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"One of the strongest characteristics of genius is the power of lighting its own fire." John W. Foster

If that's the case we each have the ability to manifest the genius within. Motivation seems to have many of us playing red light-green light. We're on, then off. Check out the following steps to keep the fire burning.

1- Be in tune to what lights your fire~ Dr Carol Dweck*, who received her PhD in psychology from Yale, and is currently on staff at Stanford University has studied motivation and offered the following, "' when you sift through the literature on creative genius, the researchers agree that motivation is perhaps the number one component in the realization of genius. Many of our most illustrious geniuses in every field were people who were considered ordinary as children, and then just caught fire around their topic and achieved amazing things that we know about today'from Darwin, to Coleridge, to C'zanne. All of these people were not necessarily extraordinary children." What provides the emotional charge that makes it easy to take action? List the topics, ideals, information, music, activities, causes, and passions that get you wound up? This is part of who you are, different from others, that deserves to manifest and be shared.

2- Get your daily dose~ Fill yourself up with the stuff that keeps your flame lit. Don't think about what you "should" do. Do what makes you feel great! Incorporate joy into your schedule daily. First, you will feel more energized, more complete, and in flow. Secondly, you stand apart from others. So if you hate building your business by cold calling, don't do it. What do you enjoy? If you are uncomfortable networking, shifting your focus to helping others may make a big difference if that's what you value. Filling your mind with exciting information, listening to uplifting music, or connecting with someone who inspires you may be just the daily habit to keep you whistling while you work.

3- Take responsibility to motivate yourself~ As motivational speaker Zig Ziglar would hear complaints about motivation wearing off he would sometimes respond saying, "People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing-that's why we recommend it daily." Too often we are looking for someone or something to provide motivation when it's really up to us to keep that spark ignited.

What makes you jump out of bed in the morning? What inspires you into action daily so that the genius in you is manifested fully? Ponder that. Starting Now!

* The interview with Dr. Carol Dweck, PhD, can be read at http://www.iub.edu/~intell/dweck_interview.shtml here .

Copyright 2006, Beth A. Tabak, All rights reserved.