Nonitage

We all have a lack of self motivation at times. We can learn a hundred ways to improve our lives, but then hesitate to act. Something less important catches our attention, or we just don’t feel like doing what we need to do. Even a person who is normally highly motivated can sometimes have a hard time getting started on an important task.

Is there a solution? There are probably dozens of them. Below are six of the best self motivation techniques that consistently work when used. Try them all, but if you find even one or two here that work for you, you’ll be on your way.

Self Motivation Techniques That Work

1. Talk to get motivated. One of my favorite ways to create energy and motivation is to talk. Once I tell my wife about the article I’m going to write, I’m out of my slump and back at the keyboard. For less inspiring tasks, talk about the larger goals it will help you achieve.

2. Stimulate your desire. Seeing their potential future motivates many to sign up for get-rich-quick plans. The really good salesmen can put you in your imagined dream home in minutes, and make you feel motivated to do anything to make it real. Learn to be your own salesman.

3. Stimulate your pain. One Neuro-Linguistic Programming technique is to mentally link pain with not acting. It is like when finally stop hitting that snooze button on the alarm, and get up because you think you might lose your job. Just imagine any bad consequences that may occur if you don’t do what you need to do.

4. Find a true interest. If you have no interest in what you are doing, it might mean you need to do something else. If it’s just a task you dislike, but it needs to be done, relate it clearly in your mind to the greater goal. I don’t like to drive, but I don’t have a motivation problem when I’m driving to the mountains for a vacation.

5. Boost your energy. You need energy for self motivation. Coffee may help for a while, if caffeine doesn’t create other problems for you. Exercising and sleeping well help too. Yo should also watch out for sugary foods. The “sugar blues”kill motivation. Once you find energy boosters that work for you, make a list and keep it handy for future use.

6. Take any small step. I’ve found if I commit to raking up one bag of leaves, I soon want to finish all the yard work. Taking any small step towards your goals is a great self motivation technique. To make this even easier, break larger goals down into small steps.

Motivation techniques really do work, but don’t ask me how to get motivated to use them. In any case, you were motivated enough to read this far, so you’ll be fine. Oh, and humor is number seven. A good laugh can overcome that feeling of being overwhelmed that sucks away self motivation.

Steve Gillman has been studying brainpower and related topics for years. For more on How To Increase Brain Power, and to get the Brain Power Newsletter and other free gifts, visit: www.IncreaseBrainPower.com

So I wanted to buy a car. It was a tough choice but I decided that my next new car would be a Volvo. So I drove down to a local dealer and told him I wanted to take a look at a few Volvos and could he help. “Of course” he replied.

After viewing a few of the cars I decided to test drive one of them. As I drove around the salesman went on about how great this car is and how customers don’t complain about the car and how they love their Volvos. I then asked him to be more specific about what customers like about their Volvo. He seemed to hesitate. It quickly became obvious no one had ever asked him to be specific. He said, “Well you know, people like the way it drives and how it looks.” He rambled on but never got into specifics.

After a few test drives and more “oohs, ahs” about how great it would be to own a Volvo I thanked him and left without buying a car. I just wasn’t sure and wanted to think about some more.

About a week or so later I decided to go back and test-drive some Volvos again. This time I went to a different dealership hoping to get another flavor before making up my mind.

The salesman that greeted me was a polite and unassuming individual. We’ll call him Jack. Jack asked me simple questions about what I was looking for in a car. I also told him that I had test driven a few Volvos but was unsure of whether to buy or not.

Jack listened and nodded his head and said, “Alright. Let’s begin with the model you like the most.” I said, “Sure.”

We got into the car and I was ready to start the car when Jack asked me to wait a minute. Jack then went on to explain the features of the car. By the time he was done I understood what every button on the panels, dashboard and doors could do. Then Jack explained how many of these features would make my drive more comfortable. It became quickly apparent that Jack understood how to sell benefits, not features.

