Dereck,

Good questions. For me, reading growth oriented material is a consistent source of motivation.  There are a lot of quality growth oriented books out there.  John Maxwell is a good starting point , IMO. It is pretty straightforward in regards to principles and practice.  You can get a reading app on a tablet and get many books real cheap. You can also use a library account and get them for free with a time limit. If you go to actionablebooksdotcom (I have no affiliation, BTW) you can explore tons of books that you might find motivating. Good luck.