a clearly defined objective, a plan and the motivation
to go for it. Good cookies usually result.
For adults with more elaborate goals, any number of speed-
bumps can occur. Because adult goals often require far more
steps than a child's plan to obtain illicit cookies, adults
tend to over-look vital steps or fail to recruit appropriate
partners, coaches or staff.
But three problems with "motivation" are often at the core
of adult frustration and failure.
The first problem is discouragement. These people count the
number of attempts they've made and at some point, they give
up. They look for short-cuts or better systems or easier
solutions. That can be smart if there truly are faster,
easier ways to obtain the desired result. But sometimes
there are no short-cuts and the search for a "better" way is
just a distraction on the way to defeat.
The second problem is, frankly, pride. "I've tried
everything I can think of and nothing works." Most of us
have been there, done that. But it's not true! If other
people have gotten the cookie, so can you! The key mistake
is doing everything "I" can think of! Get better training,
better coaching, better support! Ask better questions.
Interview the kids who are happily munching their cookies
and ask how they did it. Most of the time, they'll tell you!
The third and most troubling problem with maintaining
motivation is that often the goal we want simply isn't worth
the price. We don't want to push the high-chair into place.
Or lift the stool onto the counter. Or climb so high. We
want the cookie, but not at that price.
For adults, many goals require moving to another city, going
back to school, changing careers, taking risks or working
very hard over long periods of time. And for adults, these
are high prices! Often the goal we seek truly isn't worth
the cost, at least not in any way we can see to "get there."
The family doesn't want to move, friends may laugh at us,
and risking our savings is a big gamble. These are rational,
deeply frustrating decisions we all face at one time or
another.
The New Science of Success asks that you have a clearly
defined objective, a solid, workable plan, and a
willingness to pay the price until you obtain your goal. All
of us have done that in hundreds of ways. We've gotten
through college, bought a house, learned to sail, and
achieved other goals that were "worth it." But sometimes our
goals—actually our wishes—are not worth the price.
The Science of Success™ requires that you honestly assess
the costs and decide whether your goal is worthwhile to you.
If it is, you are on your way and success is assured. If the
goal is not worth the "candle" you can dream and "try" all
you want, but success is rarely obtained on the cheap. Be
clear about this. Your long-term motivation, and thus your
results, depend on it.