What Motivates You?
Julie Slanker
How many articles have you read about how to motivate yourself or your team?
How much money does your organization spend on perks and incentives to try to pull out the passionate engagement you need to compete?
How many hours do you spend worrying about how you can get people to really care? To find meaning in their work? To bring inspiration and energy to their tasks?
What if you stopped guessing about what might engage your staff - only to be disappointed, yet again - and instead unlocked the secret to motivation?
You can.
Once you start to think of Motivation as a key aspect of your - and your team members' - individual Genius.* Something that is intricately linked to who you are.
Once you understand that Motivation is a near-limitless energy source that sits at the core of every individual, attached to your deepest desires.
Once you realize that Motivation is not a decision. It is a feeling. Or, more accurately, the desire for a feeling.
The Core Desired Feeling concept comes from Danielle LaPorte who says that our goals, our objectives, our every conscious desire come not from our wanting the tangible goods of the achievement. But actually derive from a deeper part of our brain, below our logical, conscious, verbal mind. Our goals come from our wanting to feel how we expect to feel once the thing is achieved.
And neurobiology backs her up.
Our primordial feelings - the perceptions of our bodily sensations and thoughts - are signals that let us know if we are in danger or if we are in an optimal state that will preserve our wellbeing. We are driven by our desire to feel safe and warm, for example. As our brains developed, they became more complex and adaptive. Our definitions of wellbeing expanded to include far more that well-fed and free-from-disease, but the signaling system remained the same.
We are literally motivated by our desire to feel the way we want to feel, to keep moving in the direction of our definition wellbeing.
My Core Desired Feelings are Vitality, Connection, Brilliance, and Wonder. I took this photo at Diamond Head in Hawaii after an early-morning hike to the top with two brilliant friends. It's rare to go 4 for 4! And I reaped the Motivation rewards for the rest of the day.
So instead of trying to ply ourselves and our team members with perks and prizes - that may do nothing to improve focus and engagement - we must treat Motivation like a key aspect of our Genius. We must organize our calendars and our teams to reinforce the feelings we want to feel. And balance the sometimes brutal - but necessary - work with tasks or activities that re-energize and inspire.
To do that, we must first take the time to uncover our Core Desired Feelings.
Then, once you've uncovered your Motivation, you can begin the process of enlisting it to work for you. Prioritizing, delegating, layering teamwork, balancing the stressful, de-energizing tasks with moments that build you back up and get you back in the fight. To keep yourself - and your team - moving in the right direction, with or without the perks.
*The Activated Genius Model is based on my experience and extensive research into leadership and organizational performance. The model is defined by four pillars of Genius: Values, Motivation, Strengths and Inclination, activated by a strong foundation: Communicated Vision, Dedicated Leadership, Effective Structure and Process, and Adequate Resources.
References:
The Desire Map: A Guide to Creating Goals With Soul (affiliate link) by Danielle LaPorte
Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain by Antonio Damasio