Words That Inspire - CHOICE
What CHOICE do you want to make?
Dictionary* says:
the act of choosing, power of choosing, a person or thing chosen, the best part, care in selecting.
What it REALLY means:
making a commitment to what matters to you; acting on your priorities and your values; expressing to yourself and to others what you want and need in your life.
Why it MATTERS?
CHOICE moves you from stuck into action; from uncertainty to decision. CHOICE gives you freedom from ‘what should I do?’
Questions that INSPIRE:
• What CHOICE do you want to make?
• What is preventing you from making a CHOICE? What would simplify this CHOICE?
• What would it feel like if you already made the right CHOICE for you?
• What are your values and priorities that influence this CHOICE?
• What can you do today to act on this CHOICE?
I would love to hear your answers and comments. Take 45 seconds to reply to these questions at Julie@juliecohencoaching.com. I will keep all responses confidential and reply directly to you.
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*(Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, 1977, G. & C. Merriam Co.)
© 2004 Julie Cohen, www.juliecohencoaching.com
Julie Cohen, PCC, is a Career and Personal Coach. She supports her clients to achieve greater career satisfaction. Formerly an Internal Executive Coach at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young LLC, she was part of the design team responsible for developing and implementing a national coaching program. Julie brings over fifteen years experience in corporate, non-profit and entrepreneurial entities to her work as a human development professional. Julie has a BA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and a MS in Counseling from Villanova University. She is a graduate of Corporate Coach University International’s and Coach University’s Training Programs, is a Past-President of the Philadelphia Area Coaches Alliance and a member of the International Coach Federation. She can be reached at http://www.juliecohencoaching.com
Luck, Do You Have It?
“I’m a great believer in luck,
and I find the harder I work,the more I have of it.”
Thomas Jefferson
Luck comes to those who work. You may think that other people are just plain lucky. Barbara Bush once said, “You don’t just luck into things as much as you would like to think you do. You build step by step, whether it is friendships or opportunities.”
The truth is, some people do do not see the effort lucky people put in. Like everything else in this life, you must put in effort. To quote Zig Ziglar, “This I do know beyond any reasonable doubt. Regardless of what you are doing, if you pump long enough, hard enough and enthusiastically enough, sooner or later the effort will bring forth the reward.”
Good fortune does not happen because of luck. When someone gets a promotion, some people see this as luck. If they took a closer look, however, they would soon recognize how much harder successful people have worked, how much effort they’ve given, and how much dedication and commitment they’ve demonstrated in order to go that extra mile. To quote Carl Zuckmeyer, “One-half of life is luck; the other half is discipline - and that’s the important half, for without discipline you wouldn’t know what to do with luck.”
Robert Collier said it best when he said, “All of us have bad luck and good luck. The man who persists through the bad luck, who keeps right on going, is the man who is there when the good luck comes, and is ready to receive it.”
So next time you feel like you don’t have any luck, remember these quotes and keep on going - step by step, with enthusiasm, discipline and persistence and you will find luck!
For more inspiration visit Inspirational Quotes 4 U http://www.inspirationalquotes4u.com/ where you will find inspirational quotes to inspire and motive you. Sorted by subject and by author. Plus a quote for each day of your week.
A Surefire Way To Manage Your Fears While Leading A Happier, Healthier Life
Imagine discovering a way to get rid of your fears in a
quick and painless manner. In fact it can even become fun!
Did you know only two of all the fears you have are innate:
The fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. Most of
your fears were learned in early childhood and then in later
life under stressful conditions.
Traditional therapeutic approaches would probably have you
trying to figure out where your fear originally came from.
Maybe they’d have you digging around in your childhood
memories, recalling times you ate the next-door neighbours
purple Tulips. This type of approach tends to associate the
client into reliving unpleasantness and can take a long time
to achieve useful results. Personally I think this style is
way out of date and bordering on torture.
You’ll probably be glad to know we’re not going to be doing
anything like that. The truth is you can easily and quickly
undo the learnings that created specific fears and change
your responses to something much more useful.
So just how do fearful feelings occur then? Well lets use a
common example: Fred wants a raise and he’s been wanting to
ask his boss for months. Finally he decides to go and ask.
BUT when he starts the walk down the corridor he starts to
feel certain sensations in his body. Weird stomach feelings.
