What motivates you? Money? Recognition? Fear? Self? Others? As an entrepreneur finding a source of motivation is something you will routinely do.  In fact if you aren't then most likely you're stuck in park, unable to move forward. So what or who do you look to for motivation? Other People Looking to others for motivation is a good place to start.  In fact it's a likely source to helping you get over that hump, or moving to the next level. Learning from others that have been where you're trying to go is a helpful way to help spur you on. Personally I look for stories where people have overcome adversity or great odds to achieve something.  People that have started with just an idea and grown it into a movement. I also don't look to just people in business, I find inspiration and motivation from a variety of areas. However I want to warn you, if you're  motivation continually comes from those around you then you are going to have a difficult time.  The truth is most of the time the road is lonely and learning how to be self motivated is something you must develop.

By most peoples fears I live in a very dangerous place. Its the lightning capital of North America and leads all other locations around the world in shark attacks. However living in Tampa, FL really isn't all that dangerous. In fact where you currently are is much more dangerous.  The odds of dying from choking on food, drowning in your bathtub or being killed crossing the street are far greater than being killed by lightning or a shark. (On a positive note the odds of dating a supermodel or writing a New York Times best seller are way better than all of the above. Click here for more interesting odds) Fear Makes Cowards Of Us All I forgot who said that but it's so true.  Fear can cripple us instantly. My three girls, all under the age of 10, come running to me anytime we have a bad lightning storm. The loud noise, the bright flashes, the instant and startling way in which it all happens culminate to make for a very terrifying experience.  Unless you've been through it many times before like I have. My girls always ask me "how come you don't get scared?".  One word - experience. Right now you may be paralyzed with a great idea, a dream of starting a business and your left parked at inaction because of fear.  Fear of the what if and the unknown. Fear of how to get started, fear of the cost, fear of the outcome,  all of which stem from lack of experience.

No one will do it for you. No one can do it like you. No one will do it but you. That's the attitude you have to approach entrepreneurship with. The desire and the direction is only going to come from within. To many of us get caught up in the idea that we need other things to happen or other people to help us in order to get started. No One Will Do It For You Don't wait on others to get things going for you, if you do it won't get done. The decisions and most importantly the action needs to be lead by you. Sounds obvious but sometimes our dreams, our ideas get held up waiting on others to get things done. We need to be relentless in pursuing our dreams and not let others hold us back.

The problem with expectations is that they are never a forgone conclusion. Expectations sometimes fall short and other times are exceeded.  The thing is they rarely are met. Oh sure if you have an end goal in mind like this 13 year old who is going to attempt climbing Everest then the expectation would be hard to exceed. Even if he doesn't reach the summit he's already exceeded my expectations of what a young man his age is capable of. The great thing with expectations is that they are never a forgone conclusion. Many people expect to fail.  They may not come out and say it but the lack of action, the lack of commitment and the lack of passion all add up to result in an expectation of failure. Unfortunately those expectations never even become a reality because they defeat so many before they even try. I say unfortunately because it's a shame to not even try something based on a fear of expectations.

On day 1 of any job, endeavour or project how much knowledge about it did you have? Now having been well into it compare your day 1 knowledge to what you know today. I'm sure the years, the challenges you faced, the experiences you've had all lead to your knowing much more today than you did on day 1. That's why  rookies in sports are looked at the way they are. Sure they have the raw talent and skill but it goes without saying that they will make rookie mistakes. If you track the history of any all-star you will see a progression of getting better and better from rookie to seasoned pro.  It takes time and it's not something that happens on day 1. Now take your business ideas, your projects, that charity you're working on. You may have aspirations and plans of great things.  Certainly you have others that you look to as a comparison, someone you aspire to be like. You aren't going to know everything you need to know from day 1, so stop waiting and get started. The challenge comes in realizing that and moving forward anyways.  You aren't suppose to have all the answers, all the ideas, even a complete picture of where you want to go.  On day 1 you just need the willingness and desire. That's what day 1 is all about, getting started. photo credit