A story from Charging the Human Battery… 50 Ways to Motivate Yourself

"Everything that's really worthwhile in life comes to us free - our minds, our souls, our bodies, our hopes, our dreams, our intelligence, our love of family and friends and country. All of these priceless possessions are free."

~Earl Nightingale

Think about it. You can lose all of your money and start over. If your house burns down, you can rebuild it. It's the things that cost you nothing that you can never replace.

One of the most important keys to self-motivation is to clearly identify your core values in life. You must decide what matters most. Why the need to identify your values? Many people think, "I know what's important, I don't need a list to remind me." What they don't fully understand, however, is that core values often serve as critical guides for making important decisions. When you're in doubt, your core values will cut through the fog like a beacon.

We all know there are many distractions along the road of life that will try to pull us away from our values. Sometimes we are forced to make difficult choices. But a good rule of thumb is that when you have to sacrifice material possessions for one of those "free things" that life has given you...you've made the right choice.