Motivation
Several years ago I had the honor of being a breakout speaker for a couple of sessions at the national conference for the National Organization of Victim Assistance. I had a great time and from that experience was asked to do a couple of breakout sessions for the New Mexico Victim Assistance Conference.
When I received the contract for the break out sessions it had “Keynote Speaker” listed instead of breakout sessions. When I called them for clarification they told me that after discussing it with one of their members who was at the NOVA conference, they wanted me to be the keynote speaker. They wanted me to motivate them after a week of serious topics.
When I got off the phone I must have had a dazed look on my face, because my wife looked at me and asked what was wrong. I replied, “They want me to be a keynote speaker.” She was excited and said, “What’s wrong with that?” I said, “They want me to motivate them and be funny for an hour!"
At this point Ann Marie (thirteen at the time) walked through the room. She stopped and looked at me with this horrified look on her face and asked, “Did you tell them you’re not funny?”
You have to love kids! But let’s face it; we are often entertained by motivational speakers, but we are rarely motivated beyond a day or two by what they say. The reason is because what you hear from a speaker is in direct competition with what really motivates you.
Something motivates you to do everything you do. Some of these motivators are negative and some are positive, others are bad and still others are good. It’s important to note here that not all negative motivators are bad and not all positive motivators are good.
Many people are motivated by fear. Fear of failure, fear of conflict, fear of being fired, fear of not being accepted, fear of being chastised; the list is as endless as our fears. All of these fears have both a positive and a negative side.
Let me give you and example: I hate details. I love my job because it allows me to talk to people, learn about their needs and to help them find solutions. Most days are awesome! But then there is the dreaded paperwork!
We are supposed to report our activity daily, but we all know that isn’t happening! Why? Because they only check on it monthly! So at the end of the month you will find me sitting on my bed at 11:00 at night frantically entering in my activities for the month!
My fear of being chastised for having my name at the bottom of the activity list on the webinar the following week will actually motivate me to finally get my paperwork done.
But what if having that paperwork piling up all month caused me enormous amounts of stress? If the stress level is high enough the desire to avoid that stress would motivate me to develop a daily routine to enter my daily activity so it wouldn’t be hanging over my head.
Our motivation causes us to act!
The question that most of us don’t ask ourselves is what motivates me, and why does it motivate me? Asking yourself these two questions can lead you down an interesting path as you discover what events in your past affected you and influenced how you think.
So what motivates you, the desire to succeed or the fear of failure? The love you have for your spouse or the fear of divorce? Is it the desire for your children to know boundaries or the fear of conflict?
If you don’t take the time to figure out what motivates you and why you will be at the whim of your emotions, for it is your emotions that take over when your mind takes a break!
Johnny Walker is a Christian Counselor and the founder of Family Works Counseling.
When I received the contract for the break out sessions it had “Keynote Speaker” listed instead of breakout sessions. When I called them for clarification they told me that after discussing it with one of their members who was at the NOVA conference, they wanted me to be the keynote speaker. They wanted me to motivate them after a week of serious topics.
When I got off the phone I must have had a dazed look on my face, because my wife looked at me and asked what was wrong. I replied, “They want me to be a keynote speaker.” She was excited and said, “What’s wrong with that?” I said, “They want me to motivate them and be funny for an hour!"
At this point Ann Marie (thirteen at the time) walked through the room. She stopped and looked at me with this horrified look on her face and asked, “Did you tell them you’re not funny?”
You have to love kids! But let’s face it; we are often entertained by motivational speakers, but we are rarely motivated beyond a day or two by what they say. The reason is because what you hear from a speaker is in direct competition with what really motivates you.
Something motivates you to do everything you do. Some of these motivators are negative and some are positive, others are bad and still others are good. It’s important to note here that not all negative motivators are bad and not all positive motivators are good.
Many people are motivated by fear. Fear of failure, fear of conflict, fear of being fired, fear of not being accepted, fear of being chastised; the list is as endless as our fears. All of these fears have both a positive and a negative side.
Let me give you and example: I hate details. I love my job because it allows me to talk to people, learn about their needs and to help them find solutions. Most days are awesome! But then there is the dreaded paperwork!
We are supposed to report our activity daily, but we all know that isn’t happening! Why? Because they only check on it monthly! So at the end of the month you will find me sitting on my bed at 11:00 at night frantically entering in my activities for the month!
My fear of being chastised for having my name at the bottom of the activity list on the webinar the following week will actually motivate me to finally get my paperwork done.
But what if having that paperwork piling up all month caused me enormous amounts of stress? If the stress level is high enough the desire to avoid that stress would motivate me to develop a daily routine to enter my daily activity so it wouldn’t be hanging over my head.
Our motivation causes us to act!
The question that most of us don’t ask ourselves is what motivates me, and why does it motivate me? Asking yourself these two questions can lead you down an interesting path as you discover what events in your past affected you and influenced how you think.
So what motivates you, the desire to succeed or the fear of failure? The love you have for your spouse or the fear of divorce? Is it the desire for your children to know boundaries or the fear of conflict?
If you don’t take the time to figure out what motivates you and why you will be at the whim of your emotions, for it is your emotions that take over when your mind takes a break!
Johnny Walker is a Christian Counselor and the founder of Family Works Counseling.
posted by Johnny Walker at 1:55 PM
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