Motivation is like musicianship: you either have it, or you don’t.

It’s much easier to hire motivated people than hiring just anybody and hope they’re motivated. Dave Ramsey says he’d rather redirect a horse already running than try to turn a donkey into a thoroughbred.

This isn’t Newton’s first law of motion where an outside force can influence the movement of any stable object with enough momentum; that’s not how motivation works. As much as you might try, you can’t create motivation, only contribute to it. You can yell and incentivize someone all day long, but it’s still up to them to change.

Motivational posters don’t work; they’re only wall decor with quotation brackets. Carrots on a stick don’t work. Raises and bonuses don’t work. Incentives can only carry you so far with inspiration, but they can’t create true motivation.

Motivation can’t be fabricated or coerced, only ignited within the individual.

I’m naturally very stubborn. It can be a very good attribute as an entrepreneur, but very bad for responding to God’s direction. There are times in my life where outside factors all point towards necessary change. All the lights on the virtual dashboard of my life flash “warning, warning!” but it isn’t until I feel internal motivation that change actually happens.

The same is true for pursuing your dreams. Whether it’s going back to school at forty, launching your own business, writing a book, starting a cause, or changing career paths, nothing happens until you have the motivation to change. No motivation, no change. Period.

Motivation is God’s way of igniting internal change for good. (Click to tweet this!)

God allows circumstances, conversations, and opportunities in our lives to cause motivation. Motivation happens when it’s more difficult to remain where we are than to change our circumstances.

• Maybe it’s a spouse saying something needs to change or else.
• Maybe it’s hitting the ceiling of your skill set that you’ve ignored sharpening for years.
• Maybe it’s seeing the writing on the wall before the down-sizing and knowing your future is in limbo.

Whatever your situation may be, you have a God-given opportunity to change. It’s up to you to seize that opportunity and change for good, for something worth fighting for in your future. Motivation is a fire waiting to be lit to fuel your life for tomorrow.

What’s your motivation? How has your life changed because of what’s motivated you?