analyzing motivation

To inspire people to work - individually or in groups in ways that produce the best results, you need to tap into their own personal motivational forces.

1) What is motivation?

The are of motivating people starts with learning how to influence individuals' behavior. Once you understand this, you are more likely to gain the results that both the organization and its members want.

A) Defining Motivation

Motivation is the will to act. It was once assumed that motivation had to be injected form outside, but it is now understood that every one is motivated by several differing forces. In the workplace, seek to influence your staff to align their own motivations with the need of the organization.

To release the full potential of employees, organizations are rapidly moving away from "command Control" and towards "Advice and Consent" as ways of motivating. This change of attitude began when employees recognized that rewarding good work is more effective than threatening puenititive measures for bad work.

Being Motivated:

For an employee, the chief advantage of being motivated is job satisfaction. For the employer, it means good quality work.

Note:

If you do not know what motivates a person, just ask!

B) Motivating Long Term

Self-motivation is long-lasting. Inspire self-motivated staff further by trusting them to work on their own initiatives and encouraging them to take responsibility for entire tasks. For de-motivated staff members, find out what would motivate them, and implement what ever help you can. Highly motivated individuals are vital to supply organizations with new initiatives that are necessary in the competitive business world.

C) Whom To Motivate?

Motivation used to be considered only in one direction: downwards, the superior motivating the subordinate. That is no longer enough. In well managed organizations, in which subordinates do for more than take orders, superiors may need motivating to act accordingly. Encourage colleagues to share your ideas and enthusiasm at work. Use motivation to achieve both collaboration and co-operation form everyone with whom you work.

Motivating Different People In Different Ways

Manager

As a manger, it is important to remember that you should use your motivational techniques to influence not only subordinates, but also your colleagues and managers senior to yourself.

Senior Manager

Motivate superiors to perceive that what you request suits their own purpose: for instance, improving management information with a new system.

Colleague

Motivate colleagues to feel that b helping and supporting you they are pursuing their own ends: for example, putting together a joint plan for office economies.

Subordinates

Motivate subordinates to think that following your wishes will bring them satisfaction: for instance, taking over responsibility for an entire job.

Note:

Assess your own motivation levels as well as those of your staff

Use persuasion and influence in order to encourage self-motivatio

the 5 factors that drive performance

Employee motivation is a mystery for many managers. But, it doesn't have to be. Instead, understanding how motivation impacts employee performance, and understanding how to use motivation to improve performance can be reduced to five master keys. Organizations desiring to improve employee motivation need a system in place that consistently rewards employee achievements. I'm always surprised how few organizations have such a system.

However, not all employees respond to the same motivations. Each person has his or her own likes and dislikes, passions, interests and desires. The role of the successful manager is to learn how to identify what motivates each employee, and learn how to leverage those motives to simultaneously fulfill the goals of the organization, as well as the goals of each employee.

The five key employee motivation factors include: satisfaction, appreciation, recognition, inspiration and compensation.

1. Employee Motivation By Building Satisfaction

In their book "The Service Profit Chain," James Heskett, W. Earl Sasser, and Leonard Schlesinger make a compelling case that regardless your business, the only way to generate sustained profits is to build a work environment that attracts, focuses, and keeps talented employees. In other words, they have to be motivated to show up, get committed and perform at a level of excellence.

Employee motivation as it relates to employees satisfaction is vitally important. And, it goes way beyond just a "happier workforce." Why?

Because there is an undeniable link between satisfied, motivated employees, and satisfied customers. In other words, focus on creating satisfied employees, focus on employee motivation, and those motivated, satisfied employees will take care of your customers.

2. Employee Motivation Through Genuine Appreciation

At times, managers unknowingly sabotage employee motivation by failing to recognize the positive behaviors and achievements of their employees. As a result, employees don't know whether or not they are doing a good job.

I recently had an employee of an organization tell me, "The only time we ever hear anything from management is when we do something wrong!"

Fortunately, savvy managers can improve employee motivation by rewarding employees with personal attention. This can include a pat on the back, a hand-written note, or a quick comment in the hall.

When showing appreciation, be specific. Instead of just saying, "We really are grateful for the good job you do around here," the approach might be, "I really appreciate how you handled the Franklin Industries account last week when we had to get their rush order out late Friday afternoon. Your effort really made a difference."

By being specific, the employer comes across as much more sincere, and the employee realizes their actions are truly being watched. And, a highly level of employee motivation is the natural result.

