Success, Self-motivation and being a Hero
In our book ‘Self-leadership’ (due in stores Sept 2012) my co-author, Ana Kazan Ph.D. and I make the following statement:
“There are no fairy godmothers – If you want to be transformed, to be free, you must do the work; you are the hero, you are your own savior.”
This does not mean we deny the importance of faith, in fact our research shows that sprituality is linked with stronger self-leadership; what it does mean is that you must take responsibility for your own success – blaming others for your circumstances or prayer without action is futile.
Life is not fair, we are not all born with parents who validate our self-esteem and provide opportunities for us to learn and grow; sometimes circumstances are downright cruel. But success is measured not by what you have but how much you have grown inside and this comes by motivating yourself to overcome obstacles and live with purpose.
Mythologist Joseph Cambell tracked the hero’s journey, a common them in all cultures (and Hollywood), which is the process by which we are called to action, to a higher purpose (think about Neo in the Matrix or Luke in Starwars). The hero initially refuses the call and may even run away (Jonah and the whale) but on meeting a guide or mentor sets out on an outer and inner journer of discovery, challenge and growth.
We are all heroes or heroines, just living with purpose and integrity in today’s world takes courage and perseverence. Hopefully you are lucky enough to have a mentor (or coach) to guide you but ultimately you must seek the answers within. Ultimately self-leadership is about finding what motivates you and managing your distractions so that you become effective.
Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi described the state of ‘flow’ those periods when you are totally engaged in what your are doing and time just ‘goes away’. When we are in flow we are experiencing natural self-motivation and what we are doing gives us a clue about our purpose. For me, flow happens when I am coaching or speaking to an audience about how they can improve their self-leadership. What is it for you?
Organizations have often ignored the power of self-motivation in favour of offering ‘stick and carrot’ style approaches to getting people to work better. Heroes, can work alone or together combining their powers and covering for each other to make powerful teams.
Even heroes have doubts and a negative inner dialogue can be kryptonite to your superman. The hero recognizes that success is a journey and that their will be setbacks and failures but these are learning experiences that prepare him or her for the next challenge. The hero knows that they must live by a personal code of ethics and if they stay true to this, regardless of what happens externally, they will be a success.
“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”
Joseph Campbell






