What pushes you to see beyond what’s right in front of you? What pushes you to not be satisfied with the status quo? What makes you act?

You might read this and feel that I’m referring to motivation. I’m not necessarily talking about motivation. It's that extra nudge that forces you to look beyond, to go where it may seem a little uncomfortable.

Let’s look more into what I mean by this.

I consider myself to be an extremely motivated person. I think this stems from growing up, my father was a janitor and bus driver. He always told me I didn’t want to have his job. He wanted me to go to college, get a degree, and get a decent job. I took note of this and strived to do more.

I’m also motivated in other aspects of my life. My wife and kids mean everything to me. I want to be the best father and husband I possibly can for them. In terms of my career, I am motivated to learn as much as possible, to work with new technologies, and to partner with businesses as their technology partner/consultant to help their business succeed. When it comes to my career, motivation has never been an issue.

What I've discovered is you can be motivated but still accept the status quo. I'm guilty of this. Going back to my roots, my father worked for the same school district for 25+ years. He told me to do right by the company and in return, the company would do right by me. Due to this, I've been extremely loyal and tended to want to stay at every company I've worked at for a long time.

This is why I'm writing this. Throughout my career, I've needed an extra push. I've needed that little extra nudge to act. My wife has provided that for me. She's been there throughout my career offering not only support, but an outside perspective and not allowing me to make excuses. She's held me accountable in scenarios where I've been unfulfilled and stagnant. Due to this, I've been able to take calculated risks and ultimately land my current job, which in many ways, is my "dream job".

So, I ask you- What pushes you? Maybe it’s a family member, maybe it’s a significant other or a colleague. Maybe it’s not someone. Perhaps it's an outside force in your life that requires you to act.