Comments on: Motivation Monday – Find a Target Person to Beat

By: Mary_Freebies

Mary_Freebies — Sat, 31 May 2008 22:22:33 +0000

When I need inspiration I just browse through some blogs of the big boys, who cash in huge amounts of money from Adsense each month, and I am all enthusiastic about reaching even 10% of their achievement.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it just fails royally. :-/

By: Debbie M

Debbie M — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:49:02 +0000

Lise, I’m actually more motivated right before vacation because I want to get everything cleaned up and finished so I don’t have quite as big a pile pile of stuff waiting for me when I return.

This article is not about trying to make more money or have more toys than the next guy, it’s about doing a better job. It could be about anything you’d rather be better than.

I first noticed this when I was a secretary. A new co-worker was much faster at stuffing envelopes. It had never occurred to me to try to be fast at that sort of thing. Now I am fast at all boring repetitive crap. I figure out how to be as efficient as possible, and then I also move quickly.

In my personal life, I once met someone who was better than me at everything but embroidery. At first, I thought it was miraculous or genetic or talent. Then I saw him learning to folk dance, and although he learned quicker than I did, it was by no means instantaneous. At that point, I made up my mind that I, too, could learn to do lots of things, and since then I have learned to play the guitar, become adequate at volleyball and ultimate frisbee (a big improvement for me!), become above average at ballroom dancing, and run a 10K race in (barely) under an hour. Learning another language is taking me much longer, but it could happen.

By: Emily @ Taking Charge

Emily @ Taking Charge — Mon, 19 May 2008 21:35:45 +0000

While I think it may be wise to use this occasionally as a motivational tactic, it can be taken WAY too far. I agree with devil that this is a major cause for the credit crunch right now — everyone was trying to keep up with the Joneses and putting plasma TVs they couldn’t afford on credit cards. So I think it’s great to have someone to aspire to be successful as, but I think it’s important to not live above your means to achieve what they have. Maybe you should aspire to be more like them — more successful in their job, earning more promotions — rather than to aspire to their level of wealth and possessions as well.

By: Rachel @ Master Your Card

Rachel @ Master Your Card — Mon, 19 May 2008 19:48:34 +0000

This is a great idea. I tend to challenge myself to beat my husbands monthly earnings – but haven’t managed it yet. I am getting closer though and I cannot wait to be all gloating and smug when I do it!

By: Lise

Lise — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:48:30 +0000

I think the word you’re looking for is “colleague,” not “college.”

Either way, this is a good idea. Some of my colleagues are better inspirations than others, however… and man, it’s hard to stay motivated when you’re going on vacation in two days!

By: devil

devil — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:43:30 +0000

I actually thought that this tactic got us into the economic mess we’re in now. Everyone wanted better houses/cars/toys than the next person, so they just used credit to get them.