3. Employee Motivation Through Recognition

Many people will do for recognition what they will not do for money. And, this is the manager's secret weapon for employee motivation. Some people are motivated by the opportunity to get their name on the wall, receive a trophy at an annual banquet, or see their name in the company newsletter. It gives them an "emotional payoff" for their actions.

Look for ways to increase employee motivation by recognizing excellence in the workplace. Ring a bell every time an individual or team hits the production target. Put up posters with the photographs of team members who have had the most days without accidents. Give out awards for attendance records. Just do something. It is so inexpensive, yet highly effective in your efforts of employee motivation.

4. Employee Motivation Through Inspiration

Inspiration comes from leadership. This form of employee motivation includes the company's mission, purpose and goals. People want to be part of an organization that is going somewhere, that stands for something, and that provides a meaningful service to the marketplace.

If you want to lead an inspired, mission-guided organization, follow these steps and watch employee motivation improve dramatically.

Have a clear mission - in other words, know where you are going.
Be excited and passionate about your mission. After all, if you don't get excited, they won't either.

Be able to communicate the mission, it's value to the marketplace. In other words, why it's worthwhile.

Make sure everyone in the organization understands and can communicate the mission.

Be sure employees understand how they fit into the process of fulfilling the organization's mission.

Make the connection between the mission and the individual values and goals of your employees.

Keep your mission in front of everyone in the organization.

5. Employee Motivation Through Compensation

Some employees are motivated by money. In fact, most are motivated by money; at least for their basic needs. Employee motivation through compensation can come in the form of raises, performance bonuses, commissions, profit sharing, or any number of "extra benefits" like, automobiles, vacations, or other tangible items purchased and used as rewards.

I noticed an interesting program in a hotel where I recently stayed. They have a sophisticated system for rewarding employees based on customer feedback. Throughout the hotel, they have placed customer feedback forms and boxes for depositing the forms. When customers comment on the performance of a hotel employee, the employee accumulates points that can be used to purchase rewards like trips, gifts, and other incentives.

Taking Action On Employee Motivation

Whatever the chosen method, it is important to have a system in place that builds employee motivation. Not every person is motivated by the same factor, or combination of factors. Offering all five - satisfaction, appreciation, recognition, inspiration and compensation insures that the organization has something to contribute to the motivation of each employee.

tips on how to live a motivated lifestyle

There are sunshines and sunsets of life. Sunsets of life are known as setbacks of life. When sunsets of life come in one's life, life turns out to be painful and distressing. However, it is possible to live a lifestyle of motivation in the midst of dark moments of life.

People respond differently to tough times. There are those who lose appetite to eat, others withdraw themselves. We have lost precious lives of people who killed themselves because of the pressures of the setbacks of life. Other people respond positively to tough times. They stay motivated even when things look so bleak and hopeless.

We cannot deny the fact that tough times are inevitable. However, we must anticipate them and prepare ourselves to overcome them. I have learned in life that the problem is not the problem but the problem is how we respond to the problem.

The other thing that I have learned in life is that living a motivated lifestyle is a decision that all of us need to take.

Let me give you 10 top tips on how you can live a motivated lifestyle.

1. Be realistic

If you want to live a life full of motivation and inspiration even when days are dark, you must acknowledge that problems are there in this life and they come mostly unexpected. Being realistic means that you don't deny the existence of the problem. The problem with many people is that they get into denial when a problem occurs. This causes more damage to the mind and emotions than expected.

When you are realistic, you don't blame people for your own frustrations, insecurities, failures, hurts, disappointments, and problems. But, you confront your fears and problems and you allow people close to you to help you deal with them. Don't shut them out and push them away by your hurtful and sharp words you utter to them. Be realistic and say, "I have a problem, I feel frustrated, I feel insecure and am feeling so weak, how can you help me?"

Being realistic prepares your mind to be strong in tough times and it enables you to have a good expectation beyond the current challenge or problem. This has the power to motivate you to stay positive in the face of dark clouds of life.

2. Believe in yourself

Believing in yourself means that you have to love and accept yourself. Loving and accepting yourself is a key to living a motivated lifestyle. When you love and accept yourself, you will love life and you will expect good things from life itself.

