Scenario: "Do you feel motivated to work hard? If you do, yay!" Buh-laaah.

What question drives you to seriously kick some major donkey behind and take names?

You probably won't find it with those motivational speakers who sell you books/cds/tapes/manuals/their-mamas. Instead, the question -- simply:

"What result do I want to achieve?"

According to consultant Robert Fritz in a Harvard Business Review article, that question drives you from complacent mode to proactive mode. That is, instead of lounging around waiting for what the world wants you to do, you tap your inner psyche to chase down some ridiculously crazy goal and beat it into submission. That internal motivation drives you to produce ridiculously productive results, and dismiss external distractions that are beyond your control. You start:

• strengthening your phat future
• using your time freakishly efficiently
• producing more value to those around you
• imprinting a lasting legacy

The Very Fine Line

There's fine line between (1) working hard, and (2) producing results. Conventional wisdom thinks the former automatically translates into the latter. You can work 80 hour work weeks for a client; but, if Hector down the street produces more value to Client Timmy than you -- and he only works 20 hours, guess who will ultimately win. At the end of the day, it's not how hard you work -- the would couldn't care less; it's the results you produce. The more honest you answer it, the more you'll compel yourself to rock every second of your fabulosity.

"What result do I want to achieve?"