Hi Dien. WOW! The man of action award to you sir.

> I've been reading through the book,
> "The Path of Least Resistance for
> Managers" lately....

> Duane Adolph recommended "The Path of
> Least Resistance" by Robert Fritz
> further down the forum, but the bookstore I
> went to only had the "managerial"
> one, so I got that! (I borrowed the original
> from the library last night, so I'm going to
> read both.....)

I'd read the non management one first.

> I think Robert Fritz seems to answer very
> well the question of - how do you motivate
> yourself? To him, it all boils down to one
> thing, which he calls "structural
> tension".

> Picture where it is you want to be. Do you
> want independence? Wealth? To live in the
> countryside? Whatever your goal is, get it
> clear in your mind.

> Then, start to think of, where are you now
> in relation to that goal? Get a clear and
> realistic picture of where you are now in
> relation to that goal.

> For example, maybe your overall goal is to
> have $200,000 in property with no debt
> within 3 years. And perhaps right now, you
> own no property. These are clear statements
> of where you want to be, and where you are
> now.

> Robert Fritz says it is the
> "tension" between these two things
> - where you want to be, contrasted with
> where you are now - that underlies your
> motivation. It is important to get these TWO
> elements clear.

> Where this differs from, say, the
> "goal" system of "Think And
> Grow Rich" is the statement that you
> also must have a clear idea of where you are
> NOW. It is the clear difference between the
> two which will propel you forward!

> I've used this approach before, but it
> wasn't as clear in my mind what I was doing
> until I read Robert Fritz's explanation of
> it. Based on my experience, and my recent
> "small scale" tests, I believe it
> does work. It is an ideal way to propel you
> to where you want to go!

> By the way, I also want to point out that
> this idea is essentially embedded in Gordon
> Alexander's "Square One Workshops"
> - for those who have been here a while. As
> part of the "Square One
> Workshops", Gordon has you show
> pictorially where you are NOW, and where you
> want to be (your goal).

> Another excellent point Robert Fritz makes
> is the difference between DREAMERS and
> CREATORS. "Dreamers" are not
> grounded in the "real world" -
> they do not have a clear and realistic
> notion of where they are NOW.
> "Creators" however, are realists -
> they have a clear conception of where they
> are NOW, where they want to go, and how they
> will get there.

> So, THINK about these two questions:

> 1. What do you want? What are your goals?

> 2. Where are you NOW, realistically?

> The "tension" between these two
> will motivate you in the right direction....
> Keep them BOTH in the forefront of your
> mind!

> There's more to add, and I'll write more on
> this later.... Thanks to Duane for pointing
> out these great books to me! Get yourself a
> copy of one or the other of them, from your
> book store or library....

> - Dien Rice