Most people have heard of the captain of a ship or the captain of a team. But have you ever heard of Captain of the World? Have you ever worked for someone or lived with someone who acted like the Captain of the World? Maybe you, yourself, are holding down that job right now. 
 
If you are the Captain of the World, you are very big on rules and on maintaining your particular brand of order. Words like "should," "have to," "ought to," and "must," show up often in your speech. For instance, on your way home tonight or in the parking lot of your local shopping mall, try to be aware of your "inside the car" conversation when faced with traffic challenges!
 
You find that everywhere you look, everywhere you go, you run into inefficiency, incompetence, and people with annoying habits and inconsistencies. Thank goodness they have you around to tell them how to do it right! 
 
Now, you know I'm being facetious, because no one ever feels thankful that there's a Captain of the World around. In fact, they usually resent it and will often find ways to sabotage the Captain or do things to deliberately shake things up. 
 
You see, people just don't do well when all they hear is, "You have to." This is called restrictive motivation. It's based on fear of what happens if you don't do something. While it may work for a while, it usually backfires. 
 
So if you really want to motivate others and win their respect, resign your job as the Captain in charge of changing the world, effective immediately. Instead, take a look at what you might change in yourself to make the world a happier place. It just might be the ultimate gift for this holiday season...