Self motivation, articles and advice

Before I continue with my own lessons in life and your need to glean constructive experience preferably before you place your hand on the hotplate, I digress to a fascinating report by The Sarasin House and Roger Nightingale many years ago. The report was headed, "The Lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house as a guest, becomes subsequently a host and finally a master".

I quote, "All forms of life crave security and most devote to its pursuit the larger part of their sentient existence. Humans are remarkable in this context, only in the extremes to which they take their preoccupation with safety. Though they have a great deal less to fear than most other creatures they tend nevertheless to worry a great deal more. Sometimes it seems as if there is an emotional need to have something to worry about. When there is no genuine threat available imaginary ones are conjured up! "

He draws the conclusions that insecurity makes people work harder. That in societies where there might be a perceived threat to security or inclement conditions that there is likely to be greater entrepreneurial activity. In general the intensity of work varies with the adversity of the environment. That often a region that is well endowed with natural resources and not subject to recurring disasters never reaches its full potential. It is often handicapped by indolent people. If on the other hand a sector of society feels threatened it tends to work harder and create more opportunities so that more surplus is then often available for the improvement of the community.

This situation existed in the Eastern countries in the past. They felt threatened so their work ethic soared creating a boom in their economies. They built themselves financial security. The unrealized threat was what motivated their efforts into fast rates of growth. The same dynamic is what created the modern marvel of Germany after the Marshall Plan. The dynamics of what happened in these countries demonstrates that success can be spurred by daunting challenges and material threats.
The effects of success can also be dynamically negative in other ways of motivation.

The psychological conclusion to be drawn from this dissertation on the effect of perception on economics is that there is a direct relationship between the threat to safety and the efforts to achieve. As anxiety levels build, the human desire for security from chaos builds, creating an almost manic effort which releases the pent up energy that can create miracles.

I am going a long way round before I return to my own life because I have learned from experience that the greatest inhibiting factor to getting things done is the fear of failures. The Sarasin Report seems to indicate that our fear is irrational and my own experience in life bears this out. The greatest fear is the fear of fear itself. Helen Keller's famous lines encapsulate what we will all eventually find out, "Security is mostly a superstition. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all."

As I move on to relate my own life and experiences that are relevant to our considerations, I ask you to bear in mind our departure point: that we start the journey based on an ethical set of principles and that we never forget that safety and security are not the most effective motivational desires to achieve entrepreneurial success.

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