That's why I can't motivate you. For years, we've been attempting to motivate with contests, cash awards, trophies and prizes. But have you noticed that the same people always win the contests? Why?

Because motivation is internal. People are gonna do what they're gonna do.

Trophies don't do much for me. Honestly, neither does money. But you run a contest that sends me to the Caribbean, where a driver will meet me at the airport and drive me to a resort in a sedan that looks like I'm the President or something; where I'm treated like I'm Oprah freakin' Winfrey, and I'll kill myself to make that trip.

That's why we do varied contests. The trophies and the cash and the trips appeal to people differently. We're not trying to motivate you. We're trying to inspire your internal motivator. See the difference?

That's why I write books and columns and travel the country to speak to salespeople. I'm hoping to say something that will inspire your internal motivator; something that will make you look at a topic a little differently.

It's also why I often tell audiences, “You don't have to read my stuff, but you better read someone's.” We never know which book, audio, video or live talk is going to inspire our internal motivators, so we have to go after all of it.