My son and I started a training class tonight – with our dog, Lola.  My sister bought the lessons for him for his birthday; the intent being to be able to join an Agility Class once they finish the fundamental class.  Lola loves to run and we all thought  getting her in a group that runs through tunnels and over ramps would be great fun.

The trainer, Aimée, from Fetch Inc. had some words of wisdom regarding motivation that I had never thought about before.  Money or food – Like most of us, the dogs in the class have a motivator for doing the skills she was introducing, the food treats we had all brought for our dogs for rewards.

Her example was simple – most people are motivated by money to work – dogs can be best motivated by food.  Aimée said she loves her job, but if she were not getting her paycheck, chances are less she would continue to go to work every day. The money is her reward for her work.

She is absolutely right. Most people would not work if they did not get their reward – their pay. Yes, you might like it enough to continue for while, but if you weren’t being paid to work, how long would you do it.

Entrepreneurs starting out may disagree somewhat.  I think many of those starting out in business have another mitigating factor besides money -  Passion.  For the most part I think entrepreneurs are doing what they do because they love to do it, it is their passion.  They all want to be successful and make money, but is that the reason for starting out in the first place?  Probably not,  it is just another added bonus to being your own boss.

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