SOMETIMES A SILVER EGG IS THE BEST PRODUCT.
("The perfect may be the enemy of the good.")
It is said that artists never finish their works but simply abandon them. Those who experience the artist's work may believe it to be great but the artist just goes on to something else. Success is in the next performance. I don't think that anyone can make the performer feel great about the performance if it did not feel right to him. Self esteem may be reinforced but probably cannot be kindled by others.
When his brother said a certain artist was "mediocre " Van Gogh protested. He wrote: "mediocre in its simple significance, I do not despise at all. And one certainly does not rise above that mark by despising what is mediocre. In my opinion one must begin by at least having some respect for the mediocre and know that it already means something and that it is only reached through great difficulty"
I am told that Franklin Roosevelt said that There are no final victories and that when you win, what you win is the opportunity to play for bigger stakes.
If these observations are true, perhaps one should judge motivations and accomplishments less by winning and more by skill development and capacity to meet the next problem. Are there small and large goals? Are there worthy achievements and lessor ones? An old adage from the theater is: There are no small roles, only small actors. Perhaps one has had a good day when one met and conquered the challenge of that day whether one slew a dragon or only walked one more step that the previous day. Some days I can be thankful for having lost nothing.
I have thought about motivation and how one can motivate people. I mean motivate people to achieve long term goals, and accomplishments of which they will always be proud.
Goals: I find that I label someone as being highly motivated if they work hard to accomplish goals which I believe to be worthy and to be poorly motivated when I have not believed that the goal was worthy of their efforts. I have had acquaintances at school who failed to complete their lessons or be perform on school test and then on Saturday night quote songs or racy poetry at great lengths when it entertained their peers It is truly remarkable how much investment in money, time and effort some may spend to please their peers while resisting performance that parents or teachers have instructed.. We cannot say that these folk are not motivated, they are just motivated toward goals that they value. Until or unless they recognize the value of my approved goals, can I motivate them? Or should they pursue the goals of which I approve ? Henry David Thoreau wrote: If a man appears out of step with those around him, perhaps it is because he hears the beat of a distant drummer. Let him march to that music, no matter however far away.
Age and attitude: A college teacher wrote about an experience he had visiting a kindergarten class. After the experience of having taught college age students he was struck by the attitude and confidence of the young students. They were doing classical operas; singing them and then interpreting them, never considering that they were too young or naive to understand what they were doing. He said he asked the class, who can sing? every hand went up. What can you sing? Anything. What would you like? Who can draw? Who can dance? Each time every child was confident he or she could do anything. He compared this with his college students who had become convinced of what they couldn't do.
I remember in LIFE magazine many years ago a picture of a flower. I wish I could find that picture. The flower's bulb had been left in a plot of soil which had subsequently been paved over with asphalt for a walking path. The flower had grown and forced its was up through the asphalt creating enough space to make a bloom. I marvel at the "motivation" of the plant to, not only survive but bloom. Perhaps motivation comes as a characteristic which is inherent in the individual. Perhaps we can only nurture it. Just as the kindergarten children who can do anything. Can we teach anyone this or perhaps just hold their coat while they let it out.
Every year there is a The Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC. In addition to the Marines who very fit, there are other runners. Then there are people on crutches, in wheel chairs and I have even seen a man do it on his hands.! Twenty-six miles! What motivates these folk. They could use lots of excuses. Why aren't some of us motivated to run or walk a few blocks, learn a new skill or work at improving a skill we have?
I may have come across a little insight. I may not be able to just tell anyone to do something. I may be be only able to influence others behavior by my own example. If that is so, I may not be able to say" do what I say, not what I do.
Robert Louis Stevenson said: "Success in life is not a matter of holding good cards, but in playing a poor hand well."
Today, I think that what we can do is to create or nurture an environment for success, demonstrate what success looks like, and reward small victories.
There are no final victories.