When we finally started driving, Jack began to go into the history of the Volvo; origin, model transitions and improvements and on and on. It was like listening to a Volvo documentary…with me in it!

When we finished driving, Jack stepped me around the car to explain some of the hidden safety features. Volvo is known for being one of the safest cars in the world. And after Jack’s mini-tour around the vehicle I understood why. Needless to say, within an hour I was sitting down in his office finalizing the paperwork to purchase my first Volvo.

I gleaned a couple lessons from this experience that I want to share with you.

First, Jack wasn’t a ’slick’ salesman. He was an average guy with a very modest demeanor. Most people have it in their heads that to be a great salesperson you have to be a fast and smooth talker. Wrong. Who would you trust more? A fast talking salesperson like the first with slick answers and no depth or someone like Jack who answers all your questions with details and facts?

Second, people don’t want to be sold, they want to be convinced. Jack understood that giving me a lot of information would go a long way in helping me decide as to whether I wanted to buy or not. Having enough information allowed me, or better yet, convinced me to make a decision.

I didn’t buy from the first dealership because I didn’t have enough information to make an informed decision. All I had were the opinions of other people who had driven the car from a salesman I didn’t personally know. Testimonials are great, but unless I know the person behind the testimonials it mean very little to me.

More often then not, people reject proposals or making a buying decision because somewhere in the sales process their concerns weren’t addressed. They still have lingering doubts about whether it is the right choice for them.

Jack’s approach reminded me of an adage I keep in mind when trying to understand the link between motivation and action:

“An uninformed mind is a confused mind. And a confused mind will NEVER make a decision.”

In a hyper-capitalist society where we are inundated and bombard with new technology and features, our minds often times can’t keep up. The job of a salesperson is to explain the new advances, but more importantly how they benefit the buyer. Whether selling or just trying to convince others, what motivates people into action is 1) knowledge and 2) that it is in their best interest.

Think about it for a second. When you know ‘how to’ do something, you rarely hesitate in getting it done. When you know that it will benefit you personally, you will act!

A final note: If you’re in management, keep this is mind when someone doesn’t buy into your approach, strategy or way of thinking. Maybe the reason they don’t has less to do with your ideas, and more to do with them not having enough information to make an informed decision OR how it will benefit them in the long run.

p.s., Update: five years later my Volvo is still going strong!

Victor Gonzalez, top Hispanic motivational speaker and author of “The LOGIC of Success”. For more info go to: www.thelogicofsuccess.comwww.thelogicofsuccess.com or by email victor@thelogicofsuccess.com

Daily actions to achieve your goals means daily progress and daily excitement as you start to feel your dreams are actually coming true.

As you take action daily, you cannot fail to realize that you are moving steadily towards your goal and this can only fill you with growing enthusiasm and the belief that, at long last, you will achieve your goal whatever it is.

If you don’t take daily action, you leave a vacuum for doubts to creep in. They will puncture the tyres of your band wagon before you have realised it.

You also leave an empty space in your life which will soon be filled by other priorities.

Five years ago, I nearly finished a book on how to make Religious Education fun. I made the mistake of not working on it daily and before I realized it, other activities like attempts at network marketing had taken over and I lost the excitement of completing a great project based on years of teaching Religious Education in London comprehensive schools.

I had wasted a life time’s effort and knowledge.

However, recently I restarted this project on a daily basis and am completing what I had begun five years ago. I am working daily on the book which has now turned into a series of books.

The first one, called “Hit The Target”, has already been completed. The second one is nearly completed. The excitement and enthusiasm are back.

I also know now that if I again start leaving gaps in my daily activity on the book, I will lose momentum and could even end up not finishing the project again.

Once you feel the momentum of progress, don’t stop and relax. Keep going and strike, in the time honoured phrase, while the iron is hot. Momentum is precious. Daily activity will maintain it. Leaving gaps in your daily activity will not.

