Penelope Trunk

OCTOBER 29, 2009

It's really dangerous to think there are vastly different motivators in the non-profit world. You'll notice that in the for-profit world, in the new workplace, money is not a key motivator. I'd like to add one idea from a mentor of mine, who led big organizations in both sectors. Salesforce.com rocks!

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Penelope Trunk

MAY 6, 2010

It’s the best way to have a meaningful conversation and it’s the best way to rope in a mentor or look like a star performer. I think it's important to not make people feel bad or stupid when they ask questions – intimidation doesn't motivate learning. That rings true to me. Good questions require creative thinking.

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Penelope Trunk

SEPTEMBER 13, 2010

Posted by Steve C on September 13, 2010 at 12:49 pm | permalink | Reply I think video games are quite educational as motivators. I am a speech language pathologist as well as an evil mother and those motivators make learning seem not only fun, but necessary. " Pokemon = math. Then they are geniuses.

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Penelope Trunk

JULY 9, 2010

Posted by Red on July 10, 2010 at 8:38 am | permalink | Reply Penelope, you've made some good points re: the LeBron saga and what motivated him to relocate; perhaps when those in Cleveland and elsewhere take a break from burning his uni, they might consider what they themselves would do in a similar situation. I think I agree.

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Penelope Trunk

MARCH 9, 2010

By the time you're close, you are so motivated to get there that it doesn't feel like work at all. When we see the big triumph its easy to get all motivated, but small things are which we need to keep on doing inspite of them being the most difficult to do. I think the most important thing is motivation and encouragement.

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Penelope Trunk

SEPTEMBER 29, 2010

ALSO on your sexy new wallpaper: - you can add prints of art that inspires you - make the kids feel proud by posting their latest artwork within the frames - write in inspirational quotes to stay motivated - risk adding some drawings of your own, lightly, in pencil or something else that can be changed on a whim Posted by Van on September 29, 2010 (..)

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Penelope Trunk

SEPTEMBER 17, 2010

I'm starting to see posts that seem to suggest that motivation should be all stick, no carrot. By doing so you can motivate to produce even superb results. A vague compliment tells you nothing; a specific one tells you what to do more of. Similarly, a vague criticism is meaningless, while a specific one tells you what to correct.

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Penelope Trunk

JULY 29, 2010

Ryan Paugh , who was basically my intern when I met him , and now he's almost my boss and definitely my social-skills mentor , tells me that I am popular because I'm interesting but that I suck at self-promotion. (He After a year there, one of the senior partners approached me and asked if he could be my mentor. I asked why.

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Penelope Trunk

AUGUST 23, 2010

And sure, your alienation and that frustrating loss of direction and motivation hurts just as much physical pain does, and gets in the way of better intentions. You see, I had found my Soul, and for the first time in my life, I knew, Everything IS as it should be. And so I agree with Amy Parmenter. You’ll find your way Home, Penelope.

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Penelope Trunk

DECEMBER 29, 2009

Thanks for the reminder and motivation. Then, like a bolt out of the blue, I decided that this time, I'd make a list of phrases beginning with the words, "I want to…" It really helped me focus on what my motivations were for the changes I wanted to make. Great post.

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Penelope Trunk

DECEMBER 11, 2009

Posted by Kevins Promotional Products on December 14, 2009 at 1:55 pm | permalink | Reply As someone alluded to above – if you pay for a gym and you value money – that may be a great motivator. I recently recieved a free 6 month membership when I leased a car from my dealer – and I use it religiously.

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Penelope Trunk

MARCH 16, 2010

They may even give you the motivation needed to finally get that A project done. I'm stuck and nothing truly motivates me anymore. I have motivational issues when I am doing tedious things but when I am doing my work that I love, I have no problems. I try not to live or work by too many rules like this. " D A M N.

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Penelope Trunk

DECEMBER 15, 2009

The best and wisest question anyone ever asked me happened when I was flailing about worrying about something, and a mentor asked me: "What's the worst thing that can happen?" " And I told him. And he said, "Okay, and if that happens, what will you do about it?"

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Penelope Trunk

OCTOBER 27, 2009

Be sure about your motives though. And yes, I would bring a man flowers, but never to 'buy him' - my motives are and have always been to bring a smile to the receiving person's face, something that will make THEM feel happy/happier. You don't owe a woman (or anybody else on this planet for that matter) anything.

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Penelope Trunk

DECEMBER 1, 2009

Then get a GPS.

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Penelope Trunk

OCTOBER 15, 2010

People think their work situation is so complicated and I have to understand all the motivators. He tells me that I have a problem and I need to get over it. I get a lot of emails that read like the post I’m writing.

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Penelope Trunk

APRIL 15, 2010

It is quite difficult to motivate me on a Sunday but you have me thinking hard and reading like crazy. Amy Posted by @decoralora on April 18, 2010 at 9:32 am | permalink | Reply Sent here by another Canadian blogger and looks like I might be here for days and days… no wonder you have 40,0000 subscribers.

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Penelope Trunk

FEBRUARY 1, 2010

I needed the motivation! For some reason, your voice seems to get through to her much better and smoother than mine on topics like frugality etc. : ) She totally looks up to you as a mentor! I try to tell people, everyone has the same 24 hours in a day. Choose how you spend the time wisely! You can't get it back.