Believing in yourself also means that you must believe that you have the potential within you to be successful in life regardless of your current situation. Great leaders like the Former president of America, Abraham Lincoln failed many times in life. He failed in business, he lost his wife, he failed many times to be the president of America. But he believed that he had the potential to be president regardless of setbacks and failures he experienced. Ultimately,he became one of the successful presidents of America.

Self-belief produces self confidence and self confidence produces motivation and inspiration to succeed. When you believe in yourself, you will boldly say, "After darkness there is light, after tears, there is joy, after failure, there is success."

3. Associate yourself with positive people

You cannot live a life full of motivation if you keep a company of negative people. If you want to live a motivated life, don't associate with people whose mind is tattooed with negative thoughts.

When you are down, you don't need people who will keep you down, but you need people who will motivate you to rise up. Motivated life is made possible when you associate with positive people who will speak words of motivation and inspiration to you when you feel like throwing in a towel.

4. Develop a positive perception of life

I have learned that you see what you are prepared to see. If you see life as unfair and troublesome, life will be exactly like the way you see it. But if you see life as beautiful and good despite its problems, you will experience the beauty and goodness of life at the end. Motivation can be a lifestyle to you, if you have a positive perspective of life.

Have good expectations from life;be optimistic and you will be motivated to focus on what is good for you.

5. See yourself as a winner

You can't live a motivated lifestyle, if see yourself as a failure. When you see yourself as a failure, you will leave a life of discouragement, hopelessness, despondency and despair. But when you see yourself as a winner, you will think, talk, feel, and act like a winner even when things look so hopeless.

People who see themselves as winners are highly motivated to win and succeed. You can live a motivated lifestyle as long as you see yourself as a winner.

6. Treat every bad experience as a learning experience

People who learn from terrible experiences of life position themselves to be motivated and inspired. Author and motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar said, "If you learn from defeat, you haven't really lost."

Learn something positive out of negative experiences of life and you make motivated lifestyle possible in your life.

7. Focus on the big picture

What is your main goal in life? What is the greatest achievement you want to reach in your life, in your job or organization?

It is impossible to live a motivated life, if you don't have the main goal that you want to reach. Goal motivates and inspires. If you have a clearly defined goal, focus on it even if it looks impossible to be accomplished. Your focus on the big picture will motivate you to realize your goal.

8. Learn to let go

The most detrimental thing in life is to hold on to something negative. You cannot live a motivated life when you keep grudges in your heart. People will you come on your path to hurt you either intentionally or unintentionally. You will be tempted to hold a grudge against them. Learn to forgive those who wittingly and unwittingly hurt you. By so doing, you will have a clear conscience whenever you see those people. Hurting people hurt those around them.

Learn to forgive yourself when you happen to do something terrible or unbecoming. There are people who are suffering from low self esteem and they are depressed because they don't forgive themselves for the wrongs they have done. They think they are too stupid and they also think they amount to nothing. As a result, they are not living a motivated life.

If you are going to live a motivated lifestyle, you are going to forgive those who hurt you and you are going to forgive yourself.

9. Learn new skills

There are new skills that you need to learn. When you open up to acquiring new skills, you open up to motivational life. It is so motivating to acquire new skills. I love learning new skills. One of the new skills I have learned is web design. I enjoy every moment of it.

Sometimes, you need to spend money enrolling for a short course that will teach you new skills and add value to you. You also need to attend seminars, workshops, and conferences, that are meant to empower. Buy books and tapes that will enrich you with new information. It will motivate you a lot to learn new skills.

10. Love fun

Have you ever been around a person with a sense of humour? I have and it is so interesting. Did you know that it is motivating to smile or laugh? Laughter is a good health booster. It makes the body feel so good. Motivation is about feeling so good.

I have learned that humour is a powerful thing to motivate and inspire humanity. If you want to live a motivated lifestyle, love fun. When you love fun, you will have fun and you will consequently be motivated. Look at yourself in the mirror, don't feel sorry for yourself, just smile and you will be motivated.

The other good way to have fun that I want you to consider is to help someone in need. A person in need could be somebody who needs directions to a place you know; it could be the person who is hungry or who needs clothes. It could be your colleague who needs your emotional support. It is so motivating to help people who genuinely need help.

Conclusion

You can live a motivated lifestyle. All that you need to do is make a quality decision to live a life full of motivation. Don't settle for a hopeless and depressed life, settle for a motivated life.

the tao of motivation

If you think you need to 'get motivated' ... then I am sorry but you are thinking in reverse.

