Last time we spoke of our negative and positive motivations.  We have fear and hope.  We avoid somethings and seek others.  Knowing what motivates us is a key component of managing the business of you.  It’s also critical for organizations external to us if they want to manage their business.  Our fears and hope are used all the times to get us to buy things, work longer hours or make long-term decisions that serve others instead of ourselves.

I had the opportunity work with a martial arts master for a couple of years prior to his departure from this mortal realm.  One of the realizations I had during those years was that a master is just another human being who has studied an art form or topic for many many years.  I naively thought the master would have all the answers.  First, he didn’t have all the answers.  Second, he had arrived at his own answers in the martial arts he shared with us.  Third, he continually sought to improve his mastery of himself and the art form.  Yes, he focused on helping people and organizing an international organization to continue the Taoist Arts beyond his own time horizons, but he was a master because he kept seeking answers to his own questions.  I may not have worked closely with him for a couple of decades and soaked up his knowledge as deeply as others.  I did learn from him mastery is something to continually seek and it starts with ourselves not others.

Hopes and desires are used to control us all the time.  So, why not look into that mirror inside and find our fears and hopes  we normally project outward?  In doing so we begin to shift our focus, slowly learn to answer our own questions and  become masters of ourselves.