Why do we do what we do?

I am sure we all are fed up of people trying to motivate us, trying to make us do the things we don’t really like to and sometimes even go to the extent of the thought to shun these ‘motivational speakers’. But something I find amazing is the simplicity in which everything lies, the most basic questions which define us. Introducing one of the most fascinating speakers I have ever encountered – Anthony Robbins. Presenting a video of his where he talks about the very basics which defines the fibre of who we are.

One of the top motivational speakers of all time, the man who trained Andre Agassi and also was an advisor to the president of US, talks about a few things which really define us. Here are a few excerpts from his talk.

1) I am the WHY guy! I want to know why you are doing something, I want to know the “motive for your action”, what is that drives you, that defines you, that makes you do what you want to do!

2) All of us here are great minds, most of us are, we can make everything happen. We don’t work in our self interest at all times, but there is something that drives us, what is it?

3) How many of you have failed to achieve something significant in life? What are the top reasons they give for not achieving something? – Time, money, technology…. All these may be right, very well justified reasons, but they are not the defining factors. The missing thing is never the RESOURCES, it is THE RESOURCEFULNESS!

If this doesn’t interest you in the video – How about this – It has had 68 lakh views so far :)


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Vinay Nagaraju

Product Director with 10+ years in leadership roles - team building, product strategy, coaching and mentoring are a part of my everyday responsibilities. I write about motivational words that inspire us and shape our thinking and help us go beyond these thoughts to find what our minds are telling us and evolve.

This Post Has 10 Comments

  1. The answer to the question no. 2: Human beings are motivated by desire and greed. Nothing else. If we don’t do something significant, it’s because we are in a $satisfying$ job.

    1. Vinay Nagaraju

      Perhaps! But I think we are also motivated by the desire to connect to people, of fulfillment, of creativity, the delight in seeing someone smile… There are plenty of things that can get us inspired at any moment of time.

      I do agree the role of $, greed as motivators, but the question is – Is that all? And if the answer is YES, are we not missing a few things? Or are we not acknowledging a few! ?!

      1. No. Greed & desire is all. We want to connect with other people because that makes us happy. We want to be creative because it makes us happy. We want to see someone smile because it makes us happy. Even the so called ‘social workers’ do it because they get fulfillment by contributing towards causes.

        I am not saying all this is wrong, but I am just observing the world truthfully, without the colored glasses of ‘goodness’, ‘selfless’, etc.

        I left another important point – we want to dominate everyone and everything around us. That is another important human motivator, though we don’t always get to do it.

        1. Vinay Nagaraju

          That’s perhaps one way of looking at it. In a black and white world where we are labeling something as greed/desire I agree this perfectly balances the thought. I would certainly side by the thought that there can be a multitude of things which can inspire people right from passion, zeal, the spirit, the sense of achievement, the fulfilment and they can be considered Desire if one wants. But it does take the shine out of it.

          I certainly agree with you, there is nothing called a free service and there is always a take away. But when doing this if the result is a global good, I would side with it no matter how selfish or desirable it sounds! Of course we are all driven by the desire of pleasure and the propensity to avoid pain which is extremely natural. But I think to paint the world in greed and desire might be a focused frame as opposed to the broader realities. The idea of an objective world need not be wrong but it need not be right either. Given a choice I would pick the side of subjectivity cos there are a lot of options there ;)

          And as for domination is concerned, I am afraid that I have a complete opposite view. I think it is a very short lived emotion, the feel of dominating people or the feel of power has a very low standing compared to responsibility and ownership. Domination alone has never worked in the world, even hitler had a very short success range with that domination if he is considered the best example in that front! I don't think there is enough motivation in trying to put people down. That way one never grows beyond his/her limitations and ends up making his world much smaller. He may end up feeling happy and probably even motivated to a certain extent but certainly a very shortlived way to go ahead!

          1. Destination Infinity

            I didn’t say that desire or greed is a bad thing. My tone might have indicated that, but basically you assumed it was bad.

            There are two sides to every coin.

          2. Vinay Nagaraju

            Well Rajesh, I would still say I didn't assume a side to it, all I am saying is it certainly is more subjective than it looks :)

    1. Vinay Nagaraju

      Aah, haven’t heard of him.. Will check it out. Thank you for the referral :)

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