Why?

Because neither motivation nor inspiration are things that you can get 'out there', like they are things you can buy at a supermarket.

Does a tree need to 'get motivated' to reach its branches towards the sky?

Does a river need to 'find inspiration' to flow down to the sea?

They sound like silly questions right?

But they are no more 'silly' then the notion that you need to 'get motivated' to be the success you are naturally destined to be.

In saying things like, "I need to get motivated" or, "I need to find inspiration" you create a separation within ... a motivator and a motivatee.

Doing this can create an internal scenario where part of your mind becomes the "Task Master", the one with a whip and a drill sergeant's bellow, and another part the "Wretched Slob" who performs up to standard only to keep the whip off his back. Such internal conflict is destructive to one's well-being and is also a major waste of energy.

This type of motivation is external and artificial. 'True' motivation and inspiration are internal and come as naturally as breathing.

You see, there are four types of people. The first is the unconscious incompetent. This is the person that doesn't even know that they don't know. This is the lowest rung in the ladder.

The second type of person is the conscious incompetent. This is the person that knows that they don't know, but they still don't know what to do. The model above of "The Task Master" and "Wretched Slob" fits this type of person well. They consciously want to be achieving things but their internal incompetencies and personality traits sabotage this desire.

The next type of person is the conscious competent. This is the person that knows what to do, and then if they think about it, they can go ahead and do it. Instead of the "Wretched Slob" this person might internally be a "Super Star" but they still need "The Task Master" with his whip.

The highest level of person, though, is the unconscious competent. This is the person that has it so ingrained in them as to what to do, that they don't even have to think about it. They just automatically do it.

The unconscious competent does not need any sort of external motivator ... motivation for them is a natural, internal state of being.

Chapter 38 of the Tao Te Ching1 begins by saying:

One of subtle universal virtue

is not conscious of being virtuous,

therefore, he is truly virtuous.

Applied to motivation, it could be modified to say:

One of subtle universal motivation

is not conscious of being motivated,

therefore, he is truly motivated.

Look at young children playing. Do they need conscious motivation to be playfully exuberant? It is only when social conditionings encroach that this natural exuberance diminishes and we have to resort to artificial 'motivational systems' so that we can do the things that used to come to us 'naturally'.

Here's a personal example, for a long period of time my internal "Task Master" would be always telling me to exercise more because I wasn't as fit and trim as I used to be. I tried all sorts of processes including reward/punishment systems, time management systems, personal trainers, going to the gym and the list goes on.

But then in a moment of clarity my inner youth piped up and said, "Hey! Wouldn't it be much easier if you just did something that you really enjoyed?"

That's when I discovered Hacky Sack. For the uninitiated a Hacky Sack is like a little bean bag that you have to try and keep up in the air with only your feet ... just like the pro soccer plays do with soccer balls.

*** I LOOOVE HACKY SACK! ***

Playing Hacky Sack for me isn't exercise at all ... not in the sense of, "OK now I am exercising." I went from struggling to 'exercise' once per week to having up to 2 or 3 full-on sessions with the Hacky Sack every single day. I grab every chance I can to kick that little sphere of joy up into the air!

You see my motivation to exercise went from an external, artificial affair to an 'unconscious competence' state of being. By digging deep within me and discovering that my true nature is very playful, exuberant, and youthful I was able to discover 'automatic motivation' to engage in exercise.

I now don't have to 'get motivated' to exercise ... I just get out there and play because I am motivated from within to do something that I really love doing.

And there ... right there ... is the essence of motivation.

In the I Ching (the Book of Changes)2 you will find that it is the nature of things for life to be ever-changing, ever in motion, ever 'motivating' into new manifestations. So it can be said that 'motivation' is a natural prime mover that keeps life going on its merry course.

When viewed in this light motivation can be seen as a core fundamental principle of your very being. So if you feel you are suffering from a lack of motivation it basically means you have cut yourself off from your core inner reservoirs. It means that you are not in tune with your true nature.

At a basic level this is caused by 2 things:

a) You have an internal 'blocker' that is preventing you accessing your inner reservoir of motivation. In essence, your inner 'river' of inspiration has been clogged up with a lifetime of debris and conditionings.

b) Also, a lack of motivation can be the result of engaging in something that is not truly your 'path of heart' (which is usually caused by having internal blockers).