His breathing is constricted. Slight sweating on parts of
his body. His vision is effected. Fred decides to turn back
and then sits down feeling slightly annoyed with himself.
His body started producing ‘fear chemicals.’ What happened?
“Well it was because he defied his Dad one time when he was
four. Let’s explore those forgotten memories….”
NO! NO! NO! Let’s do something much smarter and definitely
more fun.
Hey Fred come over here I want to show you something really
cool! O’ come on, pick your lip up.
You know how before you got up to go and ask the boss for a
raise, you felt OK right? So between the time you got up and
started walking something happened. Something triggered
those feelings in you. Here’s a fact for you: You either
made a picture in your head or talked to yourself in a way
that created those fearful sensations and that happened at
an unconscious level out of your awareness.
“OK Colin that might be true but so what, what’s your
point?”
Well the point is by changing the internal sounds, pictures
and voices in your head you can begin to gain control of
your emotions.
“Fair enough but how can I do that so when I’m in a similar
situation I automatically make useful pictures, sounds and
voices in my head so I remain in a resourceful state?”
Good question, here’s just one way you can achieve the
results you want using a simple and powerful tool from the
field of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
=== Soothing Movie Music ===
1.Think of a situation where you feel fear.
2.Dissociate: See yourself in the situation like you would a
movie with you in it.
3.Imagine running the memory from the END of the fearful
situation, BACKWARDS to the START. Do this very fast in less
then 1 second!
4.Think of some music that makes you feel the opposite of
fear. For example soothing classical music makes you feel
relaxed. Perhaps certain rock or dance music makes you feel
energised/courageous etc.
5.Now hear the music, nice and loud, inside your mind whilst
looking at yourself going through the situation from START
to END.
6.Break state. Now think of the situation you choose in Step
1 and notice how your fearful feelings have diminished.
7.What will you see or hear just before you want this new
feeling to set in?
© Colin G Smith is a licensed Master Practitioner of Neuro-
Linguistic Programming (NLP) and author of ‘The NLP
ToolBox’, a personal development book that enables the
reader to master any area of their life with amazing speed.
Complete information on Colin G Smith’s books are available
at his website, including a FREE personal development eBook.
http://www.nlptoolbox.com
Choosing Empowerment And Positivity - Feeding The GOOD Wolf
Choosing empowerment and positivity, or negativity and
unhappiness, is a decision that you’re making every day, whether
you realize it or not.
Native American culture tells the story of a man who explains
his own constant struggle between positive, empowering, creative
impulses and negative and self-destructive ones by telling his
son that he has two wolves fighting in his heart — a good wolf
and a bad one. The boy asks him which of the two will win the
battle. The father replies, “Whichever one I feed.”
It’s very true. The feelings that we nurture and return to, time
after time, are the ones which come to dominate our thoughts and
actions, while the ones we turn away from fade away.
The exciting thing is, we have a choice. Although the two wolves
both exist, we can choose which one of them we want to feed.
That means, we choose which one will win.
You probably know people who feel sorry for themselves, who
belittle others, who seem to get some kind of pleasure out of
feeling miserable, who portray themselves as victims and reject
the affections of anyone who doesn’t offer constant sympathy.
Often it seems to everybody but themselves that they actually
have a whole lot going for them, but they’re apt to be defensive
if anyone should ever dare to point that out!
That’s a classic example of what happens when you feed the bad
wolf. You don’t satisfy an appetite for any kind of feeling when
you feed it - you only make it stronger. If you indulge negative
feelings about yourself or other people, you strengthen them
until they’re very hard indeed to break away from.
The other side of the coin’s what happens when you feed the
good wolf. If you know people who always seem to get a
real kick out of life, who laugh a lot, have lots of friends and
interests, and light up the room with energy and sparkle, who
succeed in everything they turn their hand to and who always
seem to have a lot of fun, you don’t need ask which wolf
they’re feeding.
So, how do you feed the good wolf, then?
You give it what it most enjoys.
It has the most enormous appetite for feeling good, for having a
positive self-image and strong self-esteem, for kindness,
understanding, positive attitudes and healthy laughter. It feeds
on self-respect, and tolerance for other people. It thrives on
learning skills for the achievement of a purpose, and it loves
the satisfaction of attaining worthwhile goals. It laps up
happiness.
