Motivation is a natural part of human nature. Everyone has a natural drive to achieve and express themselves. However, the interesting thing about human nature is that, despite the fact that the human being is the highest order of creation in this material world, people can back off and voluntarily self-destruct.

Your natural drive must be supported by self-development to make it strong and functional. Human nature is like a plant in many fundamental ways. A plant has the nature to grow and flourish. To do that, you need cultivation of the external environment. The nature of a plant and the environment work together to allow the plant to mature to its full potential.

In human nature, drive and natural cultivation work in fundamentally the same way to allow the human person to mature and reach their full potential. In people, unlike plants, we have the ability to consciously choose our goals and the potential we want to develop.

Coach Phil Jackson took over as head coach of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls in 1989. Coach Jackson was motivated to be a coach from the beginning. It was his self-development program that helped him achieve his dreams of coaching greatness.

In his book, SACRED HOOPS, in the Introduction he says: “When I was appointed head coach of the Chicago Bulls in 1989, my dream was not just to win championships, but to do it in a way that intertwined my two great passions: basketball and exploration. spiritual “. Coach Jackson has, to date, 11 NBA championships, more than any other NBA coach in history.

His drive to succeed as an NBA coach was backed by his passion for spiritual exploration, a path of development and cultivation. Many of his players questioned his methods and resisted his cultivation practices, but the results achieved by those methods tell a story of their own. Even Michael Jordan, one of the main beneficiaries of Coach Jackson’s methods, was of the opinion that “he didn’t need all that Zen stuff.”

Player, Michael Jordan was motivated to be the best NBA player of his time and win NBA championships. He outscored most of his teammates in games on and off during his seven-year NBA career before winning his first championship with Coach Jackson. There is no doubt that Coach Jackson’s cultivation influences helped Michael achieve the success he pursued for so many years.

Michael Jordan had to grow and develop to become a member of a functioning organizational unit before winning his first championship. Before winning his first championship under his belt, he approached coach Jackson and told him that he could be a star player in every game, but that was not producing championships. When he performed his “magic,” the other players on the team would stand and watch what was hurting the overall productivity of the team.

Together, coach Jackson and Michael Jordan embarked on a developmental course to change the culture of individualism that permeated the Chicago Bulls team and replace it with a culture of team unity and cooperation among its members to maximize the team’s full potential. In that new culture, all team members, including Michael Jordan, would be responsible for performing their respective assignments and roles. Individual statistics would no longer be the yardstick against which each player’s performance would be judged.

Michael Jordan, like the rest of the players on the Bulls team, had to learn new ways of thinking and behaving. That required development and growth. It was not easy. It was hard work, but it paid off in the results that coach Jackson, Michael and the rest of the team wanted.

What would have happened to the motivation to excel if no championship was one of coach Jackson and Michael in particular? What would have happened without a consistent self-development and cultivation program for the entire team? There is one thing for sure, and that is that failure breeds failure. And, when failure becomes the norm, motivation to excel declines.

Hopefully, you will see the connection between human drive and cultivation. One without the other is a lonely island, unable to maximize its potential. If you see the connection, you can apply these principles to achieve your dreams in business, marketing, sports, and in any area of ​​human life.