A Tip on Motivation and Energy May 15, 2009
Posted by selfworks in Career and Work, Happiness and Success, Holistic Ideas, Personal Development (General).Tags: energy, energy tip, motivation, motivation tip
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Tips on motivation and energy usually all sound the same. They’re a variation on the, “Here’s a list of ten things to give yourself an almost superhuman boost” theme.
This one’s different.
The thing is, doing all that superhuman stuff is fine, until it isn’t. Until, perhaps, you realise that by attempting to get through a ridiculous amount of work/”stuff”/insert-the-pre-arranged-obligation-of-your choice, you’ve been ignoring a bodily low energy signal. And the signal, once ignored, turns into the necessity to rest for twice as long as you would have done if you’d paid it some attention in the first place.
Enough negativity. It’s just that sometimes, we need to think about an all-too-familiar scenario, in order to come to a new understanding.
What if, instead of being an annoyance, that needs to be, “motivated ” away, low energy could be your friend and ally?
Think about that for a while. As you do so, maybe you’re fine with it. Maybe the inherent relaxation behind the idea is already sweeping over you.
But maybe you’re not that fine with it at all. Very often, faced with the idea of low energy as an ally, and brought up in a world where, “hurry”, and “more” have always been seen as positives, low energy can be demonised.
Now, obviously, if you suspect a more serious long-term problem, go and consult a professional about it. Similarly, if you rarely have low energy, but know that it’ll be the case just for a few finite weeks or months, in a really good cause (and I mean really good, such as sleepless nights because of a new baby) then these ideas may not apply.
But otherwise, if you’re one of the millions of sleep-deprived , crotchety people taxing their adrenal system by continuously, “running on empty,” here’s the gist of the tip…
Please just stop. No “motivation technique,” in the world is going to help you, “power through”, the situation half as well as a good night’s sleep. Take low energy as your signal to rest and sleep, just as it was for the cavepeople whose genes we all still share. Then, once you’ve had enough rest, your natural sense of energy, and your natural drive to make a contribution, will be all the, “motivation”, you need.
Olympic thought August 20, 2008
Posted by selfworks in Confidence, Happiness and Success.Tags: confidence, motivation
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More about why it’s taken so long to blog again in the next post.
For now, being a distinctly unsporty person, I just have the one thought that might assist thanyone seeking to win out there.
It struck me after hearing Victoria Pendleton, gold-medallist in the (almost bizarrely) successful GB cycling team.
After expressing her joy, she said something like (and my apologies if there’s a slight misquote here:
“I felt I had to win…it almost feels like you have to win a medal to be in the team these days”.
So, after expressing matching congratulations, I’d just like to observe that maybe some of the more unfit amonst us might be helped to other goals by using a similar motivation. Because wanting to be part of a winning group may feel like a more comfortable motivation for many of us than an, “I’m marvellous and have to be the best” type approach.
Of course, first of all you have to find your winning group. But in this online world, they’re out there especially (and quite possibly waiting to have you as a member).
More soon
Clare
Is Bureaucracy Driving You Crazy at Work? June 13, 2008
Posted by selfworks in Career and Work.Tags: bureaucracy, influence, motivation
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Bureaucracy. Excessive paperwork. Forms that lead to more forms. You know the kind of thing.
They can be unavoidable in your private life. But at work, hoever insurmountable bureaucracy might seem, there are ways for anyone (whatever their position in the hierachy) to influence the situaition, and thus help themselves, and others, to gain more control over their working day. Here are three top tips that have worked for clients of mine in the past.
1. Don’t try to eat the proverbial “elephant”. Instead, identify the one small change in the way in which your organisation’s run that would make the most difference to you if it were to be different.
2. Work out its impact on others. For example, when you research the matter you wish to get changed, there may be a real reason why X needs that paperwork (eg. in order to comply with the law). On the other hand, things may be done that way, “because they always have” and be ripe for change).
3. Identify who is already empowered to make the change, and how your case needs to be put in order for that person to take it on board and make the change with enthusiasm.
For example, if anyone with a financial role is involved in the decision, it may help them to make it in your favour if you can show a clear business case to them (ie how the change will make/save them money).
And remember, they may in fact need to hear this information from someone other than you. In which case you still follow this step, but outline the case in the manner most likely to impress the person who will speak to the change-maker…bearing in mind that the easier you can make the potential spokesperson’s life by giving them a ready-made case to present ever-upwards, the greater chance you have of the change taking hold.
Put in the right way, you may be surprised at how quickly a number of small changes can be taken on board and start to add up. Give it a go, and watch your motivation and sense of involvement soar.
Ultimate Motivation? March 23, 2007
Posted by selfworks in Uncategorized.Tags: motivation
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Apologies in advance if this entry isn’t quite as tasteful as I usually aim to be. The thing is, this is a powerful point, and there really isn’t any other way to make it.
The story starts yesterday in central London. Where, for whatever reason, there’s a distinct lack of, er, public conveniences, places to go if you’re caught short, call them what you will. Small cafes artfully have just few enough seats not to be required to have them…And plenty of others in larger stores were, yesterday at least, “out of order”.
Which put me, as you’ll appreciate, in a fairly “desperate” position. But I had to find that loo.
Thinking quickly, I remembered I was close to a client’s office. I hadn’t been there for a while and the person on reception wasn’t someone I knew from before.
“It’s just weird to stride into a swanky office and ask for their loo,” I thought.
“But you have to,” screamed the rest of me.
So I did. And all was well.
But afterwards, the real point of the whole thing hit me. There are some motivations which are so strong that, whatever the obstacles, you, me, or anyone will find a way to power through them, because they simply have to do so.
