Today I want to reflect on something I heard from a doctor of mine when I went for a visit.
I was in his office where we start talking about how my life and his life is going and about our goals in life. I told him how badly I want to be successful in life and eventually have my own company. Basically small talk. During our conversation, he said something that really stuck with me. Motivation is Overrated.
After thinking this over a bit, I agree with this. He basically said motivation is irrelevant if you don’t have commitment. Think of this doctor of mine, and the amount of hours he has put to study, take the MCAT, do his residency. All to become a doctor. He truly has to be committed to put in the mind-numbing hours and hours as well as sleepless night after night to get to his goal.
Now I know a bunch of people will say you have to be motivated as well as committed but I don’t think motivation really plays that much of a role. I already believe that the most important characteristic to have as an entrepreneur is perseverance. However, a major part of perseverance is commitment and much less so motivation as commitment inevitably leads to motivation. Commitment is what gives you direction. Motivation is simply the “energy” which occurs while pursuing a goal.
Unfortunately I know a ton of people who are highly motivated yet they still don’t really seem to succeed much. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I fear someone who is motivated but doesn’t show strong commitment in their past. Be this the job hopper who never sticks to one job for long or the developer who can’t complete one project before moving on to another. They are not necessarily working “less hard” than other people but they keep getting sidetracked or distracted. There is a lot of “unfinished business” in their tracks.
Give me the option of a committed entrepreneur or employee verses a highly motivated one and I will always pick the one who’s shown commitment. You can motivate people but you can’t make them commit. Somehow commitment is something you can’t “teach” anyone. They either have it or they don’t.
Popularity: 23% [?]
