One Simple Technique to Help You and Your Employees Achieve More
It's time to admit an inconvenient truth to yourself. Your life is likely more chaotic, more distracted, and more complicated than it was five years ago. If we let the minutiae in our lives take control, our long term goals will be sacrificed for meaningless distractions and good intentions.
As Paulo Coelho famously said, "One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now."
You need a strategy to help yourself achieve your goals in today's hurried world. Luckily, a powerful weapon against this distraction exists... and it's free.
A Confession
I have a confession to make: right now I'm exhausted.
I worked late last night, then committed one of the biggest sins of productivity and sacrificed my sleep. I could barely wake up when my alarm intruded upon my dreams this morning. But, even though my mind and body protested, I did wake up. So what's my secret?
Simple. I have a compelling reason why I'm writing this blog.
That's it.
Now before you close your browser in search of a more complicated system or app, hear me out because this could change your life. For me, it's not enough to know what I have to do. The real motivational power exists in knowing why. Updating the About page of the website forced me to crystalize my thoughts about why softuary.net is important, and why I devote my time and energy to helping leaders.
As leaders, we wield more influence over employee's lives than just their paychecks. That influence can be positive, or incredibly negative. The purpose of softuary.net is to enable leaders and managers to make better decisions and improve the lives of everyone working with them.
To me, being able to potentially help so many people is my compelling reason. It's what allows me to wake up early, even when I don't want to. Or to do research when I'd rather be playing with my kids, watching TV, or napping.
Success Is Hard Work
Succeeding in life is hard. If you are ambitious and have lofty goals for yourself and your business, then life can get even harder. Developing your compelling reason can generate enough motivation so you can persevere through tough and distracting times.
The same can also be said for your employees. As you go about your day running your operations, how often do you stop and help your employees develop a compelling reason why they do their jobs? And why their contribution to the business is important to achieve the overall goal?
Motivation is mainly internal (intrinsic) while de-motivation is mainly external (extrinsic). As a leader, you are not going to motivate your employees but you certainly have the power to de-motivate them. Their motivation is personal and must come from within themselves. Developing a personal reason why their work is important to them and others is a powerful way to assist them to develop motivation.
Next time, we'll talk about how to develop your personal compelling reason and how to coach your employees to do the same. Until then, take care, and I'll talk to you next time.
Image credit: Image by Vince Alongi used via CC by 2.0