title: Motivation Comes from Four Things description: [AFW M.1.35] Michael's Epiphany #35 published: true date: 2026-06-30T08:10:31.407Z tags: editor: markdown dateCreated: 2021-09-01T18:20:06.045Z

Your Drive and Motivation Comes from Four Things¶

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1) Love¶

"Do it for those you love, and those who love you." -Nick Murray

It might be obvious, but providing a quality life for your family and loved ones is the primary motivation most of us have to work hard.

2) Helping Others¶

"Everyone I know at the top of the advisory profession does what he does because they have to. Offering to help people attain financial security fills a great need in them, in a way nothing else does. They see the perferct linkage between doing good and doing well." -Nick Murray

"When you connect (or reconnect) with your own need to help people financially, you'll tap into a great wellspring of energy." -Nick Murray

“To achieve money management stardom you must realize, and fully accept, that your services are the best thing that has happened to your clients in years.” ―Nick Murray

Read Nick's ATY 023 January 23 - Do this because you need to PDF

The Roman Stoic Hierocles spoke of our “circles of concern.” Our first concern, he said, was our mind. Beyond this was our concern for our bodies, for our immediate family, then our extended family. Like concentric rings, these circles were followed by our concern for our community, our city, our country, our empire, our world. Our work is to care as much as possible for as many people as possible, to do as much good for them as possible.

3) Being Somebody¶

It has been said the pride is the emotional reward for a job well-done. "Being somebody" means earning the accolades and recognition of your peers - Get on the Leader's Board every month. - Attack your promotions. - Break AdvisorFirst Records.

4) Goals, Desires, Fun & Pleasures¶

Read Steve Siebold's Secrets of the World Class #004 -Emotional Motivators PDF

Don't discount the power and affect that personal and fun goals have on your motivation. Things like a new car, house, vacation, paying for cleaners for your home, more frequent weekend trips etc.

The key is to talk openly with your spouse about them, thus putting yourself in the "hot seat". And write them down!

Four Additional Motivational Tips¶

1) Have a Game-Plan, Follow It, and Have an Accountability Program¶

View Epiphany #06 for more details on goals and game-plans.

2) Habits & Routine Motivate¶

“The surest way to discipline passion is to discipline time. Decide what you want, then always do it at exactly the same moment every day, and passion will give you no trouble.” -W. H. Auden

3) Visualization¶

Visualize yourself fulfilling this destiny in glorious details. Begin with a clear, detailed, purposeful goal in mind, one rooted in reality. Contemplate them day in and day out, and imagine how it will feel to reach them and what reaching them will look like. Clearly visualizing them this way will turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Premeditatio Malorum¶

Premeditatio malorum (“the premeditation of evils”) is a Stoic exercise of imagining things that could go wrong. It helps us prepare for life’s inevitable setbacks and develop resilience in the face of uncertainty. . We don’t always get what is rightfully ours, even if we’ve earned it. Not everything is as clean and straightforward as we think they may be. Psychologically, we must prepare ourselves for this to happen.

Seneca wrote: “What is quite unlooked for is more crushing in its effect, and unexpectedness adds to the weight of a disaster. This is a reason for ensuring that nothing ever takes us by surprise. We should project our thoughts ahead of us at every turn and have in mind every possible eventuality instead of only the usual course of events... Rehearse them in your mind: exile, torture, war, shipwreck. All the terms of our human lot should be before our eyes.”

By doing this exercise, Seneca was always prepared for difficulty and prepared to meet any fate. Which is a good thing--because nearly every single one of those things actually happened to him. And from what we know, he faced each with bravery, strength and understanding. and always working that disruption into his plans. He was fitted for defeat or victory.

Anticipation doesn’t magically make things easier, of course. But the more prepared we are, the abler we are to proceed despite the potential difficulties. With anticipation, we have time to raise defenses, or even avoid them entirely. We’re ready to be driven off course because we’ve plotted a way back. We can resist going to pieces if things didn’t go as planned. With anticipation, we can endure.

4) Look to Your Peers for Inspiration and Examples¶

Read Ryan Holiday's Daily Stoic lesson You Can Do It PDF

Peer pressure and comparison can be a good motivator if not taken to extremes.