In this episode, Tom Bilyeu—co-founder of Quest Nutrition, the second-fastest-growing private company in North America—discusses how your perspective in life can play an important role in how you approach your work, your successes, your failures, and yourself.

This is especially true when it comes to an all too familiar kind of incentive.

What’s your motivation in life?
Ask yourself these questions: Why do you apply for jobs? Why do you work? Why do you do what you do at work even if it’s not something you don’t actually enjoy? Of course, we all know the answer to these questions—you do it all for the money. After all, you need to earn, don’t you?

Now, is there anything wrong with that? Of course not. We all need money because almost everything we do results in spending money. Driving your car, buying groceries, or even watching TV needs money. Simply existing already costs us money.

So why are we talking about your motivation in working? Believe it or not, your mindset when it comes to money does play an important role in your journey to true success. You see, money is useful in so many ways, but by no means should it be your end goal in life.

There is more to life than money. Think about it. There are people out there with millions or even billions in their bank accounts, yet somehow they still don’t feel happy at all.

In fact, the number of rich people committing suicide is, as Tom put it—bananas!

It should be more than money.

So, what exactly is success? Is it having all the money in the world to do whatever you want? Or is it finding something that you love doing, so that even when the money doesn’t come, you are still willing to do it every single day? To Tom, that is true success.

What’s keeping people from doing what they love doing? What’s keeping you from pursuing your passion? Well, Tom stated that there could be two factors at play:
People’s perspective on money, and your perspective of yourself.

A lot of people would still view money as a curse rather than a gift. This leads to something Tom and I mentioned, called wealth shaming. It is when people who want to get rich or are already rich are shunned by the average person.

It’s all about a positive perspective.

Remember, no matter what anyone says, only you know yourself the best. Don’t let people’s negative perceptions on money hold you back. It’s not just that. Even if the whole world is working against you, don’t focus on that because it won’t help you. Focus on the fact that you are strong enough to overcome even the craziest obstacles.

Here are some reminders to help you have a more positive perspective when it comes to yourself and your goals in life:

• Money is just a resource.
  • As we said earlier, money is not the end goal. It’s only a means to reach your goals. So don’t focus too much on making money.
  • No matter what people say about having money, it’s what you do with it that matters. You can either do something dumb with it, or you can do something amazing with it.

• Focus on what empowers you.
  • Tom said “I’m not as concerned with what’s true as I am with what’s empowering.”
  • People can say whatever they want to put you down. No matter what they say, focus on the things that will help motivate you pursue your dreams.
  • Because you can, you have the power to see yourself however you want to be. So why not see yourself as the next big success story?

• You’re never too old to learn new tricks.
  • A lot of people would give up on their dreams because they believe it’s already too late for them.
  • On the contrary, it’s never too late. No matter how old you are or where you are in life, there’s always room for new things for you to learn.

• Break out of your comfort zone.
  • Most people give up when the going gets tough. They’re forgetting that true success comes to those who are willing to do the things others aren’t willing to do.
  • Don’t tolerate mediocrity. It will only lead you into a downward spiral of regret.
  • Don’t wait until you’ve fallen into a life of mediocrity to finally act. You alone have the choice to do what you need to do and when to do it.

• Failure is always a learning opportunity
  • Never be afraid of failure, as Tom explains: Failure is the biggest streams of information. There you will learn what you did wrong, what you did right, what to change, and what to maintain.

“The struggle is guaranteed, the success is not. So find the thing that in of and itself brings you joy, brings you fulfillment even though it’s hard as hell and you have to earn something everyday.” – Tom Bilyeu

There was a lot discussed in this episode we would love to talk about in more detail, but why not listen to the full episode instead? You are sure to pick up on some inspirational advice from Tom if you do.

We want to know, what’s your motivation in life?