You have finalised a challenging target for new SIPs for the quarter. You are all happy and gung-ho for it. But after a while, you stop thinking that it is possible. And at the end of the quarter, the target figures is itself lost somewhere. Sounds familiar? What do you think was the problem here?
Motivation. Perhaps it is one thing that distinguishes winners from followers more than anything else… William James, the father of modern psychology, once said something that we should remind ourselves on a daily basis: “I don’t sing because I’m happy; I’m happy because I sing.” In this very simple line, James seems to have summed up what motivation is all about. In spite of us knowing this universal truth, most of us are not even half as motivated as we can ‘normally’ be.
We all want to be and feel motivated at all times. It is a wonderful feeling, isn’t it? Well the good news is that motivation is something that is 100% in our control. Nothing can take away your motivation if you decide to not let anyone or anything to do so. In fact, we can harness our energies and be motivated longer and more intensely than ever. In this piece, we present you a few tricks that you can follow…
- Exercise & Refresh
Getting up early and working out makes the day very energetic and efficient. Those who exercise daily will swear by it. Further, with better health, fitness and an agile, energetic mind, it is only natural that you feel more motivated and focused to accomplish bigger things. Overcoming physical hurdles of strength, stamina and endurance, encourages us to outperform in our endeavors. - Be Positive
Negative people, thoughts and conversations often leave us feeling uninspired, critical and with lesser confidence in people and our goals. It is highly recommended that we stay clear of such negative vibes and don’t participate or at least stay neutral in negative conversations. On the other hand, being with positive persons and participating in positive conversation and activities will only brighten our own thoughts and motivate us to think things positively. - Seek Motivation
A very common source of motivation that we seek is the external, source. There are countless books, real life heroes, movies, motivational speeches / training sessions, etc. that we can access to get inspiration and motivation. The external source is a vital resource that we all can easily tap into to reenergise ourselves. - Create Necessity
Long time ago someone told me to book a much expensive car. Apparently, doing so would keep me on my toes as I would need to maintain that car and that will be my new benchmark of standards in life. The underlying idea was to create a necessity in order to motivate ourselves. While it may not always work with everyone, there are surely those who would work hard, simply as a way to meet their newly adopted necessities. - Take Challenges
Many of us are more motivated when we face challenges. The challenge serves as the target, an opportunity to test yourself and also to emerge victorious. The absence of challenge is like the absence of any spice or motivation for us. So, let us aim for challenges that are tough and worthy of our efforts. - Get Rewarded
Linking rewards to outcomes is also a good trick to motivate ourselves. The rewards can be in the nature of materialistic gifts, things that give us pleasure and joy, and so on linked to desired results at a personal or professional level. Let us tell ourselves, if I accomplish this target by end of the quarter, I will take a holiday break in hills. The picture of the hills on your desk and the advance ticket bookings will be a mighty motivation booster for you. - Build Momentum
A good momentum is when you are enjoying a continued good performance and you are accomplishing your targets. The reason can be attributed to your own good work or may be to markets or even fate. Whenever we get into this phase, we need to make the most of it by building up the momentum. This will motivate us to rise to ever higher goals. - Set Example
Name and fame are human needs. We all internally desire to be greatly respected and renowned for our work. We desire that we inspire others and they feel like following us. Well we can start by doing things that will be set examples and inspire those around us, starting with our employees and clients. This habit or a character trait within us can be a source of self motivation within us as we would seek to find ways to inspire and do things that will command respect. - Think & Visualise
Take at least a 30 minute break every week to think nothing but about yourself, your life, goals and your present situation. A deep soul searching is important in this fast paced life. It will help us stay focused, grounded and close to things that are most dear to us. When you are in difficulties, talk to self and remind how you and others have overcome difficult situations in past. Visualise things to do and the success thereafter. Motivation is just a few thoughts away… - Have A Higher Mission
I am sure that most of us would want to contribute to a higher cause at some point of their lives. We are motivated to do something for others, selflessly. Well we can use our good intent as a motivating factor when we find a higher meaning, a mission in our present work as well. Think of the financial advisory practice as a way to solve people’s problems, protect them and make them happy. Thinking of our business in this perspective, can take away a lot of negativity and tiredness we often may feel and give us satisfaction levels that will run deep.
Food For Thought:
We now present some good quotes we came across on motivation. Spare a few minutes to think about it…
- “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” – Francis of Assisi
- “Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way.” – Les Brown
- “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” – Steve Jobs
- “Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” – Lou Holtz
- “There’s always the motivation of wanting to win. Everybody has that. But a champion needs, in his attitude, a motivation above and beyond winning.” – Pat Riley
- “Motivation will almost always beat mere talent.” – Norman Ralph Augustine
- “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” – Jim Ryun
- “Once something is a passion, the motivation is there.” – Michael Schumacher