Monday Morning Motivation

Mike, my husband, and I spent a lovely evening with two great friends of ours over the weekend. Both very creative passionate people who’s company we thoroughly enjoy. We got to talking, as we usually do, about our work.
By the end of the conversation we were geared up for a great week ahead, reaffirmed in our commitment to the work that we do and overflowing with enthusiasm, helped a little by the mulled wine.

On reflection this morning I started to unpick the process that we went through, in a fairly fundamental way, to gain a deeper understanding of how that seamless and elegant process worked. I thought I’d share my initial thoughts in the hope that it may provide some Monday morning Motivation for you.

If you were a donkey, which I’m not suggesting you are of course, would you be more motivated by the carrot or the stick? If you were an athlete, would you be a sprinter, or a long distance runner? The Tortoise or the Hare? Sheep or Shepherd?

It’s fair to say, I think, that we are all slightly different in our motivation.

In Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) the patterns that I’m fascinated by in relation to motivation, amongst other things, are known as Meta Programmes. In straight forward terms, these are patterns in our way of thinking that we use to form our view of the world, preferences if you like that determine the filters we apply to the information we receive. It’s important to note that each Meta Programme or pattern is highly variable according to the situation.

As an example the carrot / stick analogy might be used to describe the Meta Programme of Towards – Away From. Does a person move towards pleasure, or away from pain in that particular situation? In my work, I’m very much pulled by the carrot, the stick just irritates me. When I’m moved to do the ironing, it’s because I can’t get in the room before climbing Shirt Everest! (Away From).
In the context of motivating my friend towards her work, the Towards also applies. The prospect of bringing to fulfilment creative, artistic, profound projects inspires her more than the need to pay the bills. I’ve also noticed this trait in a number of my friends and fellow networkers who have entrepreneurial tendencies.

So if we know the carrot motivates us, how can we use that?
I noticed, during our conversation, that we were loosely following a process that I often engage with when coaching, that may be useful if you’ve not considered this before.
Lets imagine being a donkey again, if there was a carrot round the next corner, but you couldn’t see it, it might edge you forwards for a while, but you would likely soon get bored and give up. It might not be as motivating for you as if it was hanging on a string, just out of reach of your nose. In order to be motivated by it, the carrot needs to be visible.

My friend is an artist, a really god one and she likes to work big. As we were talking I could see her imagining herself engaged in her work on these giant canvasses, painting and screen printing to her hearts desire. She could see the process and the end result including the delighted look on her clients faces when they hang their piece with pride. The more she saw, the more excited she became. When we added dialogue to the images in her mind and rehearsed those successful conversations she would have with her clients, it became even more real.

The process is a simple one that you can apply today. Create a simple vision for your work, ask yourself
“What’s the big picture here? Why am I doing this? What will it achieve for me? What’s the value of what I do for my clients?” All these things, start to make you feel good about what it is that you’re doing.
Then see yourself doing it with great success. Make the images big, colourful and real for you. To make it even more compelling use as many senses as you can. Add a soundtrack that reinforces it for you. Add the smells, make them really specific, for aromatherapists out there imagine that perfect top, middle, base note blend that works wonders on the mind body and soul, if you’re a chef, add the sizzle, the aroma, the taste! Make your vision as real as possible. Then dangle it in front of your nose….! Keep it in front of you when you need a lift or a spurt of motivation, remind yourself of why you’re slogging through your to do list, writing your blog, using market place, updating your status, making that call you might not want to make. Spend a minute of your precious time to paint a picture in your mind and re-motivate yourself.

I’ve only scratched the surface of meta programmes, mental rehearsal and the wealth of tools and techniques that are related to this fascinating field of motivation. Watch this space for future MmM’s or message me if I’ve inspired curiosity and you want to find out more.

“Motivation is like bathing, that’s why we recommend it daily.”