Tag Staying Motivated

Motivating for Success

Steve Keating 2 Comments

I have known many people through the years who waited for someone or something to motivate them. They complained about being bored at work. They complained about being bored at home. They were even bored when they appeared to be having fun. 

I kind of started thinking they were just boring people. But the truth is, they, like all people were naturally motivated. They lost their motivation over time. It could be a bad boss destroyed it. It could have been a set of circumstances beyond their control. Maybe they even made some decisions themselves that robbed them of the essential motivation required to reach their potential. 

Are you one of  the people who struggle with motivation? Do you have a hard time keeping yourself motivated? Have you been waiting for your boss or someone else to motivate you? Maybe they will or maybe they won’t but the reality is your motivation is up to you. You’re responsible for getting yourself going and keeping yourself going every single day. If someone else helps you a bit then that’s great. But never count on anyone or anything else doing what you should be doing yourself. 

Self motivation is a crucial factor in achieving success and reaching your goals. But I get it, it’s not always easy to stay motivated, especially when you face obstacles and setbacks. So here are a few thoughts on how to keep yourself motivated, even when the day appears to heading downhill in a hurry.

  • Set clear goals: Having clear and specific goals gives you something to work towards and helps you stay focused. Make sure your goals are realistic, measurable, and achievable. You cannot reach a goal you haven’t set. The absence of real goals in your life tends to make everything meaningless. Staying motivated is tough. It makes no sense in putting up the fight to stay motivated if there is nothing in it for you. Achieving your goals is what’s in it for you. If you want to be a motivated person then set goals today.
  • Break down big goals into smaller tasks. Large goals can seem daunting and overwhelming. Breaking them down into smaller, manageable tasks makes them less intimidating and helps you track your progress. Setting goals that seem too big to actually achieve makes you less motivated. 
  • Create a plan. A plan helps you stay organized and focused. Make a list of the tasks you need to complete and prioritize them based on their importance and urgency. Do this every single day. Know what goals you’re going after and know exactly how you intend to go after them. 
  • Celebrate small wins. Recognizing and celebrating small wins along the way can boost your motivation and keep you on track. On some days even small wins can be a very big deal.
  • Surround yourself with as much positivity as you can find. Surround yourself with people who support and encourage you. Avoid negative people and situations that bring you down. You are a compilation of the 5 people you spend the most time with. If you want to be an enthusiastic and motivated person then that’s the type of person you should be hanging around with.
  • Give yourself a break. Taking breaks helps you recharge and avoid burnout. Make sure you schedule time for self-care activities like exercise, “me time,“ or spending time with loved ones. If you think eating lunch at your desk makes you more productive then think again. Research shows people who eat lunch at their desk are 30% less productive late in the day. Even a 15 minute lunch break can make a positive difference for you. So indeed, give yourself that break.
  • Visualize success. Visualize yourself achieving your goals and imagine how it will feel. Use positive affirmations and visualization techniques to stay motivated and focused. This may sound corny but it is absolutely not. You can think in terms of “can’t” but that robs you of your natural motivation. Thinking, and seeing, in terms of “can” makes a much bigger difference than you may think. See yourself where you want to be and you’re far more likely to be there one day.

Remember that motivation comes from within, and it’s up to you to cultivate and maintain it. By using these ideas and staying committed to your goals, you can keep yourself motivated and achieve success. No matter what success may look like to you.

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Personal Motivation

Steve Keating 1 Comment

I wish every person in a position of leadership understood how important recognition is to their people. They don’t just want recognition, they need it. For many people recognition is the fuel for their engine of productivity. 

Most people are people pleasers and one of the people they most want to please is their boss. They want a few things in return for pleasing their boss and one of those things is “credit” or recognition for a job well done. If they don’t receive that credit many of them lose their motivation to continue giving their best effort. 

And that is a mistake. 

None of us should give someone else that kind of power over any part of our lives. 

The most consistently successful people do not look out for recognition and affirmation, they look within. Knowing that they have given their best effort motivates them. Their opinion of themselves is more important than someone else’s. 

