Last weekend, as I was clearing clutter, I found a copy of H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine. As I thumbed through it, I recalled that Wells, in his future world, describes man’s descendants as evolving into two distinct species: the Eloi and the Morlock. The Eloi live in an Eden-like setting where their food and clothing are provided for them by the Morlock. The catch is that the Morlock harvest and eat the Eloi at night. These creatures are Wells’ metaphor for the division of English society. I see them as metaphors for the concepts of motivation.

If you’re living in the Garden of Eden, you have no motivation to till the soil. When you can reach and take what you need, you’re not going to become more productive, fit, thin, smart, or anything. You’re a happy and content couch potato.

Motivation is all about how uncomfortable you are. The phrase, “Get out of your comfort zone,” is so overused that it has lost its power. And, yet... it still holds an incredible gem of truth.

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