Motivation Article

"Motivate Yourself for Success:  Connect the Dots! Your Roadmap for Success"

By Ed Sykes

Recently, Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer and Pixar Animation Studios, gave a commencement address to the graduating class at Stanford University.  He talked about creating passion, life and death, and “connecting the dots.”  The dots were events in his life, many challenging and many positive, which led to his many successes.  He shared with the audience that being fired from Apple Computer, the computer he founded, he was able to step back and develop the idea for Pixar Animation Studios.  By achieving the great success at Pixar, he was eventually asked to come back to lead Apple Computer.  This eventually led him to spearhead the launching of one the most revolutionary products of the 21st century…the iPod.  He feels that he would never have achieved his successes without his failures and setbacks.  He was able to connect the dots to see how it all added up.

So I ask you, “Have you connected your dots?”

Here are five motivation reasons why taking the time to motivate yourself and connect the dots will give you a roadmap for success in your life:

1. All Dots are Good

Many times we face challenges in our life that, at that moment, look like failures.  Because we are focused on the imagined “downside” of the challenge, we lose focus on the good that can come out of the challenge.

I had an ex-Navy civilian in one of my workshops on downsizing.  He said he was part of a downsizing process by the Navy two years ago in Ohio.  You can imagine he was hurt, upset, and concerned that he wouldn’t find another job after his twenty years in the Navy.  Then he refocused himself on what he could do to make this situation positive.  He started doing job research, making telephone calls, networking, and sending resumes.  Within three months after his layoff, he received his dream job offer from the Navy.  It was a technical job he always wanted at a pay scale much better than his previous job.  The best part of his new job was that it allowed him to move back to his hometown of Virginia Beach.

All dots are good; it’s the way we look at them that lead to our success.

2. Be Willing to Go to the Next Dot

Due to past “negative” experiences, many times we avoid new challenges because we want to feel “safe.”  How many times have you heard the following?

“I’m never dating again because of my past experiences with…”

“I don’t want to take on the new project because it is too high profile and I might fail.”

“I don’t want the promotion because of what happened the last time…”

Basing our past experiences on life’s variables that have no relation to the present will make us miss new opportunities.  There is an expression I often use, “You need to go through the mud to get to the gold.”  In other words, we all need to experience the “road bumps” in life to know and appreciate the real opportunities in life.

3. Accelerate the Dots in Your Life

You can speed the amount of success by continuously learning.  Continuously work on your communication, career or business, and technical skills so that you can embrace opportunities that come your way.

One of the best ways to learn is by volunteering.  I recently had lunch with Carol at a recent conference.  She shared with me that she had started working in a school over fifteen years ago because her kids were in the school system.  Because of that, she volunteered for as many school-related activities as possible that would involve her kids.  She became an expert and the person to go to concerning many school subjects.  Recently, an opening in the superintendent’s office came up, and her name was on the short list.  Because of her vast experience and, even more important, because many people knew of her expertise, she was an easy decision for the position.

Learning accelerates your dots.

4. Bypass Dots Only with Wisdom

Many times we try to skip a step or two in life.  We have heard about people who have “instant” success and then lose it all almost as fast.  They never acquired the wisdom needed to maintain their success.

Take time to learn from the events in your life.  Like the quote goes, “Smart people learn from their mistakes; truly wise people learn from other people’s mistakes.”

5.  Go Forward and Connect the Dots

Take time to plan your future events and goals based on your past events.  Analyze the positive outcomes from those events and use them to plan for the future.  That is the secret to true success.

So go forward, motivate yourself, connect the dots, and you will realize your roadmap to success. 

Suggested reading:

Seven Change Management Secrets to Creating a Winning Culture of Change
Are You Building Your Foundation of Success: Six Secrets of Motivating Yourself for Success

Employee Motivation, Don Imus, and Team Building: Five Secrets of Motivated Teams

Motivate Your Customer Service Team for Outstanding Customer Service: Six Secrets of Customer Service Motivation

Life Before Downsizing: Six Secrets to Managing Change and Creating Opportunities for the Future

Success Starts with a Can Do Attitude: Three Secrets to Creating More Success

Coaching: How to Succeed in Half the Time Using a Personal Coach

Leadership Techniques for Anyone: How Kermit Shared Five Leadership Secrets with the World

Eight Leadership Techniques for Outstanding Teams

Motivate Your Team! Eight Quick Tips to Motivate for Success

Adversity: Your Seed of Greatness (Three Secrets to Using Adversity to Become Great)

Every Super Hero Needs Theme Music. What’s Yours?

Seven Secrets to Being the Leader Everyone Wants to Follow

Have You Appreciated Someone Today?

Nine Ways Johnny Carson Can Help You Run Outstanding Meetings

Five Secrets to Gaining Credibility with Your Team for Outstanding Results

How Appetizing Is Your Feedback? (5 Steps to Giving Effective Feedback)

Ten Techniques for Motivating Others Through Chaos

10 Action Steps to Motivate Yourself to Great Accomplishments

Eight Ways to Motivate Part-Time Employees

Delegate to Accelerate Success (How to Prepare Yourself and Others for Success)

The Greatest Gift of All - The Gift of Empowerment

Leadership Secrets for Challenging Times  

You Mean I Need to Promote Myself to Get a Promotion? 5 Promotion Secrets to Get the Job You Want!

Five Secrets to Creating a "Goal" Medal Life - Part 2

Five Secrets to Creating a "Goal" Medal Life - Part 1 

The Greatest Gift of All - The Gift of Empowerment

Goal Setting Secrets to Jumpstart Your Life

Want to learn how to be a motivated achiever? Our motivation programs can help you be the motivator who lead others to the next level of success.  Also read our articles on motivation, goal setting, etc. Call us at 757-427-7032 or e-mail us at info@thesykesgrp.com.

Ed Sykes is a professional speaker published in the areas of leadership, change management, customer service and teamwork. He works with business and government organizations who want to reach the next level of success and individuals who want to perform at their best. You can email him at esykes@thesykesgrp.com, call him at (757) 427-7032 or visit his Web site at www.thesykesgrp.com.

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