We all want the recognition and support of the people we work for. But wanting it and needing it are two very different things. Recognizing your own effort is way more important, or should be, than the recognition of anyone else. 

Absolutely appreciate any and all recognition and support you receive from someone else. But don’t depend on it to keep you going. The only reason you need to continually give your best effort in everything you do is this: YOU deserve your best effort. You deserve to be the best that you can be in all areas of your life. 

That cannot depend on the actions or inactions of someone else. 

Don’t count on someone else motivating you to greatness. Always always give your best effort and whatever you do, you’ll do it great. Tonight before you go to sleep make sure to take a moment to thank yourself for the effort you put forth today. Remind yourself that no matter what was or wasn’t accomplished today that you did your best. 

And that’s all anyone, including yourself, can ask for. 

Some of you know that I’ve been trying out something relatively new over on Twitter. It’s a paid subscription level. That means I post some tweets that are for subscribers only. The tweets I post for subscribers are all video tweets. I post two each weekday, mostly on leadership but also sales and living a better life in general. I’m also way more available for questions from subscribers than I can be for the million plus regular Twitter followers. The investment to see these “subscriber tweets” is $4.99 a month, that’s about 17 cents a day. The videos continue to grow in popularity so clearly a lot of people think they are worthwhile. 

Not only can you invest in yourself with solid video coaching, you can also make a difference in the world too. All the income from my subscribers on Twitter go to help kids with Down Syndrome. 

Just click the purple “subscribe” button next to the regular follow button on my Twitter profile page IN THE TWITTER APP or on a web browser. http://twitter.com/leadtoday Give it a try if you’re so inclined, and if you are, be sure to let me know how I’m doing and what topics you’d like to see me address.

How Can You Know?

Steve Keating 1 Comment

If you’re in a leadership position then one of your core responsibilities is developing the people you are leading. Key to developing your people is understanding what motivates them to accept change in their lives. 

So how can you know what motivates them? Well I have a rather shocking and provocative idea. 

You could ask.

I know that’s not really shocking or provocative. It only seems that way because so few people in positions of leadership flat out ask their people what motivates them. Many of those who do ask only do it within the confines of an annual review process. That is NOT nearly often enough. 

When you ask you should be prepared to receive no answer…at least at first. Your people may initially be surprised by the question since it’s so rarely asked. So give them a day or two and ask again. 

One of the reasons the question is so rarely asked is that many people in leadership positions believe the answer is likely to be “money.” As in, more of it. But Authentic Leaders know that money is seldom the answer because money is actually a very poor motivator. If people have enough money to pay their bills and meet their basic needs then more money isn’t likely to motivate changed behavior. 

Once you know what motivates them then ask a follow up question. Something along the lines of, “how can I help you attain and retain that motivated frame of mind?” 

Those two questions should be asked anytime you see one of your people struggling to keep themselves motivated. Asking shows you care. If you don’t care enough about them to help them remain motivated to reach their potential then you don’t care enough about them to actually lead them. 

So stay close enough to your people to detect reduced motivation in it’s early stages. The sooner you catch it the sooner you, and your people, will overcome it. Never forget, your most expensive employees are not the ones you pay the most. The most expensive people in your entire organization are those who are unmotivated and disengaged. They receive a paycheck and provide little in return. 

These days, no organization can afford that.

Everyone is Motivated

Steve Keating 3 Comments

Do you believe that everyone is motivated? You may have come across someone lately who isn’t. You may even work with someone who seems like they are never motivated. 

 

They may not be motivated today but they didn’t start out that way. Everyone starts out motivated… and then the world gets ahold of them. They start a new job and then they meet the boss, who it turns out is a champion at demotivating the team. Maybe they had a bit of bad luck and decided that life was against them. 

 

Then they meet you and you assumed that because they aren’t motivated today they never were. That’s yet another reason it’s never good to assume.

