To Motivate the Motivator

I spend a lot of my life motivating and inspiring people. I like to think that I am good at it, but regardless, I have to do it all the time. In every aspect of my work, Boys State, my political work, and even with my friends, I am the guy that gets others to do things. Whether by chance to design, that is pretty much a central thing to my life. I also have a lot of energy and passion for what I do, which seems to help me out a lot when it comes to getting things done, and getting others to do them.

So here's the dilemma: What do you do when you are the motivator, but you have lost your motivation.

I am not sure exactly what the reasoning behind it is, but I have lost a great deal of my ever-present motivation and energy. I think I really started to notice when I got back from Boys State. I was extremely motivated there, and I realized going back to the rest of my life that somehow I had lost that feeling in my everyday life.

This is not good. With my job and the organizations, etc. that I am involved in, everything is based upon me wanting to do it. As the boss of a company, if I am not motivated to make positive forward motion, the company won't. As a leader in organizations, if I am not being innovative and inspirational, the organizations will flounder. But how can you motivate yourself?

It seems funny to me that someone who has such an easy time finding what will bring the best out in others can be so inept at doing it to myself. I have tried looking at a lot of different angles, but I can't seem to find the source... something I think would be vital in solving this problem. I have faced a lot of setbacks in the last few years, but I don't think that is it. It certainly isn't that I don't like what I want to motivate myself to do. It is kind of like motivating myself to work out. I LOVE the way I feel when I work out. I like doing it. Why then is it so hard to bring myself to do something that I actually like doing. It is the same with my company. I love what I do. It makes me happy. Why then has the inspiration and motivation left me? More importantly, how can I get it back?

There is really only one thing that I may be able to work on, and that is the fact that I feel many of the people that inspire me are not in my life as much any more. Maybe their influence on me is more important than I realized. There are three in particular that I know I miss, and maybe I miss their influence on me more than I was aware of. Christopher moving and going to school has left a huge philosophical gap in my life. Brock was always good at firing me up about so many things, and Chris had a similar ability. With two of these far away and another busy building a life, we do not have the same interactions, and I think that might be taking its toll.

I do notice that a lot of people I associate with, may not bring me to the level that I like to play at. Maybe its time that I start going back to those who bring out the best in me. It's funny. I give that advice to people all the time. Maybe I should take a dose of my own medicine.

I also wonder if I have been stagnant for too long. Sitting in one place and not accomplishing something isn't something I do often, or that I enjoy. Maybe there is a place (or many places) in my life that I need a change. Something that I don't even realize is having a major impact on me. Hmmm... more avenues to persue.

Of course, there could be a lot more to this, but I think this might be a good place to start. I am sure that the results of this issue will continue to be the subject of my thoughts, and therefore my writing, but I thank you for listening while I work through this.