Take Charge Get Results - SUSTAINING MOTIVATION

Chapter 6

SUSTAINING MOTIVATION

“The key to sustaining motivation is staying focused on your vision, and remaining firmly entrenched in your belief that all things are possible.”

As mentioned in chapter four, the more brilliant your ideas become, the more inspiring they will be to you and others. Inspiration provides the foundation for motivation, because the creation of brilliant and powerful ideas fosters in us the belief in possibilities. As our belief grows, so does our motivation. Simply stated, great ideas have the power to inspire and motivate us. How motivated we become, and how long we stay motivated will determine how much we ultimately achieve. An example of a powerful idea that motivates people to take action is “The American Dream”. The notion that a common man or woman can rise from the dust and disadvantage of their surroundings, and raise their station in life – even to become independently wealthy or socially prominent – is a powerful and inspiring idea; so much so that every day it motivates millions to take action in pursuit of that dream.

Just as the idea of the American Dream serves as motivation for many, so too can your ideas serve as motivation for you. You can develop equally powerful and inspiring ideas that will foster the belief in possibilities for your own life. This belief, combined with your clear vision, well-defined goals and strategic plan, will provide you with motivation. Your motivation will make it possible for you to get up day after day, roll up your sleeves, and go to work building your dream.

Believe In the Possible

Believing in possibilities is the force that sustains motivation. It is often referred to as the “power of possibility thinking”, and if you are going to sustain your own personal motivation for any length of time, you must believe in the possibility of your own success. You must believe what one person can do another can do. You must believe what is possible for someone else is possible for you. Without this belief, self-doubt will grow within you and rob you of your motivation. Consider the following:

A young Business Manager was having a problem at work. She related to me that her corporate headquarters had always conducted monthly evaluations of the operation of her store, but for whatever reason, the evaluations had become stringent, and in her view, down right nit-picky. The manager began to fail evaluations, and was cited for critical violations of corporate policy, which she felt were nothing more than technicalities.

At first she accepted the increased scrutiny assomething she would have to live with, and developed strategies to correct the deficiencies and prevent future problems. The following month, the manager had a successful evaluation, however the next month she was cited for violations in yet another area; one that had never been a problem in the past.

During regional management meetings, she discovered that other store managers, while sharing her aggravation, were not failing as many of their evaluations as she was. She began to doubt her own ability. The following month, the manager failed her corporate evaluation again, this time being cited for new, as well as, recurring violations.

In the course of the manager relating her story to me, and my asking various, clarifying questions, it became evident that she was close to giving up. I discovered two problems she was having that had all but destroyed her motivation; she had lost sight of why it was important for her to succeed, and she had lost confidence in her ability to pass another evaluation (she didn’t believe she could do what the other managers were doing, so maybe she wasn’t good enough). When I asked her why she was cited for a recurring violation in an area she demonstrated success with in the past, she said, “Well they (meaning corporate evaluators) are just going to find something wrong anyway, so why bother?”

[Have you ever felt the way she did?]

Having experienced similar feelings myself, I asked her to answer her own question, “Why bother?” We began to go over all the reasons why she should “bother.” Why it was important that she make the extra effort to pass her evaluations, and why it was worth doing. As it turned out, she had a long list of very good reasons.

I then asked the manager about her confidence moving forward, encouraged her to tell me of past successes, and had her compare herself to other managers (how they were succeeding where she was not). It wasn’t long before she was able to re-establish her belief that she was capable (if they could do it, so could she), and that the possibility of success did, in fact, exist for her. Once this business manager refocused on what she wanted and why it was important (her vision), what she needed to do (her goals), made a decision to act (her intent), and reaffirmed her belief that she could do it (possibility thinking), she was able to re-fill her motivation tanks, roll up her sleeves and go back to work building her dream. Today, this manager boasts doubledigit sales increases, and can’t remember the last time she failed an evaluation.

Stay Focused

The achievement of your goals is dependent on the action you take. Whether or not you take action, how much you get done, and how long you continue to work are all dependent on your level of motivation and your ability to sustain that motivation. In the previous example, the manager suffered repeated failures, lost sight of why her success was important, and began to doubt herself and her ability. The result was less effort, less attention to detail, less concern for results, and increased failure; all caused by the loss of motivation.

Fortunately, she was able to regain her motivation after having lost it, but it would have been better if she hadn’t lost her motivation in the first place. Losing, then finding motivation, then losing and finding it again, is very common and something that most people struggle with. There is a way, however, to break the cycle, and through practice develop the ability to sustain motivation. Staying focused on your vision is crucial to that development. Your vision is the answer to the question, “Why bother?”

If the young manager had stayed focused (rather than having to refocus) on her vision, and had reaffirmed her belief in the possibilities by reminding herself of past success, she could have sustained her motivation (instead of losing it). Instead of almost giving up, she could have overcome the obstacles much easier, and with a higher degree of success.

The next time you feel unmotivated, and wonder why you should bother, think about this manager’s story and apply the lesson her experience teaches. The key to sustaining motivation is staying focused on your vision, and remaining firmly entrenched in your belief that all things are possible.

George J. Morse
Email: george@coachmorse.com
http://www.coachmorse.com