I’ve been thinking about motivation, goals, and achievements. I tend to be self-motivated: succeeding, accomplishing something I’ve set out to do, gives me a huge sense of fulfillment. I know quite a few people who are motivated by different external factors: fame/attention (however limited it may be), stuff/material payoff, or the basic monetary motivation. There were a number of quotes my father repeated when I was growing up – and when I say repeated, he REALLY repeated them. Haha! They bore repetition, though, and growing up with my parents helped me to internalize some of these messages. One of them I catch myself saying to my daughter (God help me!): “Life is simple, people screw it up.” It seems to cover junior high school. 🙂

His other oft-repeated saying was that “if you work for the money, you’ll never have enough.”

So, in that vein, today’s thoughts are about achievement.

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” ~ Paulo Coelho

“To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.” ~ Anatole France

“I attempt an arduous task; but there is no worth in that which is not a difficult achievement.” ~ Ovid

“When I dare to be powerful – to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” ~ Audre Lorde

Blessings to you all…