Detractors

So far, I have been blogging mostly about things you can do to motivate yourself, that is, ways to increase your motivation. We’ve learned that having a vision, something that is worthwhile for us, is motivating. We’ve learned that clarity, whether it’s about our vision, our goals or our tasks, will keep us motivated.

Now I want to talk about things that decrease our motivation, things that are amotivating. I call these things detractors. These are things that detract us from manifesting our vision.

Just as our motivators are unique and personal to us, so too are our detractors. Some of the motivators I describe in my book and in future blog postings will have absolutely no power over you, yet others will truly be forces for you to reckon with. Being intentional man means finding out what our detractors are, those things are stopping us from achieving our dreams. People say knowledge is power, and when it comes to detractors, that saying is very true. Once we become aware of our detractors, we can take steps to overcome them. We apply strategies that nullify their power over us.

For every detractor in your life, there is a strategy you can use to overcome that strategy, or, at a minimum, to lessen its impact on your motivation and on your life.

In my next posting I will talk about the detractor that I have found to be the most overwhelming for me. I call it the distracter. I refer to it as the mild mannered detractor, because it is hard for me to believe that things that appear to be so unimportant have so often detracted me on my path to manifesting my vision.

Bridging the Gap

In the last couple of posts we’ve been talking about the evaluation, intentionally taking time to see how we are going on our path to manifesting our vision. One strategy we use in the evaluation is called bridging the gap.

When we refer to the gap we are talking about the distance or difference between what we had planned to occur and what really did occur. If we have used the three step process for successability, we have clarity as it relates to what we planned to have occurred (see the posting on clarity). This makes it easy for us to see if there is a gap, and if there is, easy to determine exactly what it is.

As part of your motivation plan, you have written down your goals and your tasks. Are you accomplishing your goals? If you aren’t, that is your gap. Are you completing your tasks? If not, then that is your gap. If you are accomplishing your goals, is your vision becoming manifest? If not, that is your gap.

Once you have identified your gap or gaps, it is time to bridge the gap, find out why you have a gap, and figure out how to close that gap, how to make happen what you have planned on happening. Make sure you don’t forget the Drucker ratio when you examine the gap. Instead of asking why something went wrong, ask how you can make it right.

Use your vision > goal > task paradigm to assist you in bridging the gap. If you are completing your tasks, but the goals aren’t being met, than you need to redefine your tasks. If you are completing your goals, but your aren’t manifesting your vision, you need to create new goals, are maybe restate them more clearly. If you aren’t completing your tasks, you need to figure out why. Are they too difficult? Are there things blocking you from completing them?

Perhaps you missing some skills you need to accomplish your goals. What type of training can you get to add those skills. Are there changes to your environment, either physical or social that will help you bridge the gap?

What you want to do with this strategy of bridging the gap is come up with solutions that are clearly stated and achievable, that will get you back on your path to manifesting your vision.

Achieving Clarity

In my last posting I explained how clarity was necessary for us to feel confident that we are able to achieve the goals that are necessary for us to manifest our vision. When we do feel this confidence we will be motivated to achieve our goals.

The best way I have found to achieve clarity is a strategy I developed called the three step process for successability. You can use this process anytime you are doing something and wish to enhance your motivation. Anything you want to achieve, you can perform using this three step process.

The steps in the three step process for successability are:
vision >>> goals >>> tasks

Vision is that part of our potential that we desire to manifest. To manifest that desire you set up a series of goals the achievement of which will result in you becoming who you really are. When you have achieved the goals, you will have manifested your potential. To achieve each of these goals requires a series of tasks, steps that we need to take to achieve each of our goals. A task is a behavior, that is, an action taken by a person. You can observe someone performing a task. “Losing 15 pounds” is not a task; you cannot observe someone losing 15 pounds. “Writing down what I eat” is a task; you can observe someone writing down what they eat.

Each of our tasks may involve subtasks.

The benefit of doing the three step process is that it increases our clarity, because we write down the vision we want to manifest, we write down the goals that are necessary for us to manifest our vision, and we write down the tasks we need to complete to achieve each goal. When we write it down, we have clarity. What could be clearer than words on a piece of paper that you can hold in your hand, that you can see any time you want to? You know exactly what you need to do. That’s clarity.

Doing the three step process for successability increases our clarity which in turn increases our motivation.

The process of motivating yourself something you can learn. Come back next week and learn more strategies.

Why you would want to motivate yourself.

As I wrote in an earlier blog, most of the research I read on motivation dealt with motivating someone else, the teacher motivating the learner, the coach motivating the athlete, the manager motivating the employee. Motivating another person has its place, certainly, but it seemed to me if I could motivate myself, this would be more powerful for me. My research showed this idea was correct.

I saw in my own life that getting my motivation from another person has at least two problems. My dream was becoming a public speaker. I already had a job doing something else, so I had to do my work on my public speaking after a hard day at the office. If it was a real hard day, I would much rather just eat my dinner, and watch TV. I just wouldn’t be motivated to work on my dream. Occasionally I would go see a motivational speaker, and would be motivated for a couple of days, maybe even a week if the speaker was real good, working on my new career every night, but two weeks later, or a month later, I would I would go back to my old ways, kicking back watching the tube. The problem is the motivational speaker is not always going to be there to make sure you stay on track.

Well, you might respond, can’t you listen to the speaker on a CD? Yes you can, but only if you are motivated to put the CD on. But there is another reason that the speaker, whether live or on a CD,. is not going to be all that helpful in the long run. The reason is that each one of us is unique. We have different likes; we have different dislikes. And similarly, the things that motivate us are different as well. What motivates you is not what motivates me. Unfortunately, no one else is going to take the time to figure out what motivates each one of us to achieve our particular dream. That job is ours!

And that ‘s why we want to be our own motivational speaker, so that we can be there, 24/7, and so we can create a plan of motivation that is uniquely ours, not a generic speech aimed at the masses.

In my next posting on this blog I will be sharing with you the role of intent, the role you will need to play in motivating yourself.

Why can't I get motivated?

Do you have a special dream? Maybe it involves a better paying, more stimulating job? Maybe it has to do with a healthier life style? Or maybe a healthy, loving, caring relationship?

Do you find that despite your best efforts, you just don't seem to be able to get it together to make this dream real in your life?

Do you know you have the abilities you need to make it real, but for some reason, you don't stick with it?

Do you wish you were motivated to start moving forward, and keep moving forward?

Are you frustrated and annoyed with yourself, and maybe just a bit depressed about it?

You are not alone. I was exactly where you are right now. And it's not your fault. And it wasn't my fault either. No one had taught me the simple trick of how to motivate myself. And no one has taught you. But I figured it out, and now I can teach you, as well.

It's not hard. Just keep reading future blogs. If you have any questions about motivating yourself, just leave me a comment.