The solution of course is to remove these internal blockers so that you can once again integrate with your limitless reservoirs of natural energy, enthusiasm, and motivation. Unblock the dam and the river flows again.

Until you can tap into your inner source of motivation your attempts to 'get motivated' will only create superficial motivation because as soon as you stop the motivation process you run out of motivation. Like when you are cold you put a jacket on to get warm, but when you take the jacket off you get cold again.

What you need to do is to reach the stage of being unconsciously competent, or unconsciously motivated. Motivation needs to be so much a part of your being that you don't even realize that you are being motivated.

You see that is the secret to motivation ... it is not about how to 'get motivated' ...

...but how to 'be motivation'.

Because the truth is that you already are motivation. You just need to clear away the 'debris' and let your natural motivation and inspiration flow forth.

ends

motivation

Motivation has been a hot topic for as long as most folks can remember. Some define motivation as a drive or a desire. Others define motivation as they work they do. For me, motivation is neither. Motivation is, in fact, the energy that is "underneath" the drive, desire and work. It's this "energy" that affects the quality of one's motivation, one's motives, and the quality of the action-result dynamic that results from motivation. More than that, this energy called motivation results from the degree one is living a life "on purpose" and the degree to which one is in alignment with one's true and real self, one's heart.

For me, motivation is an energy...a physical, psychic, emotional and spiritual energy. This energy can be described on one end of a continuum as positive, juicy, strong, energetic, adventurous, exciting, playful, healing, etc., and on the other end as stagnant, blocked, stale, stagnant, depressed, negative, killing, etc.

Motivation is a mind-body dynamic, mostly body-oriented. In my experience, few would say "I think I'm motivated." Rather, I usually hear: "I feel motivated," or the converse, "I don't feel very motivated."

In addition, the expressions "fire in the belly", "His/her heart's not in it.", "gut check", and "the mind is willing but the flesh is weak", as well as many other expressions that center around the belly area (the "energy center" of the body in Eastern traditions), also point to the body as the focal point of motivation (as opposed to the mind), the center of this energy that drives one to actions and supports one to maintain a state of motivation. Motivation, for me, is a "felt sense".

So, for me, everyone is motivated....perhaps just not in the way another would like that one to be, or even in a way we would choose our self to be.

So,

When I choose to surf the net, instead of focusing on the task at hand, I'm motivated.

When I choose to see employees as functions, as opposed to people, I'm motivated.

When I choose to gossip, bully and be sarcastic in my speech as opposed to speaking respectfully, lovingly and compassionately, I'm motivated.

When I choose to cut corners and allow greed to drive my business behaviors and processes, rather than follow an ethical path, I'm motivated.

When I choose to view conflict and negotiation as win-lose as opposed to win-win, I'm motivated.

When I choose to cheat on my taxes and my diet, I'm motivated.

When I choose to take my paycheck and only give 75% of my self to my work, as opposed to showing up 100%, I'm motivated.

When I choose to lie, cheat and steal as opposed to coming from a place of honesty, integrity and trust, I'm motivated.

When I choose to act like an emotional child rather than manifest emotionally intelligence, I'm motivated.

When I allow my ego to get in the way, and engage in self-defeating behavior, instead of coming from my real and authentic self, I'm motivated.

When I choose to numb out in front of the TV, instead of enthusiastically diving into my tasks, I'm motivated.

When I choose to have an affair as opposed to working on my relationship, I'm motivated.

When I choose to hate, as opposed to love, I'm motivated.

So, everyone is motivated.

Again, for me, the deal is the quality of the energy of the motivation and, even more, what's "underneath" the quality of that energy.

For me, what drives the quality of the energy I refer to as motivation is: purpose.

For me, purpose is heart-driven, as opposed to being mental-mind-ego driven. Purpose is what gives meaning to our existence. So, again, for me, motivation is related to purpose, and meaning. The difference in purpose as heart driven, and purpose as ego-driven is what determines where folks live, literally and figuratively, in the space between purpose and purposelessness, and meaning and meaninglessness at work, at home and at play.

In much of life, we move from action to result, action to result, action to result. The question is, "What drives my actions? What drives the motivation (energy) of my actions. The direction of one's life is most often judged on this dynamic and many also judge "success" based on this movement from action to result.

In the larger scheme of things, for me, the energy and quality of the action-result dynamic and the energy and quality with which one relates to "success" is related to whether one is living a life "on purpose" and from where one's purpose emanates (ego or heart).

