Tapping Back in to Your Motivation
In Cinderella Man, Mae expressers her concerns about Jim’s boxing career and him fighting a man who has killed two fighters in the ring. Mae was afraid of the bold risk Jim was taking, and rightfully so, it was life or death. Jim was motivated to take that risk because the motivation to take care of his family trumped his fear of failing.
Last week, I gave a seminar for the Society of Camera Operators. Overall, the whole group was feeling deflated about the industry and their motivation was down. I asked them to give me 10 minutes of “Boldness.” I coached them on what that meant. It was a big risk for them, not life or death, but in an “out-side of their comfort zone” way. They rose to the occasion, and their motivation was restored because they got instant results and positive reinforcement. What if you could experience 10 minutes of boldness? Well you can… but more on that at the end.
It is clear to me as someone who has coached well over one thousand people one-on-one, that people lose their motivation when they’re not taking the RIGHT action. It’s usually because they don’t know what the RIGHT action is. So, this article is an evaluation of the actions you are taking. To see if you are taking the RIGHT action read on…
Here’s an evaluation exercise
1. Make a list of everything you’re doing to generate work
2. Write the percentage of time you spend on each work generating task
3. Rate each work generating task from 0-5 with 5 being it directly gets you work (like making a phone call to a colleague and specifically asking for consideration on a project, which leads to work) and 1 being work that you think needs to be done in order to lead to “5” types of action (like researching productions that are hiring). FYI “0” is for busy work that you’ve been doing for a long time and never leads to work.
Once you have your list rated, evaluate how much time you are spending on your 5s, 4s, 3s, 2s, 1s, and 0s. If your 5s are less than 80% you are not working RIGHT. You may have heard the expression, “Don’t work hard, work smart.” This is not accurate, as my mentor pointed out to me. If you tried to get out of a room by throwing your body against a wall and trying to break through, that would be working hard. Working smart, might be taking a chair and smashing it against the wall trying to break through, after all it’s smarter to use a chair than to hurt your body. However, the right way to get out of the room is to find a door and walk out. Do you see the difference?
Now, working RIGHT is usually outside of your comfort zone which is why you avoid it. But WOW what a difference those ten minutes of boldness made for everyone in my seminar. I gave them everything they needed to be prepared and then go for it.
Jim did the same thing. He prepared mentally and physically for the fight and then he took the risk because he had a strong motivation. What’s your motivation to take the RIGHT ACTIONS?
AND ACTION
1. Do the evaluation exercise
2. Write out your motivation for getting work
3. If you need help, enroll in my 2-week Penny Trial for my Greenlight Elite Program, where I will coach you through 10 minutes of boldness, so you can choose to do it on your own.
Jim’s risk paid off and he was able to achieve his goal and take care of his family. What are you willing to do to achieve your goals and see your motivations pay off?
