On the other hand, there are those who seem to bring out the worst in us. When we are around certain people we feel clumsy and inept and find ourselves acting in negative ways that puzzle us later. Their pep talks end up becoming lectures, and though they may intend to inspire us, they actually intimidate us
The Sources of Inspiration
My work as a psychotherapist has furnished me with opportunities to observe these various pulls we have on each other and to ponder the sources of inspiration. When I met people who were peak performers, I often asked "What Motivated you? Who first got you on the right track, and how did they do it?" In gathering this information and in reading the biographies of great leaders, I began to see that in business, in politics, in a family indeed in any venture motivation breaks down to a few very powerful principles. It turns out that a coach like Bear Bryant, a businessman like Lee Iacocca, and a religious leader like Mother Teresa use many of the same tools for energizing their people and that their groups respond in very similar, predictable ways. In the succeeding, we will look at the stories of dozens of successful leaders and the methods they have used to obtain and extraordinary effort from ordinary human beings. I hope to show how you can employ these methods in day to day relationships.
The 12 Guidelines contained in this, are quite simple. They can be mastered by anyone with enough desire to inspire others. I'm not saying that they are easy skills to learn, for changing our relational habits can be very difficult, and mastering the art of motivation takes a lot of hard work. But with enough persistence, anyone can become an expert in this field motivation are not born they are made. And they are almost always self made.