Jeffhadennet The Motivation Myth Excerpt
Jeffhadennet The Motivation Myth Excerpt
Jeffhadennet The Motivation Myth Excerpt
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THE MOTIVATION MYTH 09
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01
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The 04
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MOTIVATION
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Myth
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How High Achievers Really 14
JEFF HADEN 19
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PORTFOLIO / PENGUIN N26
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CONTENTS 03
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INTRODUCTION 12
You Can Do—a nd Be—So Much More Than You Think 1 13
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CHAPTER 1
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Motivation Is Not the Spark 11
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CHAPTER 2 17
The Greater Your Focus, the Lower Your Chances of Success 39 18
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CHAPTER 3 20
Your Goal Must Always Choose Your Process 65
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CHAPTER 4
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Happiness Comes to Serial Achievers 97
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CHAPTER 4.5 S25
Wishing and Hoping Is the Most Unrealistic Approach of All 127 N26
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01 CHAPTER 5
02 To Gain Incredible W
illpower . . . Need Less Willpower 131
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CHAPTER 5.5
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One Question Provides Nearly Every Answer 171
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06 CHAPTER 6
07 Why Work Smarter When You Can Work Your Number? 175
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09 CHAPTER 7
You Don’t Need a Coach; You Need a Pro 211
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CHAPTER 8
12 Do More by Doing Less 235
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14 CHAPTER 9
15 The Bottom Line 261
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18 Acknowledgments 265
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Index 269
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T H E M O T I V AT I O N M Y T H
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Y O U C A N D O —A N D B E — S O M U C H M O R E T H A N Y O U T H I N K
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HOW SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE APPROACH
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MOTIVATION
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I’ve met plenty of successful people. Yes, many of them are 04
smart. Yes, some of them are creative. Yes, they’re often tal- 05
ented. But none of those traits is crucial to their success. The 06
gene cards we are dealt are just a starting point; nearly every 07
successful person I know started on the downside of advantage. 08
Humble beginnings can create the perfect foundation for suc- 09
cess, because starting at the bottom creates almost endless op- 10
portunities to enjoy small successes. 11
Confused? That’s okay. The key is to understand how moti- 12
vation works. 13
There is only one recipe for gaining motivation: success. 14
Specifically, the dopamine hits we get when we observe our- 15
selves making progress. 16
Not huge, life-changing successes. Those come all too infre- 17
quently, if ever. If you want to stay motivated, if you want to stay 18
on track, if you want to keep making progress toward the things 19
you hope to achieve, the key is to enjoy small, seemingly minor 20
successes—but on a regular basis. If you’re trying to learn a lan- 21
guage, it’s fun when you realize you can count to twenty. If 22
you’re trying to learn an instrument, it’s fun when you realize 23
you can read simple sheet music. If you’re trying to learn to 24
code, it’s fun to realize that silly little program you wrote actu- S25
ally works. Small successes are f un—and motivating. N26
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T H E M O T I V AT I O N M Y T H
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Y O U C A N D O —A N D B E — S O M U C H M O R E T H A N Y O U T H I N K
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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HAPPINESS AND
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SUCCESS
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The motivation myth makes us unhappy for two reasons. First, 04
it leads to a sin of commission. A person who self-identifies as a 05
failure, who regularly quits before reaching the finish line, is a 06
chronically unhappy person. But it also causes a sin of omission. 07
We aren’t mindfully enjoying one of the most rewarding experi- 08
ences on earth: slowly growing stronger, or more skillful, or 09
more wise. 10
Like when my grandfather bought a racehorse. 11
I wasn’t even a teenager, but even I knew it was a terrible 12
decision. A racehorse was a luxury he and my grandmother 13
surely could not afford. But at least ongoing costs were low, be- 14
cause he lived on a farm. That’s a justification I’m sure he floated 15
by my grandmother. 16
Over the next year he would scrape together entry fees and 17
race the horse with little success at small local tracks. One was 18
no better than an open field rutted by the pounding of hooves. 19
Another featured an announcer who placed his PA system on 20
the back of his truck and powered it with a generator that almost 21
drowned out the sound of his voice. (I can still remember him 22
saying, “As you folks know, in Virginia it’s illegal to bet at a 23
racetrack . . . but if you folks mosey away from the track and on 24
down to that big old oak tree over yonder, I’m sure someone will S25
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T H E M O T I V AT I O N M Y T H
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Y O U C A N D O —A N D B E — S O M U C H M O R E T H A N Y O U T H I N K
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T H E M O T I V AT I O N M Y T H
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Y O U C A N D O —A N D B E — S O M U C H M O R E T H A N Y O U T H I N K
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T H E M O T I V AT I O N M Y T H
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