Entrepreneurial Journey with Thomas O'Grady

My topic today is SELF-MOTIVATION:  How do you GET it, BUILD it, and REPEAT it over and over again?

Think about people you know who are filled with energy and zest for life.  These are the people who seem to be up and going at dawn.  Then think about those who are on the other end of that spectrum.  We all know people who fit both descriptions, but, the truth is that most people are probably somewhere in between.

Self-motivation is not some outside force that motivates you, nor is it “passion.”  Remember from Episode 25 what I said about passion.  “Passion sucks!  And it can pull the life right out of you!”  You CAN develop a passion for what you do, and I’ve seen it happen in many different occupations.  However, even people who are THE MOST PASSIONATE have some tasks that they DON’T love or feel passionate about or even like.

If you are in business or are going into business, you need to find that motivation to get PAST all those things that you don’t like to do.

Let me illustrate it this way:  A guy may decide to open a restaurant because he pictures himself welcoming in his friends, and he loves to cook.  He may quickly find out that he can’t do what he WANTS to do because of all the other things he MUST do.  These tasks can’t—or won’t-- be done by anyone else and they take up most of his time.

What else can we say about SELF-MOTIVATION?

* You build self-motivation through self-confidence.

* Over time, you gain self-motivation to get each task done and then the next one.

* You have to learn skills to motivate others and motivate yourself.

Self-motivation changes with age.  When people are young, they are TOLD what to do, what is needed, and what is expected.  Parents and teachers give permission, rewards, punishments, and guidelines.  Most people don’t develop much self-motivation until 18-20 years of age when they learn responsibility at entry-level jobs.  These experiences are important to help us learn what we should and shouldn’t do.  Later on, people have to define their own goals, passion, and steps to take.

Do you want to develop more confidence and self-motivation?  You have to have successes.  The best way to do this is to break down what you do into multiple small bits and pieces.  Over time, you build more successes, more confidence, and more self-motivation.

My analogy to explain this concept involves my neighbors, my lawn, and my yard work habits.  My neighbors are constantly amazed at how wonderful my lawn looks, but I spend almost no time maintaining it!  I break the “big job” down into small pieces, none of which takes more than 15-30 minutes at a time.  I have a bunch of small, satisfying tasks that keep my lawn looking great:  mow the front yard, mow the back yard, do spot-weeding, trim, put down lime/fertilizer, etc.  If I don’t have much time, then I meet my expectations by accomplishing small tasks.  Some of my neighbors have terrible lawns, simply because they look at it as a HUGE job, and they never get around to it.  On the other hand, my method gives me a great lawn with all tasks accomplished, and I have a great reward for each small task along the way.

I used the same SELF-MOTIVATING strategy in college: breaking large tasks into small pieces of study, breaks, etc.  Each task is a small goal that helps build self-confidence.  For example, writing a book or a dissertation is a HUGE task.  It is impossible to accomplish unless you break the job into little pieces, and each piece is a success!  Think of each task as a confidence-booster, a pat on the back, and motivation to move on to the next task!