What Motivates YOU?

I woke up this morning at 5:30am, came out of my bedroom and went into the kitchen to get myself some coffee.  I noticed my oldest daughter in the living room on the couch.   Wondering what she was doing up and dressed so early on a school day, I quietly tiptoed towards her to take a peek. 

To my amazement, she was sitting there doing her homework.  I was totally floored! 

After a few minutes of wonderment, I remembered what she had said to me last night... she had tole me that if she didn't get her overdue homework done by today, she didn't get to go to activity afternoon at school. 

WOW...  This dampened my excitement a bit.

So that was her motivation, huh?  It wasn't 'to make good grades to impress mom' or 'to do the best that I can'... her motivation to be able to go to a party! 

Isn't that how it works, though? 

You see it more and more in today's society.  People just don't do things "just to be nice" or "just because" anymore.  They have to get something out of it.  Kids learn at an early age that they will be rewarded if they comply with their parents' wishes.

Politicians are notorious for this.  They bicker amongst themselves, oblivious to the wants or needs of their constituents.   They will only do something if the other side agrees to do something for them.  What ever happened to doing something because it's the right thing to do? 

The same applies even in marketing.  Many times, when marketing to people, we will tell them that if they will "do 'this', they will get 'that' as a reward." 

Like the internet program that I was just accosted with.  The person told me that "if you join 'this program', I will give you 'this'.", or the MLM program that promises if you make so much in sales this month, you can be the next recipient of ______________________. 

It is MOTIVATION!

I have always been an introverted person.  Talking to people I don't know has always been a bane.   If I had to do a speech in school, I would worry about it for days and make myself almost sick because of it.  I have always been so self conscious that, if someone looked at me with a wierd look on their face, I would fall over myself wondering what was wrong with me.

At least, this was me until I became Motivated.  Now, because I have the goal in my mind about what I want to accomplish, I feel like I can do anything.  I have even been known to walk up to perfect strangers in a store in a state that I don't even live in, to talk to them about my goal!  There's no way you could have gotten me to do that a year ago!  I wasn't Motivated yet!

So, I ask you again...

What motivates YOU?