Motivated (And a little chastised)

Every once in a while, someone comes up with a direct-to-the-point marketing or motivational message that hits me squarely between the eyes.

I remember slogans from years ago, ones like, “A little dab will do you.” Or the seat belts campaign, “Buckle up for safety.” or Nancy Reagan’s “Just say no!”

More on the motivational side, Adidas came up with, "Nothing is impossible", while Nike declared, "Just do it".

Pick the right words, and sometimes they last, and stay in people's minds, longer than the campaign for which you designed them.

"Plop, plop, fizz, fizz", anyone remember that one?

I enjoy reading, and love to take the inspirational passages that are often quoted by the geniuses of our time and try to apply them to my own life.

One of my all-time favorites is, "Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value." by Albert Einstein.

Another is from days gone by and scriptural, "Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways." (I'm not preaching, jus sayin'...)

Sometimes though, after a while, even though I remember the words, they kinda lose their impact. Maybe it's because they aren't right in front of me all the time and sometimes it's because my mind has moved on.

Because I want to be motivated, growing and fluid in my thoughts, I'm always on the look-out for relevant, quotable and impactful lessons which I can take to heart and from which I can learn and put into motion.

Case in point: I recently ran across these pearls of wisdom from Nolan Bushnell, the Founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese's.

Bushnell said, "The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It's as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer."

The commentary that accompanied it said, "Mark Zuckerberg wasn’t the original creator of Facebook. And Apple wasn't the first to invent the iPad. Somewhere in the world, a few random people probably shared these same ideas and dreams — they just didn't invest the time, energy, or capital to be the first. Right now, you probably have visions in your mind that could impact the world. If only you knew how to turn your dreams into reality."

The more I thought about it, the more I realized just how right this was.

Eli Whitney probably wasn't the first to come up with the idea of the Cotton Gin.

King Ramses (or whoever built the first pyramid) probably wasn't the first to think about the pyramid. People have been stacking rocks forever! Take a look at the Mayans and the Incas in South America.

But the difference is, they did something about it.

So where am I going with this?

I am one of those people that has been blessed with a very creative mind, but cursed with not-so-good follow-through.

For example, some time ago, I decided to put up a blog. I got the domain, the hosting account, chose a Wordpress theme and got it online.

A few friends looked at it and said, "Wow, Warren, that's great!"

It started getting some traffic and I thought, here we go!

Then, I did.....nothing. Nothing at all. I didn't add new content, I didn't update articles, I did nothing.

Amazingly, last time I looked at the stats, it had over 400 visitors last month. And the month before, and the month before that.

Geez, I wish I had put an opt-in box on the site. I might actually be making some money by now.

When I saw that quote from Bushnell earlier, I found myself newly motivated, and more than a little bit chastised.

For 2011, my mantra will be: "While trying to be a man of value, give careful thought to your ways,
but get off your butt and do something!”

I have promised myself to re-vamp the site, bring it up to speed and take full advantage of the opportunity my very creative mind has given me.

How about you?

Are you going to be willing to sit by and let someone else build that which you are dreaming about, or will you...

"Get off your butt and do something"?