--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All great tasks test our motivation. It's…" description: "\"All great tasks test our motivation. It's easy to court ideas over beers and change the world with napkin sketches, but like most things taken home fro..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/scott-berkun-12409_abandon_all-great-tasks-test-our-motivation-it-s_1395307.png" --- # All great tasks test our motivation. It's easy to court… ![“All great tasks test our motivation. It's easy to court ideas over beers and change the world with napkin sketches, but like most things taken home from bars, new challenges arise the next day. It's in the morning light when work begins, and grand ideas (or barroom conquests) lose their luster. To…” quote by Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/scott-berkun-12409_abandon_all-great-tasks-test-our-motivation-it-s_1395307.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/scott-berkun-12409_abandon_all-great-tasks-test-our-motivation-it-s_1395307.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce2/scott-berkun-12409_abandon_all-great-tasks-test-our-motivation-it-s_1395307.png) > “All great tasks test our motivation. It's easy to court ideas over beers and change the world with napkin sketches, but like most things taken home from bars, new challenges arise the next day. It's in the morning light when work begins, and grand ideas (or barroom conquests) lose their luster. To do interesting things requires work and it's no surprise we abandon demanding passions for simpler, easier, more predictable things.” [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Great ideas lose momentum without disciplined effort; enthusiasm must be followed by consistent work. **In simple terms:** Ideas need work to become reality. Key Takeaway Commit to daily effort beyond the initial excitement. Themes motivation creativity discipline productivity Mood reflective inspired Type motivational practical When to use this quote - project planning - creative sessions - personal development - team collaboration Key Concepts idea generation execution habit formation Questions to Reflect On - How do you turn a fleeting idea into a lasting project? - What routines keep you productive after the initial hype? A Different Perspective Passion alone is insufficient without sustained action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abandon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abandon/) [Arise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arise/) [Bars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bars/) [Beer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beer/) [Challenges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/challenges/) [Change the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-the-world/) [Changing the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/changing-the-world/) [Conquest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conquest/) [Court](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/court/) [Easier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easier/) [Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy/) [Grand Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grand-ideas-2200644/) [Great Tasks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-tasks-2437813/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Interesting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interesting/) [Interesting things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interesting-things/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Loses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loses/) [Luster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luster/) [Morning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morning/) [Morning light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morning-light/) [Motivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivation/) [Motivation Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivation-easy-4459786/) [Napkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/napkins/) [New challenges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-challenges/) [Next](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/next/) [Next day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/next-day/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) [Predictable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/predictable/) [Surprise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surprise/) [Taken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken/) [Tasks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tasks/) [Test Motivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/test-motivation-4874557/) [Tests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tests/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [For me, motivation is easy. I enjoy what I'm doing, and I'm lucky to play tennis. I enjoy the suffering. It's something quite natural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stan-wawrinka/for-me-motivation-is-easy-i-enjoy-what-i-m-doing-and-i-m-lucky-to/) [Stan Wawrinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stan-wawrinka/) > [I have great energy and I have great tasks ahead of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/i-have-great-energy-and-i-have-great-tasks-ahead-of-me/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [“So let your latest grand ideas cool off for a while first. By all means, have as many great ideas as you can. Get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-fried/so-let-your-latest-grand-ideas-cool-off-for-a-while-first-by-all/) [Jason Fried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-fried/) > [To serve grand ideas with a major work is not bad, nor is it all there's to art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/to-serve-grand-ideas-with-a-major-work-is-not-bad-nor-is-it-all-there/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [When malice has reason on its side, it looks forth bravely, and displays that reason in all its luster. When austerity and self-denial