Motivation and Goals

The importance of motivation and goalsetting

Tim Connor,

Motivation is one of the most personal issues there is for salespeople.  Research has concluded that everyone has the potential for great motivation, but not everyone is willing to pay the motivational price to achieve whatever their dreams, desires or hopes are. A critical question that many people never really ask themselves is: what motivates me? What are some of the traditional motivators:

1. Money.

2. Security.

3. Fame.

4. Power.

5. Prestige.

6. Ego gratification

7. Winning.

8.  Being the best.

9. Doing your best.

10. Your family.

11. Your future.

12. Your past.

13. Not losing.

14. Personal satisfaction.

15. Approval of others.

16. To prove a point.

17. To get even.

18. To feel worthwhile.

19. To impress others.

20. To control others or situations.

Any of these sound familiar or drive you?  Do any keep you going when you are on the verge of quitting, giving up or throwing in the towel?

Let’s look at some of the common demotivators.

For years - thousands of managers, hundreds of speakers and trainers and dozens of authors have been preaching the benefits and value of: Self-motivation and goals as a way to achieve success, wealth and happiness.  

A de-motivator is:  anything - a person, or a circumstance - that acts upon you - and your interpretation of them or it and your  subsequent behavior is negative, passive or self-destructive.  There are hundreds of examples of de-motivators – here are just a few:

-negative people.

-people who invalidate you.

-people who don’t listen, care or are interested in you or your thoughts or ideas.

-an incorrect personal interpretation of failure, problems and/or adversity.

-goals that are consistently too high or too low.

-managers who rely on fear and punishment as motivators.

There are, six basic steps to peak performance behavior and results when it comes to self-motivation and goals:

1. Know what you want.

2. Know why you want it.

3. Know how you will get it.

4. Know what may stand in your way to achieve it: (outside -

    circumstances/people/events or inside - attitudes/emotions/fears/doubts)

5. Become aware of the outside-in and inside-out de-motivators and develop a

    plan to deal with them, prevent them or manage them.

6. Do something.  Begin.  Start.

De-motivators come in all shapes and sizes.  They can be your personal demons that no one but you are ever aware of or they can be a corporate policy or family rule that contributes to an – I don’t care anymore attitude.  Apathy is one of the most destructive human emotions when it comes to performance, productivity, happiness, success, motivation and overall behavior.

Conduct an internal as well as external self – audit of your de-motivators.  Identify them, question their purpose and value in your life, decide if it is time to rid yourself of their power over you or - learn to live with the consequences of keeping them in your life. 

One of the best ways to improve self-motivation and personal performance is to eliminate the de-motivators from your life, whatever form they take.

Do you have a consistent goal philosophy?

Even a goal to do nothing is a goal.  Everyone has goals, they just define them, move toward them or away from with a variety of perspectives or rationales. There are two primary reasons for setting goals.  First they give you focus.  Second they give you direction.

Focus.  Without focus it is difficult to hit a bulls-eye, take a good picture or avoid getting killed on a busy highway.  Focus is an essential ingredient in successful people.  They keep their eye on the ball.  Yes, there are distractions, unexpected circumstances and unknowns that will impact your keeping your focus, but focus you must if you want to succeed.

Direction.  The ultimate achievement of a goal is less important than the ability to continue working towards it. Many people achieve their goals and are disappointed once they get it.  A goal once achieved is a milestone yes, but you can’t just sit back and rest on your previous success.  Even a shark  will die if it doesn’t keep moving forward. 

When a winner doesn’t reach a goal they reexamine what needs to change and then changes the time frame to achieve it.  When a loser doesn’t reach a goal, they re-examine and then change the goal. Don’t worry about the destination, keep your eye on the ball in the present with what you can do now, not tomorrow.  Do something every day to move a little closer to your objective. 

