Stay Focused: 3 Ways to be More Self-Driven

We all have read those incredible success stories of regular people who seem to overcome all odds to claw their way to greener pastures and incredible achievement.

We ask ourselves, how did they did they do it?

Read the biographies of Elon Musk, Richard Branson, or JK Rowling. These people aren't necessarily lucky, blessed with more talent, or empowered by an abundance of resources. However, what they all are is consistently and unwaveringly self-driven. In fact, this is a trait shared by every single self-made successful person on Earth.

So how can we be more self-driven?

#1: Identify the Short-Term Win Opportunities

You may notice that when you perform a certain activity that has an immediate positive outcome, like playing a mindless game on your iPhone, you feel good. You are naturally motivated to perform more of that activity to receive the immediate gratification of that feeling again following the activity.

This experience is provided to us by the reward center of our brains through a neurotransmitter called dopamine. When we do something that triggers the reward center, dopamine is released, which gives us a little high and motivates us to keep moving forward.

Most successful self-driven individuals, including entrepreneurs, professional athletes, renowned artists, and politicians all take advantage of this natural wiring of their brains to keep them focused.

They identify an ambitious and ambiguous goal, such as starting a new business, and break that goal down into small, manageable tasks that can be completed quickly; they set themselves up for short-term wins. This allows them to actually see their progress towards their goal, which their brain kindly rewards them for with an extra kick of chemical motivation. Additionally, this gives them the opportunity to quickly correct-course if something doesn't go according to plan.

#2: Create Accountability by Sharing

Most of us value the opinion of our peers. We likely want to be considered reliable, skilled and trustworthy by our friends, family, and colleagues. With that in mind, an incredibly effective mechanism for keeping us on track is to share our goals with these audiences. In sharing our vision or plan for the future, we create expectations and in turn personal accountability.

This is a tactic used by many folks on the path towards a healthier lifestyle. They post a "before picture" of themselves on social media for their peers to see, declaring a goal of weight loss or weight gain. In most cases, these people tend to follow through on their plan by owning it.

I personally use the same approach with my CEO when I have ideas about the future of our company. I find that when I share an idea, such as updating our website or writing regular LinkedIn articles (like this one), the idea is much more likely to successfully manifest in reality.

Additionally, the feedback that you can receive from peers about your goals or ideas is invaluable. As the saying goes: "Two heads are better than one".

#3: Point Back to The Why

One of the biggest challenges for the self-driven is sustainability. In the face of failures or seemingly insurmountable obstacles, it becomes difficult to "see the light at the end of the tunnel", let alone receiving the regular, satisfying dose of dopamine from your brain.

So how do you push forward and persevere "in the weeds" when the voice in the back of your head is telling you...

• "I can't do it
• "I can do this later"
• "I could settle for less"
• "I should give up"

The answer is to constantly remind yourself of the bigger picture, The Why; why your goal IS important, why your goal IS worth the effort, and why you CAN do it. Many people hang motivational pictures on their wall for this reason, while others may listen to inspiring podcasts. They constantly remind themselves of why they are working so hard.

Successful businesses do a similar thing, by tying even the lowest level projects back to top-line business objectives. This allows their teams to always understand why an objective is important and why they should give 110% to achieving that objective.

Sustaining motivation is critical to remaining self-driven and emerging successful; never forget to regularly remind yourself of the big picture when you are in the weeds.

About the Author:

George Orlin is the Chief Operating Officer for Intelligent Transactions. He has over ten years of experience in helping retail brands drive brand engagement through the implementation and usage of software, process, and culture.

As a co-founder of several QSR-focused SaaS software startups, George has worked with many international and domestic restaurant brands to drive ROI and business results through the implementation of user-centered technology.

Intelligent Transactions is a technology consultancy with an extensive history of helping enterprise brands define and achieve their Store of the Future through pairing the right near-term and long-term technology strategies with their overarching business objectives.

Feel free to reach out to George by messaging him on LinkedIn or emailing him at [email protected]