have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/when-malice-has-reason-on-its-side-it-looks-forth-bravely-and/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [It's easy to create something that has a lot of luster, but it's very hard to make something that has a lot of depth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dykstra/it-s-easy-to-create-something-that-has-a-lot-of-luster-but-it-s-very/) [John Dykstra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dykstra/) > [“She was never without dark glasses, she was always well groomed, there was a consequential good taste in the plainness of her clothes, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truman-capote/she-was-never-without-dark-glasses-she-was-always-well-groomed-there/) [Truman Capote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truman-capote/) > [The greatest mission of woman is to give life, earth-life, through honorable marriage, to the waiting spirits, our Father's spirit children who anxiously desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melvin-j-ballard/the-greatest-mission-of-woman-is-to-give-life-earth-life-through/) [Melvin J. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melvin-j-ballard/) > [The plainer the dress, the greater luster does beauty appear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-plainer-the-dress-the-greater-luster-does-beauty-appear/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Youth enters the world with very happy prejudices in her own favor. She imagines herself not only certain of accomplishing every adventure, but of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/youth-enters-the-world-with-very-happy-prejudices-in-her-own-favor/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [When you're a kid, nine times out of 10, everthing is pure depending on how you grow up. Everything is new as a kid,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corey-taylor/when-you-re-a-kid-nine-times-out-of-10-everthing-is-pure-depending-on/) [Corey Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corey-taylor/) > [I have come to light the lamp of Love in your hearts, to see that it shines day by day with added luster. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sathya-sai-baba/i-have-come-to-light-the-lamp-of-love-in-your-hearts-to-see-that-it/) [Sathya Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sathya-sai-baba/) > [“Luster, bring me home.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-coville/luster-bring-me-home/) [Bruce Coville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-coville/) > [Virtue and learning, like gold, have their intrinsic value: but if they are not polished, they certainly lose a great deal of their luster:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/virtue-and-learning-like-gold-have-their-intrinsic-value-but-if-they/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [I ne'er could any luster see in eyes that would not look on me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/i-ne-er-could-any-luster-see-in-eyes-that-would-not-look-on-me/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) ## More by Scott Berkun > [“We develop ulcers, high blood pressure, headaches, and other physical problems in part because our stress systems aren’t designed to handle the “dangers” of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/we-develop-ulcers-high-blood-pressure-headaches-and-other-physical/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [ “Human beings, who are almost unique \[among animals\] in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/human-beings-who-are-almost-unique-among-animals-in-having-the/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [“What good is something that scales well if it sucks? Why is size the ultimate goal or even a goal at all?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/what-good-is-something-that-scales-well-if-it-sucks-why-is-size-the/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [It seems that bad advice that's fun will always be better known than than good advice that's dull-no matter how useless that fun advice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/it-seems-that-bad-advice-that-s-fun-will-always-be-better-known-than/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [ When I'm the speaker, I know that special moment \[just before speaking\] is the only time I will have the entire audience's full attention.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/when-i-m-the-speaker-i-know-that-special-moment-just-before-speaking/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [“The best lesson from the myths of Newton and Archimedes is to work passionately but to take breaks. Sitting under trees and relaxing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/the-best-lesson-from-the-myths-of-newton-and-archimedes-is-to-work/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [“Defensive management is blind to recognizing how obsessing about preventing bad things also prevents good things from happening or sometimes even prevents anything from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/defensive-management-is-blind-to-recognizing-how-obsessing-about/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [I don’t want to be perfect. I want to be useful, I want to be good, and I want to sound like myself. Trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/i-don-t-want-to-be-perfect-i-want-to-be-useful-i-want-to-be-good-and/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [“I believe anyone can teach anyone anything. But I mean this in a specific sense. If you have two dedicated, reasonably intelligent people, one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/i-believe-anyone-can-teach-anyone-anything-but-i-mean-this-in-a/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [“The Greeks were so committed to ideas as supernatural forces that they created an entire group of goddesses (not one but nine) to represent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/the-greeks-were-so-committed-to-ideas-as-supernatural-forces-that/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [For centuries before Google, MIT, and IDEO, modern hotbeds of innovation, we struggled