Jason Kelce quoted his offensive line coach towards the end of an emotional retirement speech. He talked about missing his time as the underdog. Life is often more straightforward when you have something to prove. When you achieve success, you have to keep motivated by finding new doubters to prove wrong. Fortunately, there is almost always one waiting for you when you look in the mirror.
When you aren’t hungry anymore, it is time to move on. That was one of the reasons I left technical engineering work. I wasn’t hungry anymore and I had the good fortune to be running with some fast dogs. I feel incredibly fortunate to have found a new hunger motivating me to be the best manager and organizational leader I can be. In the words of The Boss, “I am just about starving tonight”. I mean that in the best way imaginable.
The desire to prove what we are capable of is an intrinsic motivation. Most of the time the work that builds toward completing a challenging goal is more rewarding than achieving the goal itself. We climb the mountain because it is there.
“Why must I feel like that? Why must I chase the cat? Nothin’ but the dog in me.” Atomic Dog – Parliament Funkadelic.