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Penelope Trunk

DECEMBER 8, 2009

And each of your break-ups has been motivated by fear of this growth and change, rather than by nastiness or gossip. We play hide and seek with our own motives. Awareness of every single motive, of all the biological/physiological mechanisms and sensory signals bombarding us would paralyze our capacity to act decisively.

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Penelope Trunk

JANUARY 8, 2010

It is the motivating factor to get up by not having the morning routine. But remember, your sons don't care about getting out the door on-time so you'll have to motivate them some other way. A great site and motivator is [link] Read her free site and some of her "baby steps" concepts to get on the right track.

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Penelope Trunk

AUGUST 5, 2010

To contrast what some the other comments, I too believe that being self-employed is MUCH better than having a job because that's my personality to be self-motivated and I saw large flaws in some of the traditional job systems. There is far too much snark in our culture on this matter. Posted by Mark W.

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Penelope Trunk

OCTOBER 12, 2009

I spend days dreaming up the perfect question for my mentor who I haven’t spoken to in a month. Posted by Jacqueline on October 12, 2009 at 1:45 pm | permalink | Reply "I spend days dreaming up the perfect question for my mentor who I haven’t spoken to in a month. The question that generates an answer you can’t cope with.

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Penelope Trunk

MAY 30, 2010

thanks for all your inspiration and motivation. Posted by Michelle on June 1, 2010 at 3:26 pm | permalink | Reply TRANSITION – you have a lot on your plate. the needlepoint sounds a little frantic, but hell, we've all been there too. your talent is not in question, you help tons of people.

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Penelope Trunk

NOVEMBER 24, 2009

A lot of us spend way too much time trying to mind-read to figure out what motivates the crazy normal people around us…which is distracting and depressing. It is what it is…admit that and find ways to deal with it.

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Penelope Trunk

NOVEMBER 30, 2009

The way that Tamara Lowe explains Motivational DNA is actually very nice, as the two core drivers of Producers versus Connectors assimilate to to some pieces of being an introvert or extrovert. The best hiring situations that I've mediated are ones in which a personality (or behavioral psychology) test is utilized.

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Penelope Trunk

DECEMBER 28, 2009

A Valentine for my husband Teaching old tropes new tricks: Community-building with a 21st-century twist Comments (24) Leave a Comment It's tempting to look to the number "1" as a motivation to start fresh and get things in order. That's fine if it works for you. Real life doesn't usually work like that.

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Penelope Trunk

JANUARY 28, 2010

I want to be more diligent about finding a mentor to help me grow, outside of my supervisor. We meet many in our lives that can become our coaches or mentors, for longer or shorter periods of time. This brings to mind an article in a Men's Health I read regarding Intrinsic Motivation. Ask for feedback from people you trust.

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Penelope Trunk

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

We are barely 30 and are desperate and motivated to be where we want and to have what we want. Posted by Richard Sher on November 4, 2009 at 9:23 am | permalink | Reply Penelope, My mother, chris keller, forwarded your blog to me and I read it out loud to my husband, danny, yesterday.

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Penelope Trunk

JANUARY 6, 2010

Don't hide what really motivates you; secretive people are not likable. Why are they so motivated to control him and his decisions? And he loves watching me do it, but he’s horrified to realize that there are a million versions of every story, and the person with the big blog audience gets extra weight for her story.

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Penelope Trunk

NOVEMBER 17, 2009

There are no bad bosses The easiest instructions for how to start a blog Comments (66) Leave a Comment Good question/ test to check how relevant the original motivation(s) is(are)! Our best literature was written by people with nothing to lose and a voracious internal motivation to communicate their take on the world with written words.

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Penelope Trunk

JANUARY 13, 2010

If you inspire someone to do a good job you've internally motivated them and they'll likely exceed your expectations. If you order someone to do a good job, they likely will (if they're capable) but do no more, being externally motivated. I published a book in 2002 entitiled "Leading People from the Middle."

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Penelope Trunk

FEBRUARY 15, 2010

The most resonant piece of career advice I was ever given was by my very successful (male) mentor: "You'll have to make sacrifices – big sacrifices – but if anything ever makes you sacrifice your spouse or your future children, then it's not worth it." Just a thought.

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Penelope Trunk

JANUARY 14, 2010

I've done a fair amount of reading on happiness, but when it comes down to doing the simple activities that various books suggest to increase your level of happiness (spend 10 minutes each night writing down what you're grateful for, for example), I can never motivate myself to do it.

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Penelope Trunk

DECEMBER 22, 2009

You are trying to motivate people to do the impossible and some "genius" is pulling the carpet out from under you. Not only was it not OTT, it was mature, kind & mentor-y. On being positive… Hang out with some "negative" people. You know, the ones who see all the problems. So thank you for that.)

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Penelope Trunk

FEBRUARY 11, 2010

" I think a lot of writers start out with essentially selfish motives (I know I did), which is a fine or at least okay way to start out; but if you want anyone else to actually read what you write, much less to pay for the privilege, your writing obviously has to give them something they want.

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Penelope Trunk

OCTOBER 18, 2009

You are right that we are more motivated to write because of the interaction and get motivated to write better because we have an audience to project to. I do not agree, however, about the type of writing which in some cases are a little informal like offensive words often used by a lot of young generation.

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Penelope Trunk

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

But then, when I told one of my mentors that I’m not good at sales, he said, “Of course you’re good at sales. Your passion will motivate you because motivation is driven by emotion. For example, I’m an open book—I have very little ability to bluff or play my hand close to my—actually, what is that expression?

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