To make sure that I keep up daily activity, I make writing the book or series of books a major priority which I begin as early as possible in the day.

Daily activity keeps your project, whatever it is, clearly in your mind. Your brain is buzzing with ideas. If you start leaving gaps, the ideas and the images can soon become vague little clouds on the far horizon.

The same thing happens with physical activity or learning any skill involving physical movement. Daily practice or exercise will allow you to see and feel the progress you are making. Start leaving gaps and you will start forgetting to practise or exercise.

I teach a great modern martial art called Choikwangdo to my students twice a week. I praise them for turning up twice a week in all kinds of weather but I also urge them to practise daily at home as well.

For one thing they have to learn many forms or patterns of movement. If they don’t practise daily they will start forgetting these forms and fail to perform them with power and conviction. They will relive the nightmare of the actor who has failed to practise his lines on a daily basis.

Those who practise daily stand out from the rest like an eagle among chickens. They also enjoy what they are doing far more and they start to feel the excitement of turning into a powerful and awesome blackbelt.

I have achieved a little skill with the nunchaku after practising daily for one or two demonstrations but once I dropped the daily practice, my skill and enthusiasm diminished rapidly.

Obviously, you can’t do everything every day. But try to make the activities that are important to you daily ones. Failing that, perform them every other day or even weekly or, as a last resort, monthly.

If you do something on a consistent basis even if it is not daily, you can still make visible progress.

But if you want to take the route of powerful, accelerated and exciting progress, practise daily! You may have the occasional lapse of focus and leave gaps at times. If you do, read this article again and get back on track! Good luck!

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 weekly motivational message and books by other authors.

Ezine editors / Site owners

Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine or on your site but please include the resource box above.

You know the old saw about the jack of all trades who is the master of none.

This is the problem with many business coaches who go into organizations with the promise that they’re going to be able to fix everything from finance to sales.

I, for one, just don’t buy it.

In business, most of us develop, if we’re focused at all, some very specific skill sets.

I know I have a few that are very deep.

One of them is in telemarketing, specifically cold calling for business and generating something out of nothing. I do it well, and I’m first-rate at training others to do it.

Also, I’m very sharp at improving customer service in measurable ways, reducing costs in the process. Moreover, I’m FAST.

That, by the way, is the signature of a true expert in nearly any walk of life.

A barber or hair stylist that labors over every snip is either putting on a show for your benefit, or he’s inept. The worst cut I ever got was by someone who took the longest time, and at the end of it all, she admitted she wasn’t licensed!

One particularly terrible heating and air conditioning guy looked at an old furnace of mine for about an hour and said he’s replace it, and he sent me a bill for his “advice.” Needless to say, he didn’t get the ultimate removal and replacement work order.

Just as I wasn’t having him out for an opinion, but instead a repair, most small businesses can’t afford the luxury of paying someone to say something is wrong. They expect someone they retain to roll up his sleeves and fix it, and fast.

One of the reasons a reported 90% of all consulting is done within the Fortune 1000 is that these firms know how to hire people with specific skills. They demand and often get exactly what they’re seeking. And in my experience, they tend to avoid coaches, preferring consultants with credentials.

If, for instance, they want to train their sales force to open and close business by phone, they don’t settle for an advisor or trainer who knows only how to qualify prospects or set appointments.

Operations managers who want their customer service reps to start paying their freight by selling find consultants who know exactly how to get this done, with a minimum of fuss and employee turnover. (See my best-selling book: Selling Skills For The Non-Salesperson.)

A mere coach, who doesn’t know how to help people to transform themselves from being clerks to being sellers, will rely on useless motivational ploys and even less successful standard sales texts.

To be fair, all coaches are not inept.

But one symptom of quackery is when they say they’re competent at everything.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of http://www.Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, “The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,” published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC’s Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations from Santa Monica to South Africa. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com

For information about coaching, consulting, training, books, videos and audios, please go to http://www.customersatisfaction.com