Hey, it’s Bob and thank you for being here on this episode of Real Retail TV. And today, we’re going to talk about motivation. 

So on our WhizBang! Retailers Facebook page– and if you aren’t a member of that community, I would encourage you to go sign up– I posed the question. I said, what motivates you, and there were some tremendous answers. But someone challenged me back. Someone said, Bob, what motivates you? And I’m very clear about what motivates me, and so I’m going to share it with you here today. Not because I’m some wise sage, but because hopefully, me sharing my motivations with you will help you get clear on what motivates you. And then you’ll be able to manage your motivation better. You’ll be more motivated. 

So first of all, motivation is driven by a desire. And the primary, one of the three things that motivates me is my vision, my vision for my life. I have a very, very clear emotionally compelling, detail-driven vision for my life. Susan and I went to ZingTrain in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and spent two days with a small group of people in working on our vision for my life. Susan worked on her vision for her life. Together, we combined them for a vision for our lives. We have a vision for this business. 

But I know what I want. And it’s not a vague generality. It’s meaningful and it’s real. I have a very emotionally real vision for my life. So that’s the first thing– having a vision. That motivates me. 

The second part of that is getting to that vision. Changing, becoming better, growing, becoming more excellent. You know, Jim Rowan– and I’m paraphrasing here– said that you don’t want to become a millionaire for the sake of becoming a millionaire. You want to become a millionaire because of the kind of person you become as you are becoming a millionaire. 

You know, I love growing. I love learning. I love getting better. Dan Sullivan said, if you’re not embarrassed by how dumb you were a year ago, you’re not growing. Well, I don’t know if I quite buy into that, but I can tell you that I am incredibly motivated by becoming a better person and becoming a better business person because both of those are going to help me get to my vision, right? Does this all make sense? 

So it’s about becoming great. And this is why over the years, I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on coaches, and consultants, and seminars, and programs. All of these people are doing or know how to do what I want to do. So I’m trying to tap into them. It’s who knows what to do. Not, how am I going to do it, but who already knows how to do it, and how can I rub their heads, and tap into their brains. 

So that’s the second thing. Growth, excellence. Becoming more so than I can be a vet realize that vision for myself. 

And the third part of this answer is serving you. You know, if you’re a retailer, and you’re watching this, and if you’re watching this, you’re probably a retailer– Real Retail TV. I’m just so motivated by helping you. I spent 19 years in retail, and I made every mistake that you could possibly make. I’ve experienced all of the stress that comes from struggling, from trying. And I’ve experienced all the joys that come from learning, and figuring it out, and growing, and getting better. And helping you motivates me in a way that I can’t even describe. 

You know, some people are entrepreneurs. They just like the game of business. And I like the game of business, but only in the context of how it helps retailers, how it helps you. I’m not interested in growing a window washing business or becoming a car dealer. You know what I mean? There is nothing wrong with any business. I love entrepreneurs, I love entrepreneurial thinking. But me, I love retail and I love retailers. 

And so it all fits together beautifully. You know, I believe that business is a value for value exchange. And what I mean by that? I mean if we– meaning everybody here at whizbangtraining.com– if we give you value, we inspire you, if you learn things that help you grow a better business, if we if you learn things that help you have less stress, build a better life, that’s value. 

And when you get value from us, some of you will give us a value back in the form of money. And money is only one of the ways we get paid. But when we look at building our business, we ask ourselves, how can we put more value into our community. Because we know that the more we put in, the more we’ll get out. And the only way for us, for me, to learn how to put more value into our community, into your later life, is for me to get better, for us to get better, for us to grow. 

And when we do this, it’s a wonderful, wonderful– we call it the upward spiral of prosperity. If we help you grow, you’ll help us grow. As you help me get smarter, I’ll help you get smarter. And because all of these things happen, we, Susan and I, and everybody here at whizbangtraining.com, we will realize our vision. 

So again, I’m not sharing this for any other reason. Well, I love to share with you. But really, what I hope is happening here is it causes you to think about what drives you. What motivates you. What do you truly desire. Because when you go from a Zig Ziglar calls, when you go from vague generalities to meaningful specifics, the path becomes clearer. It becomes easier, you get better. And it’s just better. And that’s what we want for you. We want you to be better. 

So if you haven’t subscribed to Real Retail TV, go to iTunes, go to your favorite platform, subscribe. We’d love to make sure that you get an episode every single week. And of course, if you have any comments or questions, put them down below. We’d love to hear from you. And until next week, I’m Bob Negen.