 

If you’re a leader then one of your main responsibilities is to find ways to motivate your people. It’s easier to keep someone motivated than it is to drag them from the unmotivated depths. That’s why you should make motivating every member of your team a priority everyday.

 

That starts with providing them an environment where they feel valued. An environment where they can see how they fit in and how they make a difference. Never let your people wonder if they are valued because feeling as if they are not is one of the fastest ways to destroy their motivation. 

 

Motivating your people is not something you do when you find the time. You must be very intentional and plan time into each day to ensure that you’re keeping your people engaged. If you feel as if you don’t know what motivates your people then here is the best suggestion I can give you: ask them!

 

Yes, have that conversation with each of your people from time to time. Simply ask them what motivates them and how you can best help them stay motivated. I am frequently asked by people in leadership positions how to best keep their people motivated. I usually give them a generic kind of answer and then admit I have no idea. 

 

I have no idea because every human being is unique and the only way to know how to motivate someone is to ask them. Ask them and then give them a day or two. They will likely need that time to come up with a meaningful answer because most people don’t sit around thinking about what motivates them. Give them that time to provide you with a thoughtful answer. 

 

You’ve never met a person who started out as an unmotivated individual. Something or more likely someone demotivated them along the way. A key responsibility of a leader is to lead that person back to a fully motivated life. Once an Authentic Leader gets them there they invest time in that person to keep them there. 

 

If you don’t have the time to motivate your people then you don’t have time to lead. 

How to Stay Motivated

Steve Keating 7 Comments

The pain of discipline is greater than the pain of failure. That simple fact leads to more failure than any other single factor. When we lack the discipline required for success we also lack the ability to “push-on” when we face the struggles associated with long-lasting success. There are struggles within every successful endeavor and within every successful endeavor someone found the motivation to continue the way forward.

Average people need someone to motivate them. Successful people find a way to motivate themselves and ask for help when they can’t. Here are just a few of the methods they use to get going when the going gets tough:

They re-dream the dream. Before they quit they remember why they started, they remember what’s in it for them if they can keep going. They see the end of the rainbow and reach for it again. It is that “reach” that provides them the momentum and motivation to continue forward. 

They make it fun. They enjoy what they do. Here’s a fact: almost 100% of successful people enjoy what they do. It is nearly impossible for a human being to excel at something they truly dislike. If you’re involved in a career or job that you simply don’t like then either find a way to make it fun or find your way to another career. You’re not likely to become the first person to put a square peg in a round hole so don’t burn up your motivation trying.

They are not afraid to change course. If something doesn’t feel right it’s probably not. There is almost always more than one way to accomplish something. Just because something has always been done a certain way doesn’t mean it’s being done the best way. You’ve likely heard the saying “there’s no need to invent the wheel’, well if that was true we would all still be driving on stone wheels. Looking for a “better way” is an excellent method for staying motivated. Settling for what you have makes it very difficult to push yourself for better.

Motivated, successful people reward themselves. They also celebrate their successes, both big and little. The bigger the goal, the greater the task the more likelihood of set-backs along the way. Set-backs wilt motivation and lessen resolve. Rewards, even small rewards like a longer lunch break once in a while or knocking off an hour early can be just the ticket to reinvigorate yourself. Small celebrations can refill your energy tank and provide the motivation needed to overcome the next challenge. 

Successful people have a mentor to motivate them. Staying motivated in the face of obstacles is  pretty darn tough to do day in and day out. It’s really tough without a little help. A good mentor will help you over the rough spots and help you to re-dream that dream. Successful people aren’t afraid to ask for help and the person they are most likely to ask is their mentor. 

If you don’t have a mentor today then find one now. Select a person who cares about you, a person who is successful and willing to invest themselves in you to help you succeed too. 

Here’s a big statement to make but I’m going to make it anyway…. there is not a single thing you can do in 2014 that will have a greater positive impact on your chances of success than having a coach or mentor. If you don’t have a coach or mentor then get one. 

Your motivation is your responsibility but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a little coaching along the way.