My Shining Suit of Armor

I had a talk with a very good friend of mine last. We've known each other for 24 years, that by itself seems remarkable to me.

He's had a rough time of it lately trying to figure out his place in the world and we started talking about the new opportunity he's looking at. He spent many years on his own trying to build a business, with sometimes great and sometimes poor success. In the last few years its leaned more towards poor, much to his chagrin and the disappointment of his creditors.

So now he has an opportunity to go back out and work for a company again but his motivation and confidence are in tatters from recent experience. Make no mistake my friend is very intelligent, graduate of a top University and has worked in some very prestigious companies in the past. So for him to feel like he's starting over is like a hard blow to ego.

Anyway, he made the statement that this time he was just going to focus on the money and put his head down and make it work. That's where I stopped him. I don't claim to great wisdom but I do recognize a bad idea when I hear it. I told him that if he was going to do something that didn't light him up inside as a profession, then adding the motivation for money to that would leave him right where he was now or worse.

Money is an idea. I'm not a hippie or anything, I do know that having money makes life a lot easier than not having it. But if you are going to gear up and spend precious time you can't get back working in a job that doesn't move you, a greater motivation is needed. Money just won't do.

This stumped him as he couldn't figure out what more to strive for, besides women, which brought him back to money again. That's when I told him about my motivation.

My family has been my main driving force in making me get up each day, to reach for something better. I know everyone with a family says it, but its true. I want to give my kids the opportunity to pursue their dreams, I want my wife to work less and enjoy life more. I want enough money so that when loved ones need help, I can give it without thinking. I want to support charities and good causes that make my stomach flutter with passion and love.

I also told him that my new ritual of listening to as much motivational, business, and success audios as I can has given me something that I hadn't anticipated. Every time someone comes at me with their negativity, complaints, bad vibes, whatever, all the words and ideas I've been listening to shield me. Its like all that positive energy has become my suit of armor blocking all the negative stuff from my attitude.

You have to do something to stop the flow of negative thoughts and bad energy from tearing you down inside. Your motivation to rise each morning and keep on going has to light you up, or you'll find yourself heading into the toughest battle of your life completely defenseless.