Inspiration for Motivation

This week started off with the most unusual of circumstances for me – two completely unscheduled days at the office.  Looking at my Monday and Tuesday in Outlook was startling.  Did I really have nowhere I had to be?  No meetings to prepare for and attend?  No lunch dates?

So, how did I spend my Monday?  Planning meals, running to the grocery store, responding to work emails, doing my basic Monday tasks at the office, and doing a lot of sitting at my computer thinking and searching the internet.  I left the office that day feeling blah.  I’m an extrovert and get my energy from interaction with people.  But, it was more than that.  I’d been in that planning/thinking place that I haven’t visited in about a year. I kept getting this searching, yearning feeling, like there was something I was looking for.  I’d them turn to blog sites hoping to find something… what, I couldn’t articulate.   I spent the day paying a lot of attention to my thoughts.  The searching and planning was a return to my old ways of trying to control my feelings.

This day set the stage for my week.  Luckily my motivation at work picked up on Tuesday and has been gathering steam ever since.  In my position at work I have a lot of freedom, little supervision, and high expectations from upper management!  My performance is directly linked to my motivation and proactivity.  Monday’s lack of motivation didn’t make me feel inspired or in control of my work.  It was completely self-induced and ironic.  By trying to plan and think my way into feeling content, I’d actually been ignoring the work that would make me feel satisfied.  Oy vey.

So, today I went on a search for quotes regarding motivation and responsiblity to help remind me not to fall into this trap again.  I found these two gems:

“To decide, to be at the level of choice, is to take responsibility for your life and to be in control of your life.”

Abbie M. Dale

“It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do.”

Moliere (1622-1673)

Hope you find them inspiring too!