When you were growing up, who taught you about motivation? Chances are that it probably wasn’t in the classroom or at your first job.
When you were growing up, who taught you about motivation? Chances are that it probably wasn’t in the classroom or at your first job working the cash at a fast-food joint. It just blows my mind how most people, especially schools and businesses today, don’t believe that feeding the motivation machine should be part of our daily lives.
Who motivates you?
Don’t get me wrong—there are those who do, but they’re in the minority. How do I know this? It’s easy: just look at the number of people out there who tune in to watch Oprah, Dr. Phil and many other talk show hosts. It’s one of the few places people can turn to and hear that they can achieve anything if they put their minds to it and focus on the positive.
It’s very frustrating to see that most people are looking for answers to questions that they can’t answer themselves. Not that we’re supposed to have all the answers, that wouldn’t work either, but a lot of these answers could be found with a healthy self-esteem. Forget about chemistry and long division—self-esteem is a topic that needs to be addressed constantly most importantly in the school system. And if it hasn’t been addressed there, that’s when we need to take matters into our own hands and discover ways to ensure that we and our employees develop the skills necessary to ensure that the proverbial show must go on, no matter what life throws in our way.
The self-esteem store
It is amazing what happens to an individual when they feel empowered. They have a self-worth that’s priceless as they themselves believe that they can achieve any of their goals. Is watching Dr. Phil for a year going to get you there?
If only it were as simple as watching TV or heading to the local shopping mall and picking up a new box of self-esteem—big economy-sized ones so you had enough for everyone. Self-esteem and motivation are so intertwined that you really can’t have one without the other; it’s like a buy-one-get-one-free deal. The hard part is getting the first one so that the second knows where to find you.
What do you need to hear?
People ask me all the time what I do to motivate myself. Here is what I tell them:
“I believe in who I am and what I stand for in my business, family life and the love I have for my husband, our son and, most importantly, myself!”
Call it a mission statement or mantra—it’s what I need to stay focused and true to my goals. And, just between you and me, I didn’t quite believe it at first. That took practice. What do you need to hear yourself say in order to start believing it?
Feeding your motivation machine means that you have to know what it needs. Is it gushing praise? A firm reminder of what needs to get done? Something specific? An all-encompassing statement? One way that might help you find the words is to picture yourself accomplishing your goal. What are you thinking or saying to that journalist who wants to know what motivated you to keep on your path to success?
Negativity bites
Without that motivational fuel, negativity steps in to keep us on the couch and as far away from our dreams as possible. Negativity is an easy trap to fall into, but that’s not the skill anyone needs to practice, right?
Imagine you’re in a room filled with people who are complaining, gossiping and basically confirming every negative thought you’ve ever had. Now tell me, honestly, how do you feel? Speaking for myself, I’d say rotten, weak and my thoughts are all confused, making me second-guess my beliefs. In these situations you lose that successful vision of what you stand for and have to reclaim it again with positive energy. So why associate with the negative people? Hang out with the winners and succeed—it is as simple as that!
As a woman running my own business, it inspires me to hear other stories about women who have accomplished overcoming adversities without constantly whining (if you know what I mean) and just moving on, continuing forward and taking the time to get the help they need to pursue and achieve their dreams.
And you can do it too. Take the time to discover what you need to hear to feed your own motivation machine and when you do—sing it to the world!
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