Motivation: Key to Success

張貼日期：May 11, 2014 1:30:11 PM

Eric Li

Have you ever wondered how several of the most famous billionaires got to their position without completing college? The fact of the matter is that educational background does not guarantee success. So what made these individuals so successful? One characteristic that all these billionaires share is their ability to stay motivated. In the paragraphs below, I will discuss why the characteristic of motivation is the most important aspect in determining the future success of an individual.

Having motivation guarantees that one will constantly have a goal in mind. There are several reasons why having a goal in life is a key factor for determining success. First of all, goals are the engine to propel us forward. An explicit goal is an external representation of one’s inner desires and is a constant reminder of what one aims to achieve. In order to achieve this goal, one must first have the motivation to improve various qualities of oneself. The second reason is that a goal tells an individual what he or she truly desires in life. In fact, goals can transform impassable mountains to walkable hills. Most of us have big dreams that seem unreachable, but if we follow the trails of the mountain, the journey will just be like a tough, but rewarding hike towards success. The only time we humans stop learning is when we stop working and lose our motivation. In order to be successful, improving various aspects of one’s life is a must. Having the quality of motivation definitely helps us in that aspect.

An individual without motivation will never be successful no matter how impressive their other qualities may be. A person who is very intelligent may excel in elementary school and middle school. However, without the motivation to succeed, the individual may never learn the qualities necessary to do well in life despite having high IQ. Intelligence can only get one so far in life and is severely limited by an individual’s willingness to excel himself/herself. Even though honestly and integrity may be an important characteristic for an individual to exhibit, I don’t think they are sufficient. In fact, sometimes being dishonest and breaking the code of conduct is a desired strategy to become successful. During WWI and WWII, many generals spread false propaganda about the enemy in the hopes of motivating his troops to keep fighting.

There are many real life examples on how the characteristic of motivation trumps all other characteristics when determining the success rate of an individual. One of the well-known examples is Bill Gates who claimed to have failed numerous courses during his stay at Harvard. However, he had a vision of creating a computer operating platform that millions of people will use in the future. Sticking to this goal, he dropped out of college to pursue this goal. Even though his first few models were a financial disaster, he kept his motivation up, and years later he had become the richest man in the world.

It is obvious that the characteristic of motivation is very important in determining the chances of success of an individual. Intelligence is strictly restricted by one’s motivation. Having the characteristic of motivation also gives us reasons to improve ourselves and reasons to acquire knowledge that will eventually help us towards success. In closing, I would like to share a personal example to illustrate that the relationship between motivation and success can also happen on a short term basis. After transferring back to Taiwan to complete my diploma, I had a strict goal in mind. My goal was to stay atop the class and obtain at least a 90% average for each semester. Even though the going was tough, I stayed motivated, and for two semesters in a row I had fulfilled that goal. This personal example demonstrates that motivation is very important for an individual even at short time periods.