1. Decide Right Now To Expect Nothing. "Wait a minute", you say, "if I expect nothing, won't I get nothing?" Of course you can live "down" to expectations. In this context, however, it means to not get so hung up on needing, wanting, striving, wishing, and pursuing that you miss what's right in front of you. Setting goals to move you towards what you want is definitely important. But what is good and sweet and wonderful in your life right now? What are you missing out on by expecting something better to be around next corner?

2. Let Some Long-Standing Idealist Goals Die. This can be most freeing thing you do, and a tremendous sense of relief. Always wanted to be world's first perfect parent? Are you disappointed in yourself because you haven't yet won Pulitzer Prize? Are you comparing yourself to body of a runway model? Does your marriage lack romance of daytime soap operas? It's time to get over these types of unrealistic goals. Allow yourself to be human.

3. Truly Accept that Failure is The Only Way To Succeed. There's a famous quite that says, "the only place where success comes before work is in dictionary." The story goes that famous basketball player Michael Jordan was cut from his high school team because he wasn't good enough. History would have been very different if he had let "failure" stop him from working hard at what he wanted to do. Practice patience. Practice failure. Practice. Practice. Practice.

There are two kinds of motivation: motivating others, and motivating yourself. They are very different beasts, but tame them and you will succeed.

In truth, there is only self-motivation. Motivating others is simply creation of an environment in which they can become self-motivated.

Shouting at an employee; using a stick to beat work out of your workers; threatening them with loss of privilege, benefits or job are tactics all too often used in corporate world. They may well provide short-term motivation, but they are negative. Resentment will grow, attitudes will decline, threats will get louder, and spiral will continue downward. Institutionalized negativity can never produce long-term positive results.

Institutionalized positivity, however, is like 'light' taught about in Kabbalah. It is a glorious force that is all-pervading. It has a power far greater than its ten little letters can begin to signify.

When boss stops saying 'If you don't finish all that pile by 5pm, your job is on line', and starts saying 'Thank you for putting in extra effort on that job - it was vital to company and your contribution has been fantastic', his staff will be able to begin climb towards light of self- motivation.

Of course that is a simplistic message. Everyone has different buttons that need to be pressed. Some may want recognition, some praise, some self-determination, some material reward, some fun. An enlightened (there's that light again) manager spends time finding out what those buttons are.

'People become motivated when you guide them to source of their own power and when you make heroes out of employees who personify what you want to see in organization.' So said Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop.

But this article is really about self motivation. Your motivation and mine.

So I ask again, are you flying to stars, or staring into space?

You can easily do either. Sometimes even washing dishes seems more important and interesting than earning a buck. I've done it myself: spent all day fussing around, tidying my desk, staring out of window, reading a magazine, making coffee, checking out a website, cutting my nails. By bedtime I've achieved absolutely nothing of value at all.

What is psychological barrier to getting on with what is important?

Maybe it isn't interesting enough. Perhaps it isn't profitable enough. Could it be that it isn't fun enough?

The truth is, that at that precise moment, it just isn't important enough.

People in offices are well aware of last minute syndrome. No matter how many weeks you have to prepare for a major presentation or meeting, you will always be rushing to get it done at last minute.

We tell ourselves that we work better under pressure. That we need adrenaline kick to produce our best work. That we are so busy we wouldn't have been able to do it any earlier anyway.

All nonsense, of course.

We simply persuade our brains that job isn't really important until it is urgent.

How, then, do we make each job important enough to motivate ourselves to get on with it?