Above all, it relishes enjoying life and sharing joy with
others.
When was the last time you wanted to laugh aloud, or sing, or
dance, or turn a somersault, just from the sheer delight of
being alive? That state of mind’s the one that feeds the good
wolf best of all.
If your good wolf’s been going hungry, here’s how you can
provide it with an instant banquet.
Sit back and relax, and clear your mind of everything. Just let
your thoughts all drift away, and feel yourself becoming warm
and comfortable. Let your mouth relax into a smile.
Now, think of something that makes you feel exhilarated. It
doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it’s something that makes
you light up as though somebody had pressed a switch. This isn’t
the moment for something comforting and soothing - this is about
the sort of joy that makes you want to shout out from the
rooftops that life’s wonderful.
If that’s not the way you feel right now, then think of of
anything that’s ever made you feel delight and wonder. If you
can’t immediately remember anything that’s made you feel that
way, imagine what it would feel like to be totally
spontaneous and carefree.
Now, focus on that feeling, and experience it as strongly as you
can. Revel in it… relish every detail. Your subconscious mind
can’t tell the difference between what’s really happening and
what you only feel is happening, so concentrate on that
great feeling till it becomes completely real for you.
Do this for at least 10-15 minutes, and make yourself a promise
that you’ll do it regularly. That way you’ll give yourself a
surge of energy that will benefit yourself, your work and all
you come in contact with.
Remember that you will get what you focus on, whether
it’s positive or negative. What’s more, you won’t just get it,
you’ll BECOME it… an upbeat, enthusiastic, sparkling and happy
person, or a miserable and self-destructive loser.
The choice is yours. Your mind will give you everything you ask
of it — and it will give you it in quantities you haven’t
dreamed of yet.
Make sure you feed the good wolf… because the wolf that
wins the battle is the one you feed.
Creating Abundance in your Life
Money for most people is associated with lack, scarcity and
stress. Stress around money can ruin the quality of your
life. This stress is created in your mind, in what you think
and feel about money.
Just watch your thoughts. How often during the day do you think:
If I only had more money. Or: ‘It is never enough’, or ‘Money is
not for me’.
These thoughts have power, more power than the money in your
purse or bank account. Having enough money is not a question of
the sum that is at your disposal. Enough or not enough tells
you something about the discrepancy between your desires and
your material reality.
Of course, you need a substantial amount of money to cover food,
cloths and a roof above your head.
But what makes life then worthwhile is not more money but having
good friends, freedom and the ability to think over the great
threats of life such as death, disease and poverty.
This is not new knowledge. Thousands of years ago, the Greek
philosopher Epicurus already came to this conclusion.
Epicurus explored the concept of abundance or true wealth
that makes our life fulfilled. Wealth comes from the root
word weal which means a sound, healthy or prosperous state of
well-being.
The feeling of abundance is a state of mind. Some people
call it prosperity consciousness. The sense of lack is
also a state of mind called poverty consciousness.
Your thoughts have the potential to bring into your life that
what you focus on all day. This is the law of physics that
“energy attracts like energy”.
Your mind and your thoughts are part of that energy which is
underlying your visible world. Quantum physicists call this
reality the quantum field.
The practical application of this basic law of physics is that
you have the choice to put your mind towards abundance or
lack.
This process happens all the time but mostly you are choosing
unconsciously through your negative or ambivalent feelings and
all the words that run like an inner tape.
You have inherited attitudes, thoughts and beliefs about money
from your family, friends, media and culture at large.
Examining and exploring your habits, thoughts and feelings
about money are essential to create abundance in your life.
To support you in your quest, I offer a free course on positive affirmations
concerning money, love and health. Are you wondering about this
combination?
Well, from a certain perspective, money is just one form of
energy. If you feel very tight around money you may also
feel tight around giving your love and appreciation to others.
If you feel abundant in yourself, you will tend to share
wholeheartedly your care as well as your material resources in
as much as you can afford it.
A restricted attitude towards life will also constrict your
health, while an abundant attitude will draw everything towards
you that will enrich your life and well-being.
