Motivation At Work
Why Bother With Motivation At Work?
Often when we talk about success and motivation, the main suggestion is that you start your own business and make your fortune that way. For many people, starting a business isn’t practical, so we should always consider motivation at work for people who don’t plan on starting a business.
The first and most important point is that motivation at work isn’t something that you should be waiting for or expecting that it will be provided by other people. Self motivation is the only effective long term plan because after a while it just comes naturally.
So how do we get to that level of self motivation where we just become a naturally motivated person and more importantly, how do we apply that to our level of motivation at work?
Motivation At Work – Be Satisfied
The first step is to be happy with what you already have and where you already are. If you aren’t able to be happy with what you already have then you’ll probably never be happy, because you will always be chasing something more. Think about the study and hard work it took to get to where you are now. It’s an achievement in itself just to be working – there are millions of people who are out of work. Be happy with the fact that you are working and proud of your achievements in life so far.
Motivation At Work Is About Feeling Good
The next step is to think about what it is that makes you feel good. Yes, it really is that simple and basic. The things that motivate us most, not surprisingly, also make us feel good. It may be that extra sale or the fact that you achieved that little bit more than your co-worker. I remember when I was working in a factory that made metal pressings. One of the jobs I worked on could make 500,000 parts in an 8 hour shift – but if you really put the pedal to the metal you could make 600,000. We used to have an unofficial competition between the day shift and the night shift. That’s one way of experiencing motivation at work.
You should aim to be productive as you can each and every day – not because of the extra money good productivity makes, but because you will go home every night feeling great and knowing that you did the absolute best that you could.
I know it sounds like some sort of corporate ‘mantra’ but the truth is that by putting in as much as you can you will feel really good about yourself and you will be the first in line if an opportunity for advancement arises.
Feeling good about yourself is the first step in creating your own self motivated ‘culture’ and carrying that motivation through to your motivation at work.
Don’t Be Pipped At The Post
We’ve all heard that saying and probably seen races where it’s ‘neck and neck down the straight’ and then one competitor gives that almighty final surge that clinches first place.
One of the main reasons that so many people don’t achieve the success that they desire in life is because they get pipped at the post. To be a winner you have to be prepared to say ‘I’ve given it everything I have and now I’m going to give a little bit more’. You have to muster the strength to give that extra surge. We all know that it is darkest just before dawn and it may be that you have expended all your time and energy on something and you are about ready to throw your hands in the air and give up.
Don’t.
There’s a good chance that you are tantalisingly close to your goal and it’s just going to take that little extra push – the one that you didn’t really know you had left in you. If you want to achieve extraordinary goals then you have to find that extraordinary energy every now and then.
Goal Setting – Setting Your Destination
Without some well defined goals in place you are a bit like a sail boat with no sail. You will probably drift around for years and maybe even end up back where you started.
So what exactly is a ‘well defined goal’? Let’s look at a couple of goals and how we can define them.
You could say ‘I’d like a new house’. That’s a good goal and it’s something that many of us want at some stage. Now lets look at changing that simple want into a well defined goal.
We are going to have a new house within 5 years. It will have a 2 car garage so we can keep both cars in at night. Our kids will have their own bedrooms instead of having to share the one room. We will have a big back yard with a barbecue and a pergola. The new house will have an extra room where our guests can stay and a room that will be the home office. Our new large dining area will be great for entertaining prospective and existing clients.
Okay, that’s a start. We’re coming up with some nice features for the new house – but what other changes will it make?
It’s going to be great having a decent sized laundry where you can actually move around… and we’ll be able to have the whole family over at christmas or thanksgiving. It’s going to be nice not having to worry about the car getting stolen or damaged out on the street. Having a room for the home office is going to get all that clutter out that normally gets spread over the kitchen table.
Do you see the difference between a basic ‘I would like to have…’ and actually fleshing out all the reasons that you want something new or to change some other area of your life? Just saying you would like to have this thing or make this change is kind of a hope with no real substance. Once you start coming up with all the reasons though, it transforms that basic want into something that has so many advantages and positives that you just have to have it.
That’s what goal setting is about. Looking at the changes you want to make and then coming up with a list of reasons that makes those changes so irresistible that you will do whatever it takes to achieve those goals.
Sorting The Big List
Now that you have written down your list of 50 things you would like to have or change – you DID write them down didn’t you? If you haven’t written them down then stop right now – don’t go any further until you have that written list. It may seem like a trivial formality right now. You may be thinking ‘hey, I know what I want – I don;t need to write it down’. But believe me, writing these things down is one of the most important parts of the process. You’ve probably ‘known’ what you want for most of your life, but just thinking about it didn’t get you very far. If you’re still unsure about writing it down, just humour me on this, okay?