to explain any kind of creation, from the universe itself to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/for-centuries-before-google-mit-and-ideo-modern-hotbeds-of-innovation/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [No one has died from giving a bad presentation. Well, at least one person did, President William Henry Harrison, but he developed pneumonia after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/no-one-has-died-from-giving-a-bad-presentation-well-at-least-one/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [“History can’t give attention to what’s been lost, hidden, or deliberately buried; it is mostly a telling of success, not the partial failures that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/history-can-t-give-attention-to-what-s-been-lost-hidden-or/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [Good public speaking is based on good private thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/good-public-speaking-is-based-on-good-private-thinking/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [It's rare for people to genuinely try to understand what others are trying to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/it-s-rare-for-people-to-genuinely-try-to-understand-what-others-are/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) [Explore all 54 Scott Berkun quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) ## More Abandon quotes > [Humans are, as Sartre put it, 'condemned to be free'. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/humans-are-as-sartre-put-it-condemned-to-be-free-to-insist-that/) [Kenan Malik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenan-malik/) > [The purpose of a spirit filled life is to demonstrate the supernatural power of our living God so that the unsaved multitudes will abandon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-l-osborn/the-purpose-of-a-spirit-filled-life-is-to-demonstrate-the/) [T.L. Osborn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-l-osborn/) > [However, however, if the goal is to abandon America's free enterprise economy, if the goal is to convert America into a submissive member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/however-however-if-the-goal-is-to-abandon-america-s-free-enterprise/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [I would leave at once, but it would be cruel to abandon a lady in a foreign land with a maniac.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/i-would-leave-at-once-but-it-would-be-cruel-to-abandon-a-lady-in-a/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [When we fall utterly, something gathers us up. But our falling must be without reservation, without expectation, without hope, though not hopeless. You cant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/when-we-fall-utterly-something-gathers-us-up-but-our-falling-must-be/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [every subjective phenomenon is essentially connected with a single point of view, and it seems inevitable that an objective, physical theory will abandon that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/every-subjective-phenomenon-is-essentially-connected-with-a-single/) [Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/) > [Can you dissolve your ego? Can you abandon the idea of self and other? Can you relinquish the notions of male and female, short…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/can-you-dissolve-your-ego-can-you-abandon-the-idea-of-self-and-other/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Every great thing starts with an idea, followed by a doubt and finally a resolve to abandon or pursue. Victory is a treacherous journey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/every-great-thing-starts-with-an-idea-followed-by-a-doubt-and-finally/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) > [Those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/those-who-have-been-once-intoxicated-with-power-and-have-derived-any/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Do not lose hope; St. Joseph also experienced moments of difficulty, but he never lost faith and was able to overcome them, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/do-not-lose-hope-st-joseph-also-experienced-moments-of-difficulty-but/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. For after you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-dangerous-and-fateful-presumption-besides-the-absurd-temerity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Don't give up because things are hard, but work harder, when you think of giving up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/don-t-give-up-because-things-are-hard-but-work-harder-when-you-think/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) > [Sex is not the ultimate high, but the ultimate high hangs out around sex. The ultimate high is the dance with another person, played…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/sex-is-not-the-ultimate-high-but-the-ultimate-high-hangs-out-around/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [I care so deeply about this matter that I'm willing to take on the legal penalties, to sit in this prison cell, to sacrifice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-care-so-deeply-about-this-matter-that-i-m-willing-to-take-on-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I've been to unpretty places with the roles I've played, and I'm attracted to reckless abandon. I like being taken to the edge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhys-ifans/i-ve-been-to-unpretty-places-with-the-roles-i-ve-played-and-i-m/) [Rhys Ifans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhys-ifans/) [Browse all 1,142 Abandon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abandon/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All great tasks test our motivation. It's easy to court ideas over beers and change the world with napkin sketches, but like most things taken home from bars, new challenges arise the next day. It's in the morning light when work begins, and grand ideas (or barroom conquests) lose their luster. 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