Inspiriation is Long Term, Motivation Is Short.

Charlotte, NC: There are two seconds left in the game. Your team is down by one point and you have the ball out of bounds.  What do you do?  You get the ball to your best shooter, who cuts to  his sweet spot and takes the shot.  You have been playing this team for two hours.  Everyone knows who the best shooter is and everyone on the other team moves to that guy's sweet spot to " bump him off his cut". He stays on game and takes the shot, hits it and you win!

Similarly, we, in sales, often are told to make big goals. We go to conventions, seminars and sales trainings, read books and get pumped. We come back into our game, start toward our sweet spot, maybe even implement our new found techniques, and then,  life happens. We get "bumped off our cut". 

Susan Sly, one of my mentors and one of the most successful network marketers in the country, says that inspiration lasts for the long haul.  It gets you out of bed every day.  It is your reason for being and it is the thing that brings you to the point where you will do whatever it takes to fulfill the passion.  It is  long range and will last a life time.  Motivation is much like a sugar high.  You get motivated for a few days, maybe even take some action toward your goal and then you crash.  You get bumped off your cut.

Inspiration must be stronger than motivation.  It has staying power.  I have a theory that whenever you decide you are going to do something, like write a blog every day, call 20 people a day or anything that requires a commitment, all the forces in the Universe converge to prevent that from happening.   You get busy. The things you committed to start to work and you forget to keep doing them, your In-Laws come to visit, you start to run out of money and eventually steam. It is almost as if the universe is asking "Do you really want this? Let 's see how much".  Once you convince The Force that you are serious about this, you are inspired to reach your objective,  the tide changes and you will ride the crest of the wave to end result... through passion.