Quotes About Motivation

that born leaders don't fit the corporate mold, that I was destined for bigger things than hitching my wagon to someone else's star.

But, in fact, the self-help movement still divides, roughly, into two camps. There is Empowerment—broadly speaking, the idea that you are fully responsible for all you do, good and bad. And, in contrast, there is Victimization, which sells the idea that you are not responsible for what you do (at least not the bad things). Victimization and Empowerment represent the yin and the yang of the self-help movement.

Essentially there are two actions in life: Performance and excuses. Make a decision as to which he will accept from yourself.

Figure out what people really care about, not what they say they care about.

There are three basic flavours of incentive: economic, social and moral.

With any problem, it's important to figure out which incentives will actually work, not just what your moral compass tells you should work.

I don't expect perfection, I expect excellence." I expect 100 percent effort in all you do.

What Do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common?

Just because you're at the office is no reason to stop thinking.

People aren't "good" or "bad." People are people, and they respond to incentives. They can nearly always be manipulated—for good or ill—if only you find the right levers.

There are three basic flavors of incentive: economic, social, and moral.

Never, ever think that people will do something just because it is the "right" thing to do.

People are complicated creatures, with a nuanced set of private and public incentives, and that our behavior is enormously influenced by circumstances.

How are you supposed to get everyone to pull in the same direction when they are all pulling primarily for themselves?

Los incentivos constituyen la piedra angular de la vida moderna.

No CEO in the world, therefore, is so delusional as to expect his employees to show up every day and work hard for no money. But there is one gigantic workforce asked to do exactly that. In the United States alone, they number nearly 60 million. Who is this massive, underpaid throng? Schoolchildren.

Here's a guess: anybody who bothers to change his name in the name of economic success is—like the high-school freshmen in Chicago who entered the school-choice lottery—at least highly motivated, and motivation is probably a stronger indicator of success than, well, a name.

A person who is lying or cheating will often respond to an incentive differently than an honest person.

namely, how much kids have learned from their parents, how hard they work at home, and whether the parents have instilled an appetite for education. If these home

Steven D. Levitt

La gente no es «buena» ni «mala». Las personas son personas y responden a incentivos. Casi siempre pueden ser manipuladas —para bien o para mal— si se encuentran las palancas adecuadas.

ofrecer a los donantes de órganos incentivos como «amnistía fiscal, seguro de enfermedad garantizado, becas universitarias para sus hijos, depósitos en sus cuentas de jubilación, etcétera.»

We associate truth with convenience," he wrote, "with what most closely accords with self-interest and personal well-being or promises best to avoid awkward effort or unwelcome dislocation of life. We also find highly acceptable what contributes most to self-esteem.

An incentive is simply a means of urging people to do more of a good thing and less of a bad thing.