In my experience, for folks at work, at home and at play, the degree of "pain and suffering" (mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, social, financial, etc.) one experiences is based on the degree to which one is living out one's purpose.

So, then, for me, directly related to purpose is what we value...what it is we deem important and the degree to which we assign worth and "value" to what we value.

The Japanese have a decision-making process they refer to as "The Five Whys". Essentially, when one has to make a decision, one asks "Why", and to that response, again asks "Why?" five times...the idea being that if one can drill down five levels, then one can be fairly certain the decision has merit, i.e., a sound grounding and foundation and is not, for better words, an emotional, knee-jerk or gut decision.

So, with respect to values, when I work with folks on values, motives, etc., we ask "Why?" five times. In other words, "What does (that value, that action, that decision, etc.) "get" you?" Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

At the beginning of the work, the answers are often insightful...and usually bring one to a conscious self-awareness as to what's really, really, really, underneath their thoughts, actions and activities, i.e., their motives.

Most often it's unconscious ego needs, for example, for control, recognition, and security.

It's when we take this first look at values that folks then get to the "heart" of the matter and move into the process of discovering their (heart-felt) purpose and then come to see often vast differences between their heart-felt purpose and what has been, to date, an ego-driven desire they "thought" was their purpose.

The underlying, and root cause, questions that ultimately define our motives, then, is "What do I value?" And, then, even more importantly, "From where do I get my values?" And, finally, "Do my values bring me a greater degree of inner peace, harmony, and sense of well-being, than they do pain and suffering?"

As this process continues, folks begin to view and approach life with a difference lens; and their internal map of reality begins to change. This change manifests in how they begin to view their world of work (home and play), what's really important to their happiness and sense of well-being.

So, as folks take this conscious journey into exploring their motivation, their values, and their purpose, they often discover there's a vast difference between "striving" and "struggling" as they explore their past and current notions of "motivation" and, relatedly, purpose and meaning of work, of life, etc. They often show up with a new-found "energy" that is positive, juicy, willing, engaging, adventurous, curious, etc.

Assuredly, folks who consciously undertake the requisite deeper purpose and values work, can and will experience challenges, bumps in the road, hurdles to overcome, but now they do so with a sense of striving, with a healthy positivity and energy that, yes, may require sweat, blood and tears, but the energy they expend in the pursuit of their values is positive, disciplined, willful, strong and courageous, exciting and adventurous. They are internally and intrinsically "motivated" and sense an inner peace in their efforts. In this place, there is true purpose and true (not ego-driven) meaning to one's life.

On the other hand, those who find themselves "struggling", usually as the result of ego-driven desires and motives, coming from a "faux" purpose, seemingly are always fighting the good fight, often come from a place of resentment, anger, defiance, compliance, guilt, shame, anxiety, and a sense of plodding. They lack a sense of adventure or excitement; often fail at positive self-management, often live with a "low-grade-fever" type of malaise, sadness, depression, hopelessness, frustration, resentment, jealousy, etc. For them, their purpose and the meaning they effort to experience are often mis-guided, most often externally driven (even though they "think" it comes from their own independent thinking...never having taken the time to go deeper inside and think through their so-called purpose). In reality, most often they are actually living someone else's values (parents, friends, neighbors, reality TV characters...), i.e., someone else's purpose and so it's no wonder they seldom experience true happiness in both the short- and long-term..

So, at the end of the day, yes, both groups of people are, in fact, motivated. Both would say they "have values."

So, concerning their being motivated, and relatedly to purpose and meaning of life, the $10 questions I might pose are:

How might each view their "sense of self?" And from where do they derive their sense of self?

If they made a list of their values and then made another list of their daily do-ings, be-ings and thoughts, would the second list directly reflect the first? If not, what's underneath the disconnect?

What role might ego play in the dynamics of their relationships, with their own self and then with others at work, at home and at play?

Is there a difference in how one feels about one's self when they are alone, at four in the morning, in their own company, as opposed to being in their new car, or in their new wardrobe, or in front of their new plasma TV screen, or at work, or being the life of the party, or the standout at the meeting...? And if so, what accounts for the disconnect? What's the "cake" and what's the "icing on the cake" and why?

How might each view their world of work and their role in it?

Does work, life and play have meaning? How so?

In terms of motivation, how is your energy and where are you generally on the continuum I mentioned at the start of this article?

and,

Why are you on the planet?