I discuss a key mindset change, and introduce a method to help you do it.
Have you ever wondered why sometimes you feel like you can take on the world, while there are other times you just can’t seem to muster up enough energy to get back to being productive?
"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily." -- Zig Ziglar
This is because we rely to much on motivation happening to us. But the reality is motivation is something that we can CREATE, and we can create it daily.
Most of us don’t fully understand how and why we are motivated to behave certain ways, which results in us continuously reacting to our environment instead of taking control of what we want to do. Which is why we can be fired up about doing something one day, like going to the gym, yet dread doing the same thing on another day.
So how do we change this and start creating our own endless supply of motivation? First we must understand where motivation comes from.
Simply put, there are TWO major triggers that drive our behaviour.
We want something (i.e. positive motivation)
We are avoiding something (i.e. negative motivation)
Every action and behaviour we demonstrate throughout any given day is driven by our desire to obtain something that we want, or by our desire to avoid something that we don’t want.
"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -- Henry Ford
The reality is, we are always motivated. Just sometimes we are not motivated to demonstrate the behaviour which gets us closer to achieving our goals. Why? We are either not clear on what our goal(s) are and the behaviour required to achieve those goals, or more commonly, we are more focused on avoiding something rather then being focused on what we want.
Staying motivated to consistently be making progress towards achieving our goals is difficult, and the reason why it is difficult is because we rely so much on our external environment to motivate us. So creating motivation ourselves, for ourselves, doesn't come naturally.
To overcome this obstacle and stop relying on external motivation, I coach my clients on how to perform a Conscious Goal Assessment (CGA).
The purpose of the CGA is to intentionally assess the root of your behaviour, by comparing your internal motivation for that behaviour against the two triggers and determining whether your behaviour is motivated by something you want, or something you are avoiding.
This is critical because 1) goal achievement is almost always driven by positive motivation (wanting something) and not by negative motivation (avoiding something); and 2) we frequently allow our behaviour to be externally influenced by our surroundings. Taking the time to focus on the right trigger (what do I want vs what am I avoiding) is key to staying on track, and making consistent progress towards achieving your goal(s).
For example, you have decided that going to the gym is an important step in your goal of wanting to get into better shape. But you are plagued by not having enough motivation to go to the gym 3-4 days a week. This could be because you have to get up earlier than usual to get to the gym before you go to work, or go to the gym after work when you are tired, or maybe the gym is well outside your regular commute.
In these scenarios, the reason you are lacking the motivation to go to the gym is because you are focusing on avoiding something and not on what you want (and the behaviour required). Instead of focusing on making progress towards achieving your goal of getting in shape, you are focused on avoiding feeling tired or inconvenienced. You are focused on avoiding being uncomfortable.
When you perceive an activity or behaviour as leading to something that will make you uncomfortable, your brain interprets this as a threat and begins a process to intentionally demotivate you from engaging in that activity in order to successfully avoid being uncomfortable.
By performing a CGA, you can quickly recognize that you are not focused on what you want and are now in a position to switch your mindset so that you are consciously thinking about the benefits of going to the gym, and how good you will feel making progress towards your goal.
Key Take-a-ways
"Don't let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning." -- Robert Kiyosaki
Outside of being clear on your goals, and understanding why those goals are important, we have to be intentional with our actions and behaviours. Constantly assessing that they are aligned with what it is that you want.
This is why the CGA is so helpful. If you are not consciously assessing the alignment between your behaviour and goals, the environment around you (situations, people, feelings) will be the primary influencer of your actions, leaving the achievement of your goals to chance.
Positive motivation (what do you want) is always more powerful than negative motivation (what am I avoiding), as it is driven by excitement, change, and challenge. It is created by focusing on what you want, and what you need to do to get it.
Negative motivation on the other hand, is created by focusing on why you can't get what you want (avoidance). Maybe it's because you don't have the knowledge, skill or experience, but instead of focusing on developing those which you lack to achieve your goal (positive motivation) you are now focusing on the uncomfortableness and/or risks of doing something that you have little competency of, which is avoidance.
So in order to create positive motivation to help you get closer to achieving your goals, be thoughtful of you actions and regularly perform a Conscious Goal Assessment to ensure that your behaviours are aligned with making consistent decisions that are nudging you closer to your goal(s), and not on avoiding them.
If you are interested in learning more about the CGA, check me out on my website or you can contact me directly.
Lee Picco owns a consulting business focused on loss prevention and organizational behaviour. He has spent over a decade studying leadership, human behaviour, and identifying what motivates people.
In addition to his consulting business, Lee Picco is also a professional speaker and results coach who assists individuals & leaders perform at their best.
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