How does one remain motivated to sustain a forward-looking mentality? In fact, what is motivation to begin with and what triggers motivation? Personally, I believe motivation is a factor of three variables, which I like to refer to as the “3 P’s:” people, persistence and the end product. Motivation, simply put, is the aspiration of an individual to do and/or achieve something. It is the craving that you feel in your mind and body when you lust for something you really want to accomplish. It is what makes you feel restless at night as you think about that one thing you want to achieve. I want this blog post to serve as a reminder to both you and I to never give up hope or lose confidence in our abilities and aspirations to achieve certain goals. Remember, where there’s a will, there’s a way.
The 3P’s of Motivation
People, persistence and the end product. A classic example of how three simple words can carry such a powerful message. If you can master the “3 P’s,” you are one step closer to success and one step further from losing motivation.
People – Regardless of who you are, what you are set out to achieve and/or how successful you are to-date, people play a vital role in your ability to achieve something. For me personally, to remain motivated, I surround myself with people that have a positive outlook in life and share the same motivation and passion that I have. I surround myself with people that inspire me because I am motivated and inspired to be like them. Imagine wanting to land your dream job at PwC having been unsuccessful in the recruiting process this year. I guarantee that if you surround yourself with individuals that glorify your failure and remind you how “tough it is to get a job at PwC,” next year will be even tougher for you because mentally, you would have given up already. Surrounding yourself with people who push you to make use of these upcoming months to network and take part in case competitions to drive your name home amongst firm reps and recruiters hold the key to success.
Persistence – If I could only explain to you in words how many times I have felt like giving up over the past five years in achieving what I have set myself to achieve to-date, I would be lost for words. For those of you who have heard me speak on the topic of “failure” at your university, you know exactly what I am talking about. The one notion that has pulled me through from high school to landing a job with PwC has been persistence. I never gave up in achieving any goal I have set for myself over the past few years, regardless of the setbacks that I may have faced. I never lost confidence in myself regardless of how many times I have fallen to the ground because I am a firm believer that the only outcomes of failure and falling short are strength and motivation. You must look beyond short term failures to achieve your end goal. If you were not successful this recruiting season, is that it? Are you going to give up? Let me answer that for you, NO! You must keep pushing hard over the next several months and try to improve on where you believe you fell short this recruiting season. If you give up hope now, I guarantee you that it will be very tough to motivate yourself to try again next year. A wise man once said, “patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.”
The end product – Whether it is to land a job with PwC or pass an upcoming midterm/exam, you must never lose sight of the end product/goal. You must always know what and why you are working towards something. Want to know a secret? The way I motivate myself is to set goals that I know are very difficult to achieve at my level. I like to aim high because I know if I fall short, I will hopefully still be in a better position than I would have been. At least, that is the plan. Do the same for yourself. Motivate yourself by setting goals that you know are above you because if you are able to achieve such invaluable milestones, you will realize it is the journey that changes who you are.
What I hope you can deduce by now is that motivation is essentially a combination of intrinsic factors such as your “craving” and “desire” to achieve a certain end goal and/or a combination of extrinsic factors such as “people” and the influence that your environment has on you. At PwC, I am constantly motivated to achieving personal and professional success both because of goals that I have set out for myself to accomplish coupled with the desire of my colleagues, especially my seniors, wanting me to succeed.
For those of you who wonder where my obsession and passion with PwC stems from and why I am so motivated to achieving bigger and better at the firm as every day passes, let me give you a taste of what I hope you can savour one day in the future:
... it is because of the people I am surrounded with at the firm that are inspirational to me and share the same values as me,
... it is because of my incessant persistence in striving for and achieving milestones set out by the firm for me to accomplish,
... it is because I know that putting in my 100% into the end product will always be rewarded at the firm.
People, persistence and the end product. A classic example of how three simple words can carry such a powerful message. If you can master the “3 P’s,” you are one step closer to success and one step further from losing motivation.
People – Regardless of who you are, what you are set out to achieve and/or how successful you are to-date, people play a vital role in your ability to achieve something. For me personally, to remain motivated, I surround myself with people that have a positive outlook in life and share the same motivation and passion that I have. I surround myself with people that inspire me because I am motivated and inspired to be like them. Imagine wanting to land your dream job at PwC having been unsuccessful in the recruiting process this year. I guarantee that if you surround yourself with individuals that glorify your failure and remind you how “tough it is to get a job at PwC,” next year will be even tougher for you because mentally, you would have given up already. Surrounding yourself with people who push you to make use of these upcoming months to network and take part in case competitions to drive your name home amongst firm reps and recruiters hold the key to success.
Persistence – If I could only explain to you in words how many times I have felt like giving up over the past five years in achieving what I have set myself to achieve to-date, I would be lost for words. For those of you who have heard me speak on the topic of “failure” at your university, you know exactly what I am talking about. The one notion that has pulled me through from high school to landing a job with PwC has been persistence. I never gave up in achieving any goal I have set for myself over the past few years, regardless of the setbacks that I may have faced. I never lost confidence in myself regardless of how many times I have fallen to the ground because I am a firm believer that the only outcomes of failure and falling short are strength and motivation. You must look beyond short term failures to achieve your end goal. If you were not successful this recruiting season, is that it? Are you going to give up? Let me answer that for you, NO! You must keep pushing hard over the next several months and try to improve on where you believe you fell short this recruiting season. If you give up hope now, I guarantee you that it will be very tough to motivate yourself to try again next year. A wise man once said, “patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.”
The end product – Whether it is to land a job with PwC or pass an upcoming midterm/exam, you must never lose sight of the end product/goal. You must always know what and why you are working towards something. Want to know a secret? The way I motivate myself is to set goals that I know are very difficult to achieve at my level. I like to aim high because I know if I fall short, I will hopefully still be in a better position than I would have been. At least, that is the plan. Do the same for yourself. Motivate yourself by setting goals that you know are above you because if you are able to achieve such invaluable milestones, you will realize it is the journey that changes who you are.
What I hope you can deduce by now is that motivation is essentially a combination of intrinsic factors such as your “craving” and “desire” to achieve a certain end goal and/or a combination of extrinsic factors such as “people” and the influence that your environment has on you. At PwC, I am constantly motivated to achieving personal and professional success both because of goals that I have set out for myself to accomplish coupled with the desire of my colleagues, especially my seniors, wanting me to succeed.
For those of you who wonder where my obsession and passion with PwC stems from and why I am so motivated to achieving bigger and better at the firm as every day passes, let me give you a taste of what I hope you can savour one day in the future:
... it is because of the people I am surrounded with at the firm that are inspirational to me and share the same values as me,
... it is because of my incessant persistence in striving for and achieving milestones set out by the firm for me to accomplish,
... it is because I know that putting in my 100% into the end product will always be rewarded at the firm.
