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Mr. Turak, Your work profoundly moves me. In fact, it has motivated me to try and guest work at a Trappist monastery next year as you did. Thanks for putting such good idea out there!
I’m 29 years old and I own two coffee shops and a translation company in Austin, TX. I have been a daily reader of Forbes, Fortune and Businessweek online editions for about 7 years, constantly scooping up the wisdom to be found in their pages.
Up until reading Business Secrets of the Trappists, probably my favorite article I’ve read was this one by Fortune editor Geoff Colvin about the mechanics of people achieving greatness. At the end of the article, the topic turns to what in the hell motivates those who achieve demonstrable greatness to work so hard. Then comes the following paragraph:
“The authors of one study conclude, ‘We still do not know which factors encourage individuals to engage in deliberate practice.” Or as University of Michigan business school professor Noel Tichy puts it after 30 years of working with managers, “Some people are much more motivated than others, and that’s the existential question I cannot answer – why.’”
Your monks at the Mepkin Abby could probably answer the why question. Your voice is unique in everything I’ve read and, at this point, I’ve read pretty much everything I can find by you. I applaud your work and look forward to your future articles, as they are the only business articles that have brought me to tears : )
Will you have any speaking engagements in Texas in the upcoming months? I would love to attend.
Best Regards,
Ryan McElroy
Dear Ryan, Thanks so much for your kind missive. Melissa is incredibly high on you and since I am high on Melissa you are tops in my book as well. I am so grateful that my writing has done you some good and inspired you along your own journey. I just came back from a forum on the sorry state of our educational system and I agree that it is sorry. However I think we all assume that education leads to motivation while I agree with you that motivated people seek education. I share your fascination with passion and motivation. I am just finishing up in fact a chapter to my upcoming book that says that sacrifice leads to motivation because we are all motivated to at least protect our investment. I point out that most folks think that people sacrifice for things they care about. But I am claiming that it is equally true that we care for those things we sacrifice for.
Finally I am most moved myself that you say some of my writing has moved you. This is the highest compliment I could aspire to. Thanks so much and I hope and pray we can meet in the near future. -August Turak