Money, love and health are very closely related as I can
see each month when I deal with those issues within the distance
courses. Even if I focus on a money issue, a relationship theme
or a health issue may easily show up and vice versa.
Becoming conscious of your habits, thoughts and feelings about
money is a first important step but often not enough to really
shift the deep-rooted energetic patterns that hold the
attitudes, beliefs and feelings of lack and scarcity in
place.
To help you shift those patters, I offer my forty years of
research, work with thousands of people from all over the world
and a lifelong experience of Selfgrowth and transformation
to assist you in achieving money and abundance together
with a fulfilled life and good health faster, less painful and
more effective.
Personal presence is not required to fully benefit from it. You
can sit comfortably at home and pace the process according to
your needs.
For more information, check out the
distance courses on my website
Executive Coaching -The Business Benefits
Executive coaching is an investment for you and your business and you need to understand what returns you will get. How exactly will you benefit from it?
On a practical level, much executive coaching nowadays is carried out by phone, so there is no time wasted in travelling to meetings. A phone call can simply be diaried in for the home or office to fit around your other commitments. E-mails are then used to correspond between phone calls as necessary.
The relationship between coach and client is one of total confidentiality, so you can speak completely openly without worrying about office politics or watching your back. This alone can be an enormous relief from the competitive world of modern business.
You decide what our objectives will be and the coach works with you to ensure you achieve them. Examples might be gaining promotion or getting a job in another company or industry, improving relationships with colleagues and/or customers, improving sales and profits or finding new clients.
You look carefully at your goals before setting them, to make sure they are really what you want. How will their achievement impact on your home life and friends? Is the goal achievable? You will also agree on ways of judging your success - sometimes it may be obvious, such as being offered the job, other times less so.
In talking to your coach and answering their questions, you will begin to learn more about yourself and how you habitually respond to certain situations. You will also begin to understand others better and why they behave as they do.
You become clearer about situations which have been problems in the past and see alternative responses. With the support of your coach you have the confidence to try out different responses, to find out which works best.
You will find that with the one-to-one support of coaching, your development is rapid and sustained. Attending a training or personal development workshop can be inspiring at the time, but the effect quickly wears off once you return to your daily routine. Executive coaching makes positive change much more likely to be permanent.
You find that getting results and becoming more productive is easier and less effortful.
And finally, you are learning valuable resources which you can continue to use once the coaching is over. You will be able to coach yourself!
Andy Britnell is an executive coach who works with businesspeople in both the private and public sectors who wish to achieve better results. More information can be seen at http://executive-coaching-for-business-growth.com/ and http://executive-coaching-for-business-growth.com/business-growth.html
Motivation In The Legion
What can motivate humans to achieve the extraordinary? This article tries to find out by examining the experience of 12 volunteers who decided to spend a month training like the legionnaires.
For generations, the French Foreign Legion has been romanticized as a refuge for men seeking a second chance in life. But what is the Legion really like?
Recently, I watched a television series on the UK ITV Channel 4 in which explorer Bear Grylls and 11 other volunteers headed to the searing heat and scorching sand of the Sahara desert to find out. They attempted to endure a month at a camp that replicated the Legion’s own basic training.
The French Foreign Legion was formed in 1831 as a mercenary army to fight France’s colonial wars in Africa. You couldn’t join if you were French. The Legion gave recruits a new identity with no questions asked. It drew men from all walks of life from criminals to old Etonians.
Nowadays, it is a modern fighting force of 8 thousand men who train in the South of France. Men sign on for 5 years minimum. However, North Africa is still regarded as its spiritual home. There are recruits from 136 nations in the legion. Their common language is French
The Legion is still a legendary force famous for heroism and endurance. Members of the Legion were first motivated to join by their desire to escape their past or by their wish to be part of a legend. But what kept them motivated when they realised they had landed themselves in some kind of hell for five years?
What can keep the rest of us motivated when we realize we have bitten off more than we can chew? Maybe we can learn from the lessons experienced by Bear Grylls and the eleven volunteers who had one month of hell in front of them
They were yelled at in French from word go. However, Sgt Chef Peter Hauser made some concessions to television and spoke in English at times:
“It will be for you the hardest month of your life but at the end of it you will be better; you will be stronger. From this moment, don’t think anymore. Just do what we tell you to do.”
