The other day I was talking to someone about her children. She proudly talked about the achievements of her oldest son who is in his early 20s. She told me about his personal goal of becoming a world class chef, not just any chef, but a world
class one. He’s now working as a chef. However, in his spare time he works for world famous chefs for free, including Curtis Stone (from the Take Home Chef TV show) and Lynn Crawford (from the Restaurant Makeover TV show), two chefs I personally admire. He approached both
of these chefs and offered to work for free in their kitchens so he could immerse himself in their high calibre work environment to gain greater knowledge, skills and experience.
She then described her daughter, age 17, who wants to become a doctor. She said that her daughter spends every waking moment studying to achieve the highest marks possible. Each night the mother sets her alarm clock for 2:00 a.m. so she (the mother) can wake up and tell her daughter to stop studying.
She described her third child as laid back and laissez faire about life and work and not that focused on his career. I was glad to hear this otherwise my mother guilt for not having such high achieving children would have kicked in rather badly.
To say her two older children are motivated is an understatement. What makes them go beyond the norm is their vision of their own preferred future. They can see themselves being successful in their chosen profession and want to make it happen. Kudos to
them for latching on to one of the main drivers that motivate personal learning, a BHAG – a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal. This term was coined by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras in their book “Built to Last”. Maybe it’s more about learning motivation that lasts.
