Motivation doesn’t happen to you, it happens in you

I heard an interview with one of the greatest drummers in popular music.

He offered some helpful parenting advice. Copeland said:

If you have to remind your child, honey, it’s time for your piano lessons, then they’re hopeless. But if you have to yell at your kids and say, will you stop playing that goddamn noise, then you’ve got a musician in your family.

This is a parable about passion. If someone needs constant reminders to engage in a particular activity, that means they don’t have genuine interest for it. And there’s nothing wrong that. It’s simply not there. Can’t force it.

Whereas if a person becomes so immersed in an activity that they lose all sense of self, lose all track of time, maybe starts drooling all over their shirt because they’re so focused, that can be weaponized.

There’s no replacement for deep enthusiasm and dedication. People with talent and passion sourced from an internal drive, rather than external pressure, have real leverage in this world.

When I was in high school, my parents would yell at me from the top of the basement stairs to stop playing guitar and go to bed. Oftentimes, I couldn’t hear their voices, with my amplifier cranked up to eleven and all.

So they would do this super annoying thing, which was toggle the light switches on and off. It always got my attention. Sometimes it scared the crap out of me and messed up my song. I was always like, fine mom, I’ll go to bed, geez.

But I supposed that’s better than the alternative. Better to have a kid so engaged in a meaningful activity that you literally have to drag them away from it; as opposed to some zombie child with no energy and motivation, sitting around waiting for mommy and daddy to tell them what to do.

That’s the thing about motivation. It doesn’t happen to you, it happens in you.

The good news, virtually everyone is capable of it. Everyone has a genuine interest in some activity. That doesn’t mean everyone is motivated, per se, but everyone does possess unique passions that can serve as a source of general motivation.

The hard part is connecting the dots between the fuel and the flame. If you have a fourteen year old, for whom playing guitar is inherently enjoyable and personally meaningful, how do you translate that into sustained action and achievement? How can you replicate the architecture of one passion into other venues?

Start with your genuine interest and work outwards from there.

Figure out how to replicate the architecture of one passion into other venues.

Save that file as a different format, and there’s no telling how much value you can create, and therefore, how much fulfillment you can experience.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have been writing for three straight hours, and my wife is flicking the lights on and off to get my attention.

Do you have a framework for fanned sparks into a burning hot flame?