The Sergeant Chef then gave a sample of what he meant. He shouted out:
“Passu! Debout! Passu! Debout!” He pointed downwards when he shouted “Passu!” and pointed up when he shouted “Debout!” He spoke fast without hesitation.
The temperature was over 40 degrees and getting hotter. However, the men did not hesitate to obey orders. They flung themselves to the ground (passu) and then stood up (debout) with enthusiasm mixed with fear.
If we had the same control over ourselves as the Sergeant Chef had over the men, we would achieve much more than we do. We would not waste time getting out of bed slowly for a start. “Debout!” Just stand up and get going!
We would not hesitate to do what we did not feel like doing. We would not think; we would simply act. We could learn to shout continuous and rapid commands to ourselves in our own brains so that we would not leave any space for doubts and excuses and fears to slow us down. We could also be affirming in our minds that we are getting better and stronger.
Later, Sergeant Glenn Ferguson, a combat veteran and ex-legionnaire took over. He was from America but had fully embraced the language and spirit of the Legion. He had a fierce pride in having been a legionnaire.
“Ne regard pas! Don’t look at me! You don’t have the right to look at me. I am here to break you. This is what you want. This is why you came. I need men not a bunch of screaming women cos they got hurt feet; because their knees hurt; because their arms hurt; because their back hurts
Behind me is a bell if you’re tired and you want to go home because you miss your mommy; because you miss your girlfriend; you will ring the bell and you can go home but you will have to spend 24 hours in jail as agreed. We don’t want whiners we don’t want losers; those that do not give 110 percent.”
Sergeant Ferguson teaches the concept of pride. Slackers and non-achievers do not deserve even to look at the achievers until they too have faced and overcome the same obstacles and privations.
He also teaches us not to give in because we feel pain. I experienced the sore feet he mentions when I was about 17 years old. My friend and I foolishly decided to walk around the TT motorcycle race course in the Isle of Man. We were young and stupid and wore gym shoes! The course was about 36 miles long.
Our feet gradually swelled up and were painful. Temptation came in the form of a kind driver who offered us a lift about 5 miles from the end of the course. Our pride kept us going and we turned down the offer and walked to the end.
We felt like heroes but could barely walk for a week. Sometimes you need to ignore the pain to achieve your objective.
Sergeant Glenn taught a great lesson on how to think of pain.
He spoke to one of the volunteers who was holding the press up position:
“Do you know every man has his breaking point?”
“Oui! Sergeant.”
“Do you realise I can make you stay in this position for hours?”
“Oui! Sergeant.”
“Do you know what pain is? Pain is weakness leaving your body?”
“Pain is weakness leaving the body!” What a great thought to hold in your mind when you are in pain. When I studied Kung Fu under Tony Leung from Hong Kong, we would spend half an hour in a horse stance (standing as if we were sitting on a very wide horse) until our legs shook with the pain and the strain. A thought like “Pain is weakness leaving your body” would have helped.
We can learn at least three great motivational lessons from the above.
Don’t think; just do. Empty your mind of everything except your next action. Give yourself urgent,no-nonsense commands.
Have pride in the person you can become by ignoring whatever is hurting.
Become strong by telling yourself that pain is weakness leaving your body!
If you would like an acronym to help you to remember these lessons (and all great lessons are well worth remembering) make up your own or try this one: DIP (D for Do - I for Ignore the parts that hurt - P for Pain is weakness leaving your body)
About the author
John Watson is an award winning teacher and fifth degree black belt martial arts instructor. He has recently written several books about achieving your goals and dreams.
They can be found on his website http://www.motivationtoday.com along with a motivational message and books by other authors
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I Give Free Consultations… So, Why Don’t They Hire Me?
I show my clients a way to answer the question, “So, What Do You
Do?” quickly and effectively. What I sometimes hear afterwards
is, “Anna that works great, people now ‘get’ what I do and say,
‘Yeah, I could sure do with help like that’ but they’re still
not hiring me. What am I doing wrong? I get them talking about a
problem and help them arrive at a solution. I then ask if they
want some more coaching. They respond, ‘No, I’m fine at the
moment, I’ll let you know’. ” Coaches feel tempted to start
coaching right then and there. It’s a natural tendency because
we are good problem-solvers and want to showcase our ability as
competent coaches. Next time someone shows interest in your
coaching, ask questions to discover some of their challenges -
BUT DON’T TRY TO SOLVE THEM at this time. You see…they don’t
need a “freebie” session to be convinced you are a good coach.