Okay, so you have that list. The next step is to figure out how soon you want each of those things and how long you think it might take to get them. All you need to do in this part of the process is be realistic. If it’s a $500k house that you want then that’s probably going to take a little time. On the other hand, if your first goal is to develop a better relationship or learn to play a musical instrument, or to increase your income by $2000 per month then these are things that have a much shorter time frame.
Give each thing on your list a time frame of 6 months, 2 years, 5 years and 10 years. It may seem like a lot to do, but if we look at the longest time frame – 10 years – and then break that list down it’s an average of 5 things per year. It’s not so daunting when you look at it like that! Also, you may find that some of your shorter term goals actually contribute to the achievement of your longer term goals.
At this point I would rewrite my list into 4 separate lists – just to neaten things up a bit. The first list we’ll be working on is the 6 month list so you might want to just rewrite that one as the first ‘action list’.
You probably won’t be surprised to know that a lot of people get to this point – writing their list – and never get any further. That’s because simply writing a list of what you want or where you want to go or what you’d like to learn simply isn’t enough. The next step is the really important one in this process – a plan of action.
Your 6 month list may only have 4 or 5 items on it… or it may have twenty. We all have different needs and desires so a personal action plan is essential. Take a look at your 6 month list and see if there are any items on there that may relate to each other. For example, if I wanted to increase my income by $5000 per month and I also wanted a new car within 6 months then those two goals are going to work really well together. I know that in order to increase my income I need to be more productive or start a part time business or perhaps start an online business that I can work at during the evenings. What do I need to do to get that car though? Is the increase in income going to do it? Well, yes and no! The increase will help but if I really want that car then I need to save the extra income I earn. Seems obvious doesn’t it? It is, but you need to make that decision and even note it next to that goal – otherwise you may end up spending that extra money on things you don’t really need.
In the next installment we will look at those goals in a bit more detail and talk about WHY you want all of those things.
Personal Development – Where Do You Start?
I guess there’s a big clue in the title – PERSONAL development. Personal development is all about you. It’s about improving the quality of your life by developing your own life plan. Unless you take the time to set out your own plan, the chances are that you’re working to someone elses plan. It could be ‘the company’ plan or your bosses plan or it may be that you are just kind of wandering through life without any specific destination.
That’s fine if you are totally satisfied with mediocrity but if you really want to make the most out of the short time you have on this earth then you need to get to work on your plan and, as they say, there’s no time like the present!
My first job is to convince you that you can improve your life and your lifestyle by learning some of the fundamental personal development techniques – so let’s get to work straight away!
Let’s say that you are going on a vacation to Europe. First up, you’re going to need to book your flights and your accommodation. Once that’s done you will need to find out what the climate is like – it would be no fun to turn up in your favourite comfy shorts if it’s going to be zero degrees and snowing! You’ll also need to know where all the best tourist attractions are and you might need to learn some of the local language depending on whether the locals speak English or not. It would also be handy to know what sorts of things you are allowed to bring into and out of your destination – it wouldn’t be pleasant to be fined for carrying prohibited goods in your luggage. With all of that covered, you can look forward to a well planned, pleasant and restful vacation.
I bet you know where I’m going with this! Now consider that same vacation, but without any destination or planning. You could probably do it, but I bet it would be much more stressful than relaxing. You would have to speak with the various airlines at the airport, find out where they fly to and hope that you could get a flight out to somewhere that you really want to visit (and hopefully soon!). When you arrived at your destination you would spend some time finding accommodation – and what if there’s a big event in town and all the local accommodation is booked? You would have to pack warm weather and cold weather clothes as you don’t know what the climate is going to be like. Now you definitely know where I’m going with this!
The fact is that we generally spend more time planning vacations than we do planning our lives. Looking at the vacation example I don’t think it’s difficult to see the difference that some careful planning can make. It works the same for your life and your lifestyle. If you have a destination and a plan then you have something specific to work towards. It might be a new house, a new car, to be doing a job you really enjoy. It could be a major goal like financial independence. With a solid plan to achieve these sort of goals you have an exponentially better chance of seeing that through and having everything you want from life.
As the first exercise in changing your life, I want you to make a list of fifty things you would really like to have. It can be anything. A better relationship with friends or family. Learn to play a musical instrument. Get that new car you’ve needed for the past ten years. Be able to travel when and where you want to – whenever you want to. It should only take you around 15-30 minutes to get your list of fifty.
Get to know your list and in my next installment we’ll sort through those things so you can start developing a plan.