You can’t have everything in your life you want but you can have anything.  Keep the understanding of this principle clear in your mind.  To set goals and not put accountability into the process is like whistling in the wind.  You are living in fantasy-land if you think you will achieve your goals for this year if you have not made progress toward them and you do not have some benchmarks or checkpoints along the way.

Here are a few questions to consider:

1. Are you satisfied with your progress toward your goals?

2. If, not which ones are you behind on?

3. Why?

4. Are you ahead of schedule on any of your goals?

5. Which ones?

6. Why?

7. Is it time to let go of any of your goals?

8. Is it time to add some new goals to this year’s list?

9. Who or what is affecting your negative goal progress?

10. Who or what is impacting your positive goal progress?

11. If you could go back to last year and begin this goal-setting process all over

      again would you have done differently?

12. What are you going to change in the next three months to ensure you are on

       target for your important goals?

Keep the goalsetting process simple and practical.

Some things to consider as you go through this process:

1. Set time deadlines for your goals.

2. Know the difference between tangible and intangible goals.

3. Reward yourself when you reach a goal.

4. Update them at least every year.

5. Share mutual goals with other people who can help you, influence you or will be impacted by them.

6. Set both short (hourly – 6 months) and long term goals (6 months to lifetime goals).

7. Record your accomplished goals in a journal.

8. Be willing to abandon a goal when you have lost interest.

9. Accept the fact that patience and faith are virtues.

10. Know your reasons for wanting to reach a goal.

11. Relax and enjoy the process.

12. Life is not about the result, but the process of becoming.

13. Accept the fact that you can’t do it all, have it all, learn it all, see it all, become it all, share it all in one lifetime.

14. Goalsetting is not a short term fix, but a life time philosophy.

15. Life can change in a heartbeat.

16.  Goals change as your interests, age and circumstances change.

17. Don’t edit the goalsetting process as you proceed thorough the steps.  (I don’t have the time now.  I can’t afford it now etc.  Don’t worry about being realistic in the beginning.  The purpose of the process is to add realism as you go.

18. Goals should be achievable, but also require some stretch.

19. Get in the habit of working on paper with your goalsetting.

20. Recognize that achieving goals takes effort, commitment, time and skills.

Common contributors to a lack of goalsetting success.

1. Lack of commitment to the process. 

2. Impatience.

3. Lack of follow through.

4. Lack of self-honesty.

5. Consistently setting goals too high.

6. No anticipating roadblocks.

7. Not allowing for enough time to reach the goal.

8. Setting only long term goals.

9. Setting only tangible goals.

10. A lack of support, resources from people who can help you.

11. Working towards a goal you don’t believe in or really want.

12. Not believing you will ever reach it.

13. Quitting too soon.

14. Not starting.

15. Poor records regarding your progress.

Creating balance in your career and personal life.

Balance in life means many things to each of us.  There are entire books written on the subject.  Here are a few of the critical factors in a balanced life. 

1. Move consistently and purposely toward meaningful goals in all

    seven areas of your life.

2. Live in the present - one moment at a time. The present is where

    your plans are made, memories are created and relationships built.

3. Live life from the inside-out, not the outside-in; taking full

    personal responsibility for the quality of your existence.

4. Let go of your old emotional baggage.  It keeps you stuck in the past

    and prevents you from experiencing true joy in living.

5. Accept the fact that life just is! It is not perfect.  Everyone has their

    share of pain, problems, disappointments, mistakes and struggles.

6. Daily count your blessings.

7. Live without regrets. Regret is a debt you can never pay. It will

    haunt you until your final day.

8. Make thoughtful choices. Choices become our ultimate destiny.

    Wise choices create a life worth living.

9. Live a simple and humble life. Keep your ego out of your actions,

    relationships, decisions and plans - you will find inner peace.

10. People, not things is what really matters. In the end it is not what

      you have accumulated that gives your life meaning, but people.

That’s it folks.  In summay, goals are not about the destination but the direction you are traveling,  not about accomplishing but enjoying the process of life, and not about more and bigger but peace, joy satisfaction and balance.