They need to hear pertinent questions designed to find out is
troubling or impeding them. Show you care enough to find out the
big picture of what is going on and you’ll peak their interest
in hiring you. The idea is leave people wanting more of your
help. Ask, listen carefully and file their answers in your mind.
Then talk about an ideal solution. Not your solution, a general
ideal solution. Use phrases like: “Wouldn’t it be great if you
felt more confident doing ……” “It would probably be ideal if you
could make better decisions that resulted in …… Is that right?”
Here is another common frustration I hear: “I offer a
complimentary coaching session and even then I don’t always
convert them.” What I recommend is to offer a complimentary
coaching assessment session. Where you find out what’s bothering
someone, how bad it is and how committed they are to solving it.
If they are not committed to clearing the problems and moving
ahead or do not have the money, why waste your precious time
(and theirs) going on about how you can help? The simple
question to ask before any coaching gets done is: “How committed
are you to solving this?” If they say “very committed”, then you
can suggest a coaching plan that suits their needs and budget.
You’ll show them that: *You know your stuff by asking questions
that get to the heart of their frustrations *They need your help
- talk about an ideal solution and get their agreement *With
some dedicated coaching from you, they can reach their ideal
solution. *Working with you on X number of sessions will benefit
them in many ways Show professionalism by delving into what is
important to solve and then estimate of the number of coaching
sessions that will help. If a person or organization doesn’t
have the money or determination to clear their issues then we
can safely conclude that they are not our ideal clients and
there are thousands out there who are. Learn more about how Anna
Kanary can help improve your ability to get hired for your
services and attract the kind of clients you love to work with,
by visiting http://www.AnnaKanary.com or join one of Anna’s
high-content, interactive TeleClasses click here to choose the
right one for you. Anna’s Upcoming TeleClasses.
Motivate Your Team To Top Performance
For many years in the mid 20th century, it was believed that the
key to improving the contributions of workers was motivation.
Motivating people - what you need to do to get others to do what
you want - became the holy grail of management.
The motivational psychologist, Victor Vroom, studied 500
companies in search of one universal theory of motivation. But
to no avail. Nobody, it seems, knows precisely what motivates
people and what doesn’t. Nevertheless, much of our management of
people relies on motivational techniques of one sort or another.
Here are the top 7 in use today.
1. Carrot And Stick. The most basic form of human
motivation is pleasure and pain. We seek those courses of action
that we believe will result in pleasure and avoid those that we
believe will end in pain.
This simple instinctive theory suggests why many average
performers dislike the thought of change. They believe it will
be uncomfortable, require too much effort and involve painful
self-awareness.
The “carrot and stick” is the practical application of the
instinctive theory of pleasure and pain. In these cases, we are
offered the prospect of something pleasurable as a carrot
(money, praise, kind words, a happy workplace, security…) and
the prospect of something painful as a stick (loss of money,
loss of job, bad feelings, unhappiness, a dismal cv, a poor
reference…)
2. Money. F.W. Taylor and the early management theorists
were in no doubt that money was the only true motivator. Their
simple management theories were built around the concept that,
to get a person to perform and continue to perform, you only
needed to pay him enough. Taylor proved this by showing how
people responded to incentive schemes. But money is not a simple
motivator. Its motivational effects may last only a short time
and when it is given disproportionately and unfairly or in place
of things people would rather have, it may even act as a
disincentive.
3. Recognition. Recognition and non-recognition are the
emotional equivalents of the carrot and the stick: recognition
of ourselves and our work makes us feel good; non-recognition
and being taken for granted makes us feel bad.
While seeking their own theory of motivation, a team of
psychologists led by Elton Mayo carried out a series of
experiments at the GEC Hawthorne plant in Chicago in the 1930’s.
In one renowned study, they experimented with different levels
of lighting. To their amazement, productivity went up when
conditions deteriorated. The experimenters concluded that it was
their own presence and the recognition given by them to the
workers that made all the difference to how well people worked.
