If I were hiring you for a position requiring leadership, creativity, or innovation or really anything beyond just menial work, I would ask you if you’ve ever encountered temporary failure while attempting anything significant. If your answer was, “No”, I would not hire you. If you haven’t dealt with a decent failure, then you haven’t tried much, or at least not much that required enough of you. Thus for any aspiring person, trying big enough objectives which bring you temporary failures is a desirable motive. In many sporting events for kids these days, everyone gets a “participation award” where there are no winners or losers. Few people encounter any real failure in the traditional education system and a majority of modest jobs offer fair compensation for work which has little to no risk. This breeds mediocrity and a stable working class. If you desire anything more you want to be trying things you can’t easily achieve and encountering temporary failures. Not absolute failures. Not high risk and damaging failures. But endeavors where you must face legitimate obstacles you must overcome. Where you may need to redirect and sometimes even start over completely in order to succeed. This is what grows intelligence, resilience, and wisdom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Achievements is our muse today. Why they mean so much to us, why they are so important, and what we miss out on when we don’t pursue them. The point is not what the achievement is, but what it means to you, and the value we receive by having achievements in our lives we are proud of. Proud of, just for ourselves, but I’m not going to discount the value of social credibility as well in regard to our achievements. We are social creatures and the societal aspects of our achievements are not to be discounted. Let’s dig in and unpack how you can more healthfully perceive of the achievements you will find fulfillment in.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What are motives of later age that provide fulfillment?This was not a retirement focus so much as just asking how motives help and hurt in the latter years. What came up however was the profound value of having work you don’t want to retire from as the primary motive objective. As I’ve been in Florida for an extended time I had my Dad, Dan Miller of 48 Days To The Work You love fame, join me. He is 73 and wakes every morning excited about what he’ll accomplish in the next 20 years, while many of his peers are just bored. Passing the time. The stats show people who retire decline in health and well being due to a lack of purpose. Which makes this an episode relevant for anyone of any age to listen to. If you want to connect with Dan Miller tune in to his 48 Days To The Work You Love podcast wherever you get your podcasts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ashley worked in counter terrorism at a very young age and today has a large following around designing your dream career and a new book titled, “YOU TURN: Get Unstuck. Discover Your Direction. Design Your Dream Career." But it was her personal story that intrigued me. At age 10 her Dad had a panic attack about a business turned bad and he exclaimed to Ashley that money was going to kill him. Right then and there Ashley vowed, “I’m going to make a lot of money so that life is easy and I can save my dad from dying." She did that, but the thread I pull on is her lifelong quest to save and rescue and help people that is true to who she is, though today she does it with health and peace. From it you’ll find yourself clarifying what of your motives is true, even if you’ve pursued them, as I have at times, in some unhealthy paths. I encourage you to tune in with Ashley Stahl, find her at Y-o-uturnbook.com and her podcast by the same name. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Being a victim. We are all victimized at times, and we all suffer from feeling the victim at times. But let me preface and tell you this episode is a compassionate look at it. This is a non-clinical, real world discussion around the issue, and I brought back actor Matthew del Negro. He was my guest in episode 13 where we talked about his story as an actor, which he says is a profession of being rejected. His book is called “10,000 Nos” and he understands rejection and the temptation to feel the victim. The conversation brought us to a point we were not anticipating, and it’s the role of faith in combating being a victim. Not religious faith, but faith in ourselves and life overall and that we have more going for us than against us. And faith that embracing a victim role offers us absolutely nothing. I encourage you to check out Matthew’s podcast, and book by the same name, 10,000 NOs! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Tuff is the renowned author of “The Millennial Whisperer." His initial motive that began the trajectory of his life? Beating his older brothers. In anything and everything. While that may not sound dramatic, the thread you’ll keep hearing in these shows is how often seemingly innocuous events in our youth direct the trajectory of our lives and we don’t even realize it. Chris found himself just 4.5 years ago, burned out. A wife, two kids, great success in work, and totally spent. He took a month-long sabbatical and reinvented his life. In this episode of the Motive podcast you’ll hear how his story unfolded, and through it I believe you’ll find aspects that reveal similar issues in your life, that you can reinvent. Find Chris at themillennialwhisperer.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The motive story of one of my favorite authors of all time, Donald Miller. Don wrote seven memoir style books that truly impacted my life. His book, “A Million Miles In A Thousand Years” is his take on living a worthwhile life and I recommend it to...everyone. Now he’s turned his focus to helping entrepreneurs grow successful businesses, and for act three of his life he feels he will put his focus into political activism which we dig into at the end of this episode. But what motivated a kid from a broken home to write his first book at 21 and go on to sell millions of books about his bumbling, curious, views on life and spirituality, then become a heralded expert in business, and now want to go after politics? Here is Donald in his usual candor and insight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m taking aim at leadership. I get new books across my desk weekly with a title...that has leader or leadership in it. And I greatly question whether this is a true motive for many people, and has a lot of people thinking they should be wanting to lead and be a leader, and feeling some are leaders and some followers. My goal in this brief message is to help many of you realize what you want, is influence, and how to find peace and traction in this “leadership” economy with a more fitting and relevant perspective. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let’s focus on our vocational motives. The reasons we go into the job, the career, or the business are what dictate our overall happiness and success, yet most of us go into such arenas for the wrong reasons, and suffer for it. This is a show anyone working will want to listen to, but I’ll tell you, it should be a requirement for today’s youth. Dan Miller joins me today, and he is one of today’s foremost career experts and the acclaimed author of “48 Days To The Work You Love.” In my 50 years I’ve hardly spent a day of my life working at something I didn’t enjoy and care about it and I have Dan to thank for that reality. Long before he wrote his book, he was...my Dad. And I’m eternally privileged and grateful. Join us as we help you clarify why are are working at what you are, and how to better fuel your vocational success by getting into alignment with your desires and your motives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the Motive Podcast I’m hitting on a key ingredient of our motives, and it’s how we feel about ourselves. I realized many of the good habits I engage with everyday, while all good and well, have less value in and of themselves in comparison to simply making me feel good about myself. I became aware of how important it is that we feel proud of ourselves, and that so often we are trying to push ahead in our lives and we are not...feeling proud of ourselves. I brought Jared Angaza on the show to talk about the issue. This is not an interview but a candid discussion and as you’ll hear, a discovery, of the power and nuances of how proud, or not, we feel about ourselves. And yes, we unpack some of the baggage around the word, “proud”. By the end you’ll hear that the discussion helped clarify and add much to Jared’s and my understanding of the issue. If you missed episode 21 of the Motive podcast, I walked with Jared through his story of motive, and it was significant. Jared, by the way, is my brother! If you are intrigued by what he shares, find him at jaredangaza.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices