Chandler Steve - 100 Ways To Motivate Yourself

When Bob Dylan wrote in his book Chronicles about how much he admired Joan Baez before he met her, he said, Id be scared to meet her. I didnt want to meet her but I knew I would. I was going in the same direction even though I was in back of her at the moment. She had the fire, and I felt I had the same kind of fire.

We dont question what he means by the fire. We read on, knowing full well what he means. But sometimes I wonder, though. Do we really? Do we know it from experience? Do we feel the same fire? Do you have to be a poet or a singer? No. We all know what it is to have that same fire, no matter how briefly we have experienced it.

My own lifes turning point came when I discovered I could light that fire all by myself. It took me more than 50 years to discover this. But Im slow in these matters. You can get it today if you want. For the first 50 years of my life I thought the fire only happened when something inspired me. It was something that had to happen to me. And the reason I believed that was because that was my experience. You have to go by what you know, dont you?

The funniest thing about fire is that it takes fire to light it.

I go to the fireplace to start a fire. I put crumpled-up newspaper under the kindling. Then I put the logs over the kindling wood. But how do I start this fire? I need a match. Or a lighter. You have to have fire to start a fire. Ironic? Paradoxical? Counterintuitive? Cruel hoax?

A friend of mine once said, Youre on fire! He was referring to the fact that Id just sent him a flurry of book ideas, written copy for things we were selling, recorded audio programs, and a number of other activities and actions.

How did I set myself on fire? With fire.

One action led to another and I wasnt afraid to rise early and work. I made myself exercise. I devoted myself to work instead of allowing distraction. Work (as it always does when you throw your entire self into it) soon became fun.

Playwright Noel Coward said, Work is more fun than fun.

It is when you do it. It is not fun when you think about it. Especially when you think about it ahead of time.

To light a fire you need a fire. Rubbing two sticks together creates enough friction and heat to produce a spark and then a flame that you can put into the bigger fire.

It is the same process for yourself. Getting into action whether you feel like action or not is like rubbing two sticks together. Do you think the sticks felt like being rubbed together? Do you ever see them do it on their own?

Since its first printing in 1996, this little book has enjoyed a success I never imagined. During its first 18 years of sales, we have seen the emergence of the Internet as the worlds primary source of information. People have not only been buying this book on the Internet, but theyve been posting their reviews. Whats wonderful about Internet bookstores is that they feature reviews by regular people, not just professional journalists who need to be witty, cynical, and clever to survive.

One such reviewer of 100 Ways in its original edition was Bubba Spencer from Tennessee. He wrote: Not a real in-depth book with many complicated theories about how to improve your life. Mostly, just good tips to increase your motivation. A should read if you want to improve any part of your life.

Bubba gave this book five stars, and I am more grateful to him than to any professional reviewer. He says I did what I set out to do:

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, thats creativity.

Charles Mingus, legendary jazz musician