A new year is around the corner and you might be already thinking about your New Year Resolutions. Possibly you are wanting to really crack the code on employee engagement and team morale. Or maybe you just want to motivate your teenager to clean up their room on a regular basis in 2024!
Whether it’s a personal or professional goal, we all want to know how to motivate, influence, and encourage ourselves and others in the right direction.
There’s a lot of research on motivation, but I often come back to these 3 Keys to Motivation - in their most simplest form.
No one likes pain, struggle, or adversity of any kind. It’s why we struggle to get to the gym, to stick with a budget, or have that hard conversation.
As the quote goes, “Why would I leave hell. I know all the roads.” We get comfortable. We like the familiar, and do what we can to avoid any sort of pain, discomfort, or challenge.
Pain Tip: Be honest with yourself when you need to make a change. Is the possibility of pain, challenge or adversity causing you to stay stuck?
Who doesn’t like something pleasurable? We all yearn for something that gives us joy and happiness. It’s why we are a culture of addicts - pick your poison- food, shopping, work, the endless Netflix binge.
Since we know this about ourselves, why not use it to our advantage? Whenever you have to do something hard, try pairing it with something pleasurable.
Pleasure Tip: Sitting down to create that new budget, why not do it at your favorite coffee shop? If you consistently go to the gym 3 times a week for the month of January, treat yourself to a massage. Attach the less pleasurable to the pleasurable.
Our very first instinct is survival. Centuries ago we were running from wild beasts and seeking shelter wherever we could find it. We were in constant protection mode.
Today we still have that desire to persevere, defend, and shield ourselves. In our present world it just looks different. Now we have to be vigilant to protect ourselves from too much work, too many commitments, too much social media, and whatever else that threatens us.
Protection Tip: Write down both personally and professionally all the commitments which take up your emotional, physical, mental and relational energy. Identify the biggest energy drainers and see how you might adjust!
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