MotivatedI Don't Think I Truly Am

“Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; therefore they remain bound.” ~ James Allen, Author of ‘As a Man Thinketh’

Concerning my personal money, what am I truly afraid of that I yield to and so stay a slave to? I think it has to do with the fact that I think I am not smart about it. I’m not a deal maker. I’m not a savvy businessman. It feels like I’m holding on tight but it just slips away anyways. I believe I try hard to know what I’m doing to make money. Why then when I try to manage it… it gets all confused, convoluted and convulsed? Like when you’re sick to your stomach.

I’m learning, because of what I think, creates the yoke that weighs me down. I think I’m not smart about it and therefore I’m not. Another way to look at it is that I don’t believe I am good with money.

Through negative repetitious thoughts I find myself here, in a proverbial fallow field. If I believe what I’ve been learning I can then re-plow, and replant the field with new thoughts, and reap an abundant harvest.

But there is a proven strategy to reworking a fallow field. The same as there is proven strategies to win a chess match. Now, I like chess. The fact is I haven’t played it enough to really know any common strategies of the game. I’m one step past calling the Knight a ‘horsey’ and the Rook a ‘castle.’ I know how the pieces move but cannot create coordinated movements with them, on purpose, to achieve a checkmate. I win once in awhile but it’s not by intentional design. And I haven’t played in a long time.

The same holds true with personal finances. My understanding of the pieces are just past the ‘horsey’ and ‘castle’ stage and I haven’t been engaged in a long time.

When you drive a tractor onto a field to rework it and that tractor gets stuck… you need another piece of equipment to help it get unstuck. And like chess, a farmer tries not to go to the Queen, or the largest piece of equipment, right away. He uses the next Pawn, or next biggest tractor, not the largest one. Because much like chess, and losing your Queen, if you get the big tractor stuck also… then you are ‘stuck stuck,’ and probably have to call a neighbor or worse.

I’ve learned a lot of different job tasks over the years, I’ve learned how to apply myself to the new tasks, learn the details needed to do the job and as far as I can tell… do those jobs well enough that my supervisors and co-workers like having me on the team. At one of those jobs I was a sales rep and was responsible to get the best money for the product that I could, in a wholesale market, and I did that well enough to earn an extra million in sales over the course of a year and a half.

Why then am I not that diligent or motivated with my own money? I have a family to provide for!

Here is some research I put together to help me understand motivation.

“Fear of failure is so common it can literally stop you from taking action. Motivation kicks fear in the butt because it tells it, no matter what I’m feeling, I’m going to do it anyway. Motivated people see beyond their fear and can visualize the outcome. Motivation will always help you see the bigger picture.”

“Thomas Edison is known for the invention of the light bulb and is noted for this quote, ‘I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.’ The famous inventor also inspired this thought, ‘Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.’ Motivation will teach you to persevere when reality tells you to give up.”

“Motivation helps you clarify your goal so you know exactly what you’re working towards.”

https://www.nataliecook.com/blog/why-motivation-is-important-in-life ~ Natalie Cook

From the Online Etymology Dictionary…

“motivation (n.) 1873; see motivate + -ion. Perhaps borrowed from German, where motivation is attested by 1854. Psychological use, “inner or social stimulus for an action,” is from 1904.motivate (v.) 1863, “to stimulate toward action,” from motive + -ate (2); perhaps modeled on French motiver or German motivieren. Related: Motivated; motivating.motive (n.)

mid-14c., “something brought forward,” from Old French motif “will, drive, motivation,” noun use of adjective, literally “moving,” from Medieval Latin motivus “moving, impelling,” from Latin motus “a moving, motion,” past participle of movere “to move”(from PIE root *meue- “to push away”). Meaning “that which inwardly moves a person to behave a certain way” is from early 15c.

motive (adj.) late 14c., from Old French motif  “moving” or directly from Medieval Latin motivus “moving, impelling,” from past participle stem of movere “to move” (from PIE root *meue- “to push away”). *meue- *meuÉ™-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning “to push away.”

How then do I learn to surpass or push away from my previously scripted, life plot line… the one that has a poverty stricken mindset as the main lane, much like a well worn farm lane? How do I learn to motivate/move/or push past that? How do I change my current ‘motus operandi?’ How did I learn this mindset in the first place? My current view point is so narrow.

I found this article at…

https://bigthink.com/inside-employers-minds/why-we-make-bad-decisions-about-money-and-what-we-can-do-about-it

“There are two major reasons for these recurring patterns of behavior.

First, people often see their choices narrowly, attacking a problem as if it is singular and unique — as if this is the only time they will ever encounter this specific situation.

Usually, “it’s a better idea to look at problems as they will recur throughout your life, and then you look at the policy (mine: strategy) that you’re to adopt for a class of problems,” says Kahneman. So instead of saving and borrowing at the same time, treat your whole portfolio of assets holistically.”

“Another mental trap we can fall into is hazy generalizing. We all have an abstract awareness of the fact that we’re being charged compound interest on our credit cards, but taking the time to actually do the math and integrate the interest into one’s budget can be a deciding factor between having an empty bank account at the end of the month, and having savings.

“Numerate people” — people who make data-driven decisions — “have a significant advantage over those who are not.”

“The attitude that leads to the best decisions? “You win a few, you lose a few.” Keep that in mind the next time a hair-splitting, nail-biting choice comes your way.” ~ MEGAN ERICKSON 18 July, 2012

A past co-worker of mine, who also likes chess, said to me,”this chess master I watch, says he doesn’t plan a strategy going into a match. What he does is, he makes a few moves and watches what strategy the opponent employs as a counter, then knowing the opponents strategy the Master employs the proper counter strategy to defeat his opponent.”Because the opponent, once starting into the field with his small tractor, is stuck with the direction he has chosen.

If life is choices, if life is mindful thought, if life is full of strategies that can be learned and employed to our betterment, then it is only a matter of motivating oneself to learn how to drive a tractor.

“The man who sows wrong thoughts and deeds and prays that God will bless him is in the position of a farmer who, having sown tares, asks God to bring forth for him a harvest of wheat.”  ~ James Allen, https://www.brainyquote.com