To Motivate, you have to be Motivated first!

I have done numerous ‘motivational programs’ for organisations and surprisingly, 95% of these programs are for lower-level employees; rarely if ever for managers. And when asked, most organisations reply by saying that, “These lower-level employees are de-motivated and we think that a motivational course will help”. I have nothing against this, but just imagine what will happen when these ‘motivated’ employees go back to the office the next day. They will be full of enthusiasm and ready to ‘change’, and whom do they encounter – a de-motivated superior who tells them, “Just do the normal things here, don’t do anything clever!!” A great motivational course just gone down the drain!!

The problem here is a simple one – a de-motivated superior will always de-motivate staff!!?Imagine if the roles were reversed i.e. superiors going for a motivational course and then after the course, going back to the office full of enthusiasm and passion. Imagine the ‘amount of motivation’ they would be able to impart to their subordinates! Who wouldn’t want a boss who comes to work smiling, greeting everyone and assisting in ensuring a positive work environment?

In the situation above, the organizations have not considered the first law of motivation and that is ‘to motivate, you have to be motivated first’. We expect our superiors to do the motivation in organizations, and yet they are to a large extent de-motivated themselves. Shouldn’t we be concentrating our motivational efforts on them? And this is the irony at the workplace. We spend a lot of money trying to motivate lower-level employees and the results usually never meet our expectations. The reason is that we are concentrating our efforts at the wrong end. The secret to motivation in organizations is simple – you need to have motivated superiors!

Some simple but effective ways to self-motivate are as follows:

1. Always have goals in life. Write them down. Start simple by having a personal, career and financial goal. You will be surprised at how these goals can serve to motivate you. If possible, look at them at least once a day.
2. Read self-help books and listen to motivational tapes. I consider my car as a classroom because I listen to motivational podcasts every time I drive. I not only learn but I also get motivated in the process. Imagine listening to Anthony Robbins talking to you early in the morning as you drive to work. It definitely gets the adrenalin flowing. ?
3. Find people who are positive in their outlook and who can assist and guide you to achieve success in life. When you interact and mix with motivated people, you automatically become motivated!
4. Always try to have a positive outlook in life. If you want to find the negative things in your life, there will be many and if you are looking at the positive things in your life, there will also be many. My advice is to spend more time looking at the positives. Only you have control over what your mind thinks!!
5. To get going on the journey to success, you will need cheerleaders along the way! Hence choose your friends wisely. Mix and interact with passionate, positive people. They can do wonders for your motivation.
6. ?Finally, speak to people who have achieved their goals and learn from them. For example, someone who's started their own successful business or lost 20 kilograms in weight! Talk to them about how they did it? Their stories may be what you need to get and stay energized and motivated.

As said, the secret to motivation is to firstly be self-motivated. Only then will we be able to motivate other people. And even this motivation of people is temporary. The only permanent way to motivate would be to teach people to learn to self-motivate. And when this happens, the motivation will be self-sustaining as they will be able to put ‘oil on their own motivational flame’ on a constant basis.?