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What motivates people to be successful?
Sometimes, when a very successful individual is interviewed by the media, he or she is asked: what drives you? Now that you have amassed a large fortune and much critical acclaim, why do you continue to strive for the top? Why continue to challenge yourself? Why did the tennis great Martina Navratilova continue to pursue a career in doubles, even after retiring from women's singles, and why is she now competing on Dancing with the Stars? Why did the author John Updike continue to write novel after novel, right up to his death? Why is the great film director Martin Scorsese still making films, even after winning Oscars? Clearly, these individuals are not striving for public acclaim alone or money. They simply love what they are doing. That is the key to success: finding out what you enjoy, what you are good at, and making that your life's work. In the words of Steve Jobs, "The journey is the reward" (Raphael 2003). When the process of practice itself is joyous, the journey to success is enjoyable, and it is much easier to feel motivated to work hard.
Motivation must be at least partially internal for an individual to succeed. Of course,...
But the successful person must be internally motivated and willing to practice. This is true of "the greatest athletes, entrepreneurs, musicians and scientists" who "only emerged after spending at least three hours a day for ten years practicing" ("Practice makes perfect," 2012, The Daily Mail). Some have called this the 10,000-hour rule, or the idea that it takes 10,000 of practice to master anything. Although athletes and musicians and artists may have innate talent, they must also have the strength of will and determination to practice, to be successful.
Not everyone has the willingness to practice this hard. Not everyone gets such sustained joy from a particular task. There are many distractions, such as one's social life, that can cause someone to forget their life's path. Some people have so many passions their attention is scattered, and they spread themselves thin. There are many distractions, such as organizational politics or worries about money that can interfere with the talented person's laser-like focus upon success. A young actress may give up after seeing a less talented performer use her connections to get a…
