by: Jeff Earlywine




Many professionals spend their entire careers working under managers or supervisors that don’t truly understand the importance of motivation. This lack of understanding results in one of two things: 1) Low performance and productivity of the organization and staff or 2) Self-motivation of the professional, which results in high performance, satisfaction, and productivity. If you are in the low performance category then you know how difficult it is to reach your potential without someone motivating you. What you need to begin doing is motivating yourself.


The definition of motivation used here is: “Instruction and challenges given that assists in reaching goals, dreams and (more importantly) potential.” This definition has been perfected by Weight Watchers: a very successful weight-loss organization. Weight Watchers has discovered that weekly “weigh-in” meetings boost the achievement of their client’s weight loss goals. These meetings also serve to give instruction and accountability to those passionate about losing needed pounds.


Therefore, lets apply a similar approach to your career and personal life, with you being the motivator. In order to motivate yourself you need to discover, design, and develop.

• Discover your passion. What is your passion? A basic definition of passion is: A powerful or compelling emotion or feeling. To help you discover yours, ask yourself the following question, “What would I do if I could do anything at all, knowing I could not fail and personal abilities, time and money are not an issue?”
  

• Design your goals. A good exercise to accomplish this is to write down where you where five years ago, where you are right and now, and where you want to be in five years in the following categories…
  
  
  
  • Personal development (what you want to learn, physical body, fears to overcome).
    

  • Career, business, finances (amount of sales this month/year, those that you would like as your professional associates, savings/investing/retirement).
    

  • Fun and adventure – fun and adventure are both great rewards for staying motivated.
    

  • Giving and service (time given to help others in need, use of your skills at your church or in the community)
    

  
  

  Once you have written these goals down it is very important that they be added to your task list and reviewed on a weekly basis.
  

• Develop ten positive weekly habits. These habits were modified from Mike Moore’s Ten Terrific Self Motivating Tips article.
  
  
  
  1. Be willing to leave your comfort zone. The greatest barrier to achieving your potential is your comfort zone. Great things happen when you make friends with your discomfort zone.
     

  2. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Wisdom helps us avoid making mistakes and comes from making a million of them.
     

  3. Don't indulge in self-limiting thinking. Dare to dream big dreams. Shoot for the moon and expect to hit it.
     

  4. Choose to be happy. Happy people are easily motivated. Laugh at something every day.
     

  5. Spend at least one hour a day in self-development. Read good books, listen to inspiring tapes, pray and read God’s Word.
     

  6. Train yourself to finish what you start. So many of us become scattered as we try to accomplish a task.
     

  7. Review your goals, and celebrate accomplishments.
     

  8. Plan next week this week. If you hold yourself to your plans then you will accomplish a great deal and will not need someone to constantly motivate you.
     

  9. Never quit when you experience a setback or frustration. Success could be just around the corner.
     

  10. Find someone you can mentor and motivate. There is nothing like giving yourself away.
      

  
  

About The Author Check out www.jeffearlywine.com for information about consulting and contact information. jeff@atlantayfc.org