The Question: We achieve our goals through motivation so how do we sustain and maximize this force? Why is it that some individuals consistently reach their goals while others stumble and fall short?
The Study: For a rat, a cat and cheese represent 2 ends of a spectrum. One sustains and the other devours.The baseline became the cheese, and the rat exerted a force over time. Then things got interesting. The cheese was replaced with the scent of a cat. This time, the rat produced 5x the force but for only ½ the time. Together, the duo caused the rat to pull 20x as hard for 2x as long.
The Philosophy: To sustain motivation and achieve goals, we must simultaneously run away from fear and toward success. Fear is concrete. Embodied. A sprint. It acutely activates us toward action, but it is poor sustenance. Best not to dwell here. Success is abstract. Imaginary. A marathon. It must be cultivated and planned with logic or else it shrivels and dies. Be driven by both. Find the balance within.
