5 things to consider...
Are your motivators in life and/or work being met?
What motivates you changes, depending on your current circumstances. If you are feeling out of sorts…
Perhaps your creativity needs are not being met?
Maybe the security you are looking for, either financially or personally is missing?
Are you being rewarded fairly for the role you play?
You may feel detached from your team or be misunderstood.
These are just some of the things that may be important motivators for you that are currently missing.
To discover more about how well your motivators are being met at the moment, now could be a perfect time to complete a Motivational Map online. A Motivational Map can help you find out what you can do to improve the things that are important in your life and maintain that momentum.
Are your 'hygiene' factors in life and / or work being met?
No, I’m not talking about washing your hands regularly! This is about the motivator that shows up as least important to you on a day to day basis. However, if it was missing all of the time and was never acknowledged, it could start to become an issue.
For example - Recognition might be something that’s not a strong motivator for you. If it was missing all the time and you were never recognised for the contribution you make, it will become very important that you are not being taken for granted. In other words, your lowest motivator of being recognised (Basic hygiene conditions) becomes as important as your top motivators are, until they are recognised.
What do you value most?
Make a list of everything that you value in life.
Now reduce that list to the top 5 things that are non negotiable. Relate this top 5 to your life both personally and professionally. Are your values being met and in turn if they are not, how is this affecting your motivation?
Perhaps the people around you have different values and that's why there may be a clash.
Communication is key. Everyone’s values are important. Spending time now understanding what values are important to others and inviting them to hear what is important to you, will create a much better relationship, especially if each person discusses how they can support one another to bring those values to life more.
Why do goals work?
Whether I’m working with someone in a pure coaching space or coaching alongside a client's Motivational Map, goals are really important to maintain momentum and hold oneself accountable. Ideally it’s best if my client sets their own goals between each session we have, as they know best how much they can achieve before we meet again.
That said, I may challenge my client if I think they can achieve more before our next session!
Goals are good because…
They concentrate my clients efforts on a specific action.
They focus my clients on achievement.
Goals encourage new learning strategies.
Goals are chosen by the client, therefore they are important to them.
Clients control their own goals which allows for flexibility.
By setting realistic targeted goals, the client manages their own expectations. This can reduce anxieties & uncertainties while improving motivation and thus enhanced performance.
This sense of achievement is key to improving and maintaining motivation, so keep updating/reviewing those goals if it's all getting a bit stale!
Are you being realistic?
I know we can’t be doing all the things we like or want to do all of the time. Life just doesn’t work like that.
However, this shouldn’t stop us from checking in from time to time. We owe it to ourselves.
So take a look at your diary and allocate some “You time”.
And before you say “I’m too busy”, what are you busy with? Have you got a full diary that just says I’m doing this in service of others. What about you? How can you help and support others if you haven’t done this for yourself?
It’s that old adage - you need to put your own oxygen mask on first before you can help others with theirs.
Are you going to wait until you’ve reached burnout before you check in with yourself and take some quality time to re-energise?
So go on, pop some time in the diary each week to check in with yourself. Of course, the time you allocate is up to you.
Do it when you are feeling most productive, i.e. are you a morning person or would it be better after lunch or later in the afternoon?
Make sure it’s purposeful.
What are you going to do in that time which is really going to help you rebalance yourself? This should be as much of a priority as anything else you have on your to do list.
Don’t look for excuses -
I’m too busy.
I don’t do fluffy stuff.
I feel guilty taking time for myself.
What will others think of me? (Do they need to know??)
I’ll reiterate - If you don’t look after yourself first, how can you expect to support others?
A small amount of time could be all you need each week to rebalance, re-energise and put yourself back on track.
Footnote
I hope you find the above useful. If you would like to explore some of these themes further then do get in touch for some coaching or Motivational Maps sessions.
You’ll find more about what I can offer you in the “Services” tab.
Thanks for reading!
Ian.
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