Are you a special kind of entrepreneur, the guy, or gal who is boiling over with gusto and determination to propel your creation to the top of the charts? Are you a special kind of person not loaded down with doubt, confusion, or feelings of uncertainty? If so I salute you, you are one in a thousand. Yes, some lucky souls are blessed with knowing who they are, what they want, and the determination to stay focused to make it happen. They have a goal and without prodding, have an inner drive to marshal their skills and abilities to overcome challenges and eventually become king of their hill. While the rest of us look on with awe, perhaps envy, as we say to ourselves--it must be luck. And so we try to become motivated to reach our dreams. We read the latest book or take the latest seminar to hype ourselves into action. We make vows to ourselves. We tape inspirational messages on the bathroom mirror. We master a few sayings by the prophets of success. We do it all and it works for a week or so and guess what--we revert to our old self. We stop reading and we remove the notes from the mirror. And we are disappointed – disappointed in ourselves. These motivational tools don’t seem to take hold. We get charged up with some hi octane inspirational fuel that quickly burns off and we come back to our reality. And wonder why. Truly, there is something missing in our makeup, or so we think. Be careful, if you are into success though motivational materials looking for the secret that you are sure that your successful idols have, you will discover that chasing riches through reading about a new you can be addictive and destructive to your feeling of self worth. Few can undo their childhood and genetic history. Motivation is sorely misunderstood. The term motivation is tossed about by bosses trying to motivate workers, by sales managers attempting to motivate the sales staff and by so-called motivational speakers and writers. And you know what; they don’t know what they are talking about. They do not understand motivation. They confuse the real role of internal motivation to our behavior and the temporary external stimulation with psychological hypes and pep talks. And we try to use such material to change our lives. Many of us are spending our days not thrilled with how we earn our bread, pushing and prodding ourselves to get through the day. Even some entrepreneurs wish they were elsewhere. Yet, at one time, the dream of self-employment looked romantic, and exciting. But they did not foresee the dull details of the everyday. I have seen former young students pushed into professions by parents only to later wish they were elsewhere. One of my favorite writers is the late Joseph Campbell who coined the term “follow your own bliss.’’ Simple advice yet difficult-as most of us don’t know what our bliss is. But some do. I have a friend who one day tossed aside a career in sales-–after a grueling month of customer problems and the usual portion of rejection. He decided to follow his true bliss and decided to follow his lifetime dream and become an actor. After a few years of really finding out what rejection is all about, he still remains happy and optimistic. He is motivated; he does not need the alarm clock to get to an audition. He does not need to push himself to learn his lines….He is driven to succeed and with such determination, I have no doubt he will see his name in lights. So if you are not the happy entrepreneur and dream about the Left Bank with an easel, don’t waste your money and time on the latest motivational fad to fuel yourself with fresh youthful optimism hoping for bliss. If you are not motivated by the daily challenge of building a bigger business, perhaps you are thinking of the Peggy Lee line “Is this all there is?” If so, it is time for some soul searching. We know when we are not thrilled with what we do but the muses have failed to tell us what our bliss is. Looking for the mother lode of our hidden dreams is not easy. And when you try to cover your deep inner needs with the latest motivational gimmick, it works as well as one coat of cheap paint- it does not last. Remember, like it or not, motivation comes from within your inner self, stimulation comes from without and is the cheap coat of paint. Now the tough question, what do we do when we find ourselves in a place we wish otherwise, and the more we try and jazz ourselves up to like it and the less successful we become the more we think that something must be wrong with us? We are we not satisfied, we are we not grateful for who we are. Stay with me next week perhaps we can find an answer of two. Dr. Paul E Adams, Professor Emeritus Business Administration Ramapo College of New Jersey Author “ Fail Proof Your Business: Beat the Odds and be Successful.” Available at Amazon.Com If you have questions about your business- contact me: drfailproof@earthlink.net.