So, if you’re seeking motivation, (or an idea that motivates you with sufficient force) we now know that there’s a way to measure whether your motivaiton is strong enough to move mountains.
Think back to a time when you absolutely had to achieve something. (It’s fine if it’s as basic as that which I’ve talked about. In fact, this will probably work better that way.). If your current motivation is, or could be, at that same level of intensity, you are, officially, unstoppable.
And if not, how about “borrowing ” that memory of ultimate motivaiton, just to power you through the task?
Have a great weekend
More soon
Clare
PS. Watch this space for the next Goodybag edition-at last!
Motivation or Money? February 13, 2007
Posted by selfworks in Uncategorized.Tags: motivation, rockefeller_files, wealth
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Hurrah, and please just excuse me whilst I do a dance of delight. At last, here’s a new and brilliant freebie item that actually works, and does even more than it sets out to do.
If you’re looking for motivation, this isn’t just a breath of fresh air, but a huge, blasting hurricane.
(And if you read this blog regularly, you’ll know that my tea-drinking British soul doesn’t normally pump out masses of dramatic metaphors, so you can guess the energising effect of this PDF).
So, what what is this marvellous piece? Before I tell you, please promise to have:
1) No pre-conceptions, and
2) To be honest with yourself. (For reasons which I’ll come to, this PDF will not be to everyone’s taste).
And the resource is…
OK, enough suspense. The resource is,”The Rockefeller Files.”
Now, hold onto that promise about pre-conceptions a second.
If you have any preconception such as, “Rockefeller. That must be about money, right? Oh, it’s no good for me-I’m not rich/don’t want to be,” you’d be both right and wrong.
The 51-page report is by a guy named Rockefeller. And yes, ostensibly, it deals with money (and specifically, money on the internet) But…it also deals with a heck of a lot more.
Basically, this man has put together a masterclass, not just in the reasons why people people set themselves up for failure, but also in what any of us can do right this minute to change things.
What makes this download even more special is that its energetic style pulls you into making those changes internally as you read. That makes it worth a read (especially at the outstanding price of free) whatever you want to change in your life.
The but
Yes, there is a “but”. Despite the energising and transformative nature of the “Rockefeller Files”, it probably isn’t for you if any of the following are true for you:
1) You get offended by people talking about money. That’s fair enough. There’s a tiny, old-fashioned, and fairly British part of myself that still suspects talking about money is just a little bit vulgar. It winced slightly when this PDF’s author mentioned wanting to be a billionaire. But be warned…talk of billionairedom he will. Bail out now if it isn’t for you, or you find it hard to accept that others have this right if they choose.
2) You need your personal development to be soft, gentle, or in any way sugar-coated. There’s absolutely no shame in that either. But this particular author is pretty brutally honest. (On the other hand, it could be that very plain-speaking that breaks down some of your barriers like never before…But again, you have been warned).
3) You’re 110% happy with your exact situation. This resource will work best if you’re at a point where you have internal cobwebs overdue for being blown away.
So, if you’re up for a wild ride, some truly effective motivation and/or a chance to explore the mindset of wealth, check out the Rockefeller Files.
And when I’ve stopped zinging from the effect of that PDF, I’ll be back soon with another post that’s calmer in character.
It’s probably time for a nice cup of that tea I mentioned…
Clare
Just Because You Can… December 17, 2006
Posted by selfworks in Uncategorized.Tags: decisions, motivation, personal_development
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Yes, it’s a Sunday blog. But everything is so pre-Christmas and topsy-turvy, why not?
Besides, there’s something to say that’s been brewing up for ages.
It started with an advert in our area for a cable company (bear with me, this gets to relate to personal development shortly). The company’s strapline seems to be, “If you can, you should”.
And on the surface, it’s a reasonable, and some would say, motivational, statement.
But having been faced with several people, in the last few weeks, who’ve either been urging me or themselves to do something, “because they can”, I’ve been revisiting the whole idea of “can” and “should” in tandem.
Why do these words pack a punch?
I’m still not sure about this. My best guess is that, rather like an elderly relative who says,
“In our day, we never had all your opportunities. You go and make the most of them!”
the motivation is a powerful combination of “towards” factors (the alluring “pull” of new possibilities) and the away from “push” that comes from fear of missing out, and/ or disappointing yourself or others.
So potentially, the idea that, “if you can you should” could cause a person to take an awful lot of action, right across the board, on a fairly powerful and unconscious level.
But…
But the phrase has the potential to make things harder rather than easier.
Let’s face it, there’s a huge number of things that we, as fortunate 21st century citizens, can do.
We can chuck everything in and go backpacking for a year. We can spend 18 hours a day building a business. We can form new freindships all over the globe via the internet. Etc, etc.
But just because we can do something, doesn’t mean, necessarily that we should. No-one says thta a given choice would necessarily be the best one for each and every one of us.
Internal stress
Which leads to a pretty stressful internal situation for many of us, which far from offering us more freedom and choice, actually goes like this inside your mind:
“Oh crumbs, which choice should I make? So many choices…Must take advantage of at least some of them-after all I’m so lucky to have them…But which choice should I make?”
And so the cycle carries on. And more often than not, it leads to people doing less than they might have done in an era with more “limited choice”.
One idea
What then, is the alternative? One idea that seems to be working for me, and several people that I know, is this.
1. Think about all the choices which really make you feel enthusiastic.
2. Filter out any that don’t give you that same buzz.
3. Of the remaining choices, pick the one(s) that seem both fun and practical.
4. Start taking action, being ready to make further changes if necessary.
In effect, even if you “can” do something, drop the “should”.
Hope this helps.
More soon.
Clare
