An expression one of my old tutors used when describing students who had experienced troubled childhoods. Also the title of my first blog back in 2009. I know; whilst I established Robertson Fox 3 years earlier it took me a while to warm up to blogging!

The first few attempts weren’t that inspiring either, as I struggled to find an authentic writing style or, for that matter, topics I wanted to write about on a regular basis. Producing articles became something I aspired to do; and a task that I was encouraged to embrace by the marketing specialist I work with.

Then 12 months ago something clicked for me and writing has become something I enjoy doing. Without doubt, my motivation came from client requests originally; I needed to know this was going to be a worthwhile use of my time. Since then, it’s taken on a life of its own and has become a routine part of my working week.

This experience reiterates for me the importance of finding personal motivation in all aspects of your work. Without that, we’re unlikely to complete the task at hand; or we’ll do so half-heartedly and produce a result that is not entirely satisfactory.

So, let me ask you: What are you ‘threatening’ to do because you think you should and what ‘could you do’ to make a positive outcome more likely?