4. Meeting Our Needs. Needs motivation theory argues that
we are more motivated by what we don’t yet have and need, than
what we do have and no longer need. This is the motivation that
drives both rich and poor to work: the rich, perhaps, to meet a
need for achievement, the poor to meet a need to survive.
Psychologist Abraham Maslow identified five recurring and
ever-present needs that motivate us…
the need for basic requirements such as money and what money can
buy
the need for security, both psychological and real
the need for social contact
the need for recognition from others
the need for self-fulfilment.
5. Goal Motivation. Research shows that goals which are
clear, specific and reachable produce a higher level of
motivation than goals which are vague, unspecific and out of
reach. Desired goals that are just outside our reach have an
almost magnetic effect on us. Research by Leavitt and Mueller
found that when a group was given specific goals, 62% of the
targets were met as against only 27% when the goals were not
specified. Motivational goals need to be more than specific:
they should also be ones that people feel strongly about, should
be worthwhile and should fit in with other things that the
person wants.
6. Meaningfulness. When people see little or no
connection between what they do and why they are doing it, there
is usually a low level of motivation. People are merely going
through the motions. This can happen when there is distance
between the producers and consumers. Bridging the gap through
information, education and feedback can turn meaninglessness
into meaningfulness. Wyatt describes how during the Second World
War the output of British armament factories rose by three times
after the factory workers met and spoke to the air crews who
were to use their products.
7. Personal Motivators. Personal motivators are those
things that fire up individuals and are always more powerful
than using standard motivators, such as money and status. Good
managers recognise the value of finding out the things people
want to do because they want to do them. Here are the top 9
things that people will do without too much effort on your part:
the chance to excel at something
the chance to work with others
the chance to do something high-profile
the chance to be creative
the chance to do research
the chance to serve others
the chance to do new and exciting things
the chance to take charge
the chance to do things in our own way.
“The more I want to do something, the less I call it work.”
(Richard Bach)
While there is no single, simple theory of motivation that works
in every case with everybody, you can still use these 7 theories
as the basis of working with different members of your team and
produce the productivity results - and more - that your team are
capable of.
Norman Rockwell - The Man Who Created His Own Reality
In preparation for a class I taught today, I spent some time this week studying the life and works of American artist Norman Rockwell. His idealistic paintings, portraying the innocence of a simpler time, were featured for decades in publications such as The Saturday Evening Post and Boy’s Life. They were and still are beloved by millions. His critics in the art world, however, are many and outspoken.
Fellow artisans accused him of trying to dictate to Americans how they should view America. Rockwell’s work was said to conjure up “a fantasy of a virtuous America”. His paintings were thought to have almost a brainwashing effect over their admirers. It was once said of Rockwell that his illustrations convinced people that they were happy when they really weren’t.
The more I studied Rockwell’s life, art, and words, the more I realized how wrong his critics were. Rockwell actually was painting life as he personally saw it. His reality - the reality that he created for himself - really was that idealistic. He saw and therefore painted an America where people were good and kind, patriotic, simplistic, and truly blessed. Virtue was in abundance in Norman Rockwell’s corner of the world.
While I don’t believe that his intent was to brainwash his many fans, he did change the way Americans saw America, when they saw it through Rockwell’s eyes. People were inspired to be and do better.
Norman Rockwell once proclaimed of himself that he was “addicted to idealism”. How was he able to feed his addiction and create an idealistic reality in which to live and work? From tidbits of his writings, I firmly believe that he must have lived by the following principles: We are whatever we see ourselves to be. How we choose to view our lives will create our reality. Our chosen reality, not fate, will determine our happiness and prosperity in this life.
Rockwell’s critics could not see past the reality they had created for themselves. They lived in the same America, but sifted for what was decrepit and evil. Their choice was to live in a country devoid of innocence and virtue.
Rockwell’s life and work are just more proof to me that if we choose to see the good around us, we will create more good. It doesn’t matter if we are talking about idealism or money, the principle is still the same. “As a man thinketh, so is he.”
Heidi Whitaker is an author and speaker on the topic of nutritional support of autoimmune disease. She is also the co-owner of http://www.healthydivas.com. To read other articles written by Heidi or to learn how to participate in her next free teleseminar, visit her blog at http://autoimmune.myblogsite.com/blog.