Question of the Week #22
Have you ever felt unmotivated in any
aspect of your life? I often wonder whether theres a diff bet. those
that seem to have endless amounts of energy and those that don't. Some
of it, I'm sure, has to do with doing what you're passionate about.
Thoughts?
When I was in college I worked for the engineer company Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN). My father is an engineer and recommended that I apply for a security clearance with the Government because I could work in certain departments in an engineering company during college as they were always looking for people with security clearances. Through him I got a part-time job during the week at BBN in their research department. They had rooms of endless information in huge books that were checked out by engineers working on Government backed projects. Having a security clearance gave me the ability to handle the books.
There are two things that stick in my mind from the experience. The first is that without fail a few days before a project was due engineers would come out of the woodwork. The place would be packed. These were projects that were assigned months and months ago sometimes years. It seemed to me that everyone there just waited until the last minute. That was the culture and pace.
The second was the summer job at BBN. They hired me full time to work the summer between my sophomore and junior year. It paid good money. The first day of my first week my boss gave me a project. I don't remember what it was but I do remember that I finished the entire project by 2 in the afternoon. I reported back to her and she was aghast. She told me that she thought that project would last me at least a week. I realized that the only way this was going to work is if I could figure out how to work slower. It was impossible. I ended up leaving and working at another engineering firm where they let me be on the grounds crew mowing lawns. One of the best jobs I ever had but that is another story for another time.
The other night I was speaking with Gabe Stulman, an amazing enterpreneur. He has built 6 restaurants in the past 3 1/2 years, got married and had a child. As he puts it, an aggressive pace. I can totally relate to it. I love an aggressive pace. As Fred has said, if I put up a lemonade stand on Monday I would have a chain by Friday. It is how my mind works.
So to answer the question… energy, passion and motivation come from within. It is part of someones make-up. I have personally never felt unmotivated by anything that has come across my path. Yet never say never.
Comments (Archived):
awesome…now I want to hear the lawn mowing story! 😉
blog post coming.
I cannot wait. My favorite ‘pre-adult’ job was on a crew installing garage doors. They ranged in size from residential to airplane hangers. It was a great team, and the work was hard, but it was extremely satisfying.I drive around my hometown and can point to doors I installed two decades ago.
i love that.
I remember at one really rough patch of my life, I was standing in a store, and opened a book on a table, and read a sentence “all wereally need in life for happiness is something to look forward to.” And I put it down hurriedly, as it sounded like it was speaking to me. Now, I’m not a believer *at all* that the universe conspires to help me out. But it did give me an insight into how I work. My insight was this: If you are the type of person who believes you can get results, you will always have something to look forward to. That’s why I see myself as a progressive person. (Not politically, per se, but in attitude.) If something doesn’t work, find a solution that does. You may not be able to solve all your problems, but you can solve something. Solving even one problem makes it easier to solve other problems. And once you have actual results to show for your efforts, you begin to see yourself as a problem solver. A results person. A creator of change. A leader. And once you know you can get results, you always havesomething to look forward to. If you always have something to look forward to, you arenever unmotivated.At least, that’s the way it works for me. Thanks for the question.
i totally agree.
I have always been a self-motivated person. But it took me a while to channel that motivation into something productive and healthy for me.I’ve been lucky to meet people who helped me realize that I wasn’t nuts, I was driven!
Sounds like large private companies with government backed projects
“When I was in college I worked for the engineer company Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN).”BBN is an impressive company with roots in the development of the Internet. Most people I’m sure don’t know that. I remember telneting into them in college over the arpanet.”My father is an engineer and recommended that I apply for a security clearance with the Government because I could work in certain departments in an engineering company during college as they were always looking for people with security clearances.”I think that’s great. It reminds me of the story in “Falcon and the Snowman”.http://en.wikipedia.org/wik…Meanwhile kids today (my daughters who live with their mother) I can’t get to hold any summer job except camp counselor at an overnight camp. One daughter is in her junior year is now in London and has reported back from her first job and it’s amazing how excited she is about it. Prior to this (which the school requires) try as I might to give them ideas and to set them up nothing stuck.