Can you motivate others?
It’s tricky because you cannot control others, unless you are some sort of prison warden, and even then …
You can make people do certain things but I wouldn’t call that motivating! There’s a difference between commitment and compliance, and we want to work with others that are committed.

We share with you the 5 Questions that Motivate. We will even give you the answers (winky wink):
1 – What is your purpose?
2 – What is your role in that purpose?
3 – What if I need help?
4 – How am I doing?
5 – What’s in it for me?

For gittin’ yourself going, knowing what makes you personally thrive is the start of motivating yourself.

Goals can be motivating. Being around certain people can be motivating. A mile level of stretch can be motivating.

What type of environment puts you in the flow?

We connect to ALL of these in the video. Listen in for more! It’s a quick, easy way to get some ideas, and maybe it’ll even motivate you.

 

More in the video!

If you are into the podcast approach, you may be interested in listening our podcast series where we banter on all the wee little nuggets of the topic.

At Skirt Strategies we focus on a different leadership goal each month, providing a training tip via video and weekly training assignments for subscribed members.

 

PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

 

Katie: Welcome to the Skirt Strategies video! Katie Snapp here.

Carol: And I’m Carol Wight.

Katie: We’re giving you some leadership tips for woman to self-manage yourself better.

Carol: Self-manage yourself?

Katie: That’s redundant. But you know what we mean.

  • Have a better life.
  • Keep focused.
  • Clarity.
  • Sanity.

Carol: I love what Katie means. Motivation without medication.

Katie: That’s the topic today.

Carol: Interesting.

Katie: Wine counts as medication.

Carol: Oh! Damn!

Katie: And you can’t be quite motivated with that – unless you reach that tipping point and you lose motivation. But we’re not talking about that today.

Carol: Right.

Katie: We will talk about motivation.

Carol: Yeah. Katie makes it to that tipping point often.

Katie: I tip over. I am from Missouri – where tipping is normal. Let’s get to the topic at hand, shall we?

Carol: Let’s do.

Katie: Motivation of self. We’re going to make this motivation of self. Because you have those mornings when you wake up and you can get it all done. At least you think you can. Do you have those?

Carol: Oh, yeah. I do though. I get it done every morning every day.

Katie: Knowing yourself. You have to know yourself. You get it all done every day?

Carol: Just kidding.

Katie: I’m so impressed for a moment.

Motivation – there are some theories around motivation. And motivating others and those around us – is that you’re naturally motivating people who want to do well versus – you have to motivate yourself or others, you have to live fire.

And I think for most of us – we want to be motivated, we like being motivated.

Carol: Well, you would like a good leader in your life that says, “Hold me accountable. And here’s the big end goal. Let’s all reach that.”

So isn’t that fun? I love to have people in my life like that.
Katie: Yeah. Well, what we’re going talk in this video a little bit about how goals and goals especially – can be very motivating.

Question first. Think about a time in your life where things were going really well.

Carol: Okay.

Katie: You were effective, you were efficient.

Carol: Everything was working.

Katie: And this can be a job, personal, whatever environment you want to put it.

I use the term flow you for people being in the flow. You are essentially in the flow.

Carol: Right.

Katie: Then ask yourself – What was it about that situation that put me in the flow? Therein, lies what your motivational environment is for you.

For example, did you have a huge amount of autonomy? Did you have all the resources you needed?

Carol: Oh, interesting. And therefore, you were able to stay in the flow without coming out of it.

Katie: Right.

Carol: Okay. Interesting.

Katie: Like I could get a project done… We were putting on a public event and I had an unlimited budget – which is like I don’t have to worry about decisions on budget limitations because kaboom – we can get it done.

Carol: Right.

Katie: That leads to a little bit more creativity because you know you don’t have limitations.

Carol: Right.

Katie: Did you have others that you worked with and you were in a team environment or maybe even for those of you that are technical – you were in an isolated environment where you were in control of your own little lab?

Carol: So which one of those motivates you more? Being isolated?

Katie: That’s a very personal one.

Carol: Yes, or being with others in a great team.

Katie: You tend to be… when you’re in the flow – not self-conscious at all. You’re moving through it. Environments where you’re in the flow – have a nice balance between stretch and stress.

Carol: Okay. Explain that a little bit.

Katie: For most of us – if you are pushed just a little bit, it’s motivating. For example; for those times in your lives when you haven’t had a job or you’ve been on vacation or you’ve had a few days off or whatever it might be – have you noticed how inefficient you are with your time?

Carol: Yeah it’s like, “Wait! I just got up and the day is over. What happened?”

Katie: Right. “I didn’t do anything. I have four balls [Unintelligible][0:04:03.3] – we’re at 9:00am.”

But if you are structured and you know you’re getting off at work… I remember I used to get off at work at 4:10pm. I’d make sure I did this end and that end and I got home and I got my exercise in and I got to watch Seinfeld or whatever it was.

I had the sense of – I did the whole idea of work and I got all of those other stuff in because I knew I had to.

Carol: Right.

Katie: You wouldn’t be half that productive, if you didn’t have a little bit of stretch.

Carol: Right.

Katie: But if it gets to be too much, (which so many of our lives are right now) then it goes into stress.

Carol: Yes.

Katie: You’ve got to know what that tipping point…

Carol: So what does motivate you? I mean, I’ve seen a lot of people that really work well under stress.

And having – coming from the restaurant industry, I do believe that that’s what some people are attracted to. They’re attracted to that high stress, high…

Katie: Action, you’re on your feet.

Carol: Yes, your work environment that happens every day. Every lunch hour, every dinner hour is just busy, crazy and you’re making things happen. I was addicted to that at one point. I am no longer.

Katie: Thank God!

Carol: Oh, yeah. Thank God.

Katie: You’ve broken yourself from that habit.

Carol: Yes.

Katie: So here’s something to think about. What is it in your life that answers these five questions? And I’ll give you the answers to these – as we go through with them.

But the more these questions are answered for you, the more likely you are to have a sense of purpose and motivation because purpose drives motivation.

Carol: Okay. True.

Katie: I’m going to use the environment of work. But this can be at home life too.

The first one is – What is it that you’re doing at work? What’s the purpose of your work? What is it that you build? What makes it different? What makes it special?

Examples; if you’re a non-profit and you feed the homeless. There’s a very clear purpose right there.

If you’re in a production environment and you make medical equipment that helps people’s lives be more easily managed. There’s a purpose there.

There’s almost always a purpose for everything we do. I was going to say – there is always a purpose. I was going to say – a motivating purpose. But I can’t imagine making – like the plastic cap for that lamp holder over there or something. And if you’re in that kind of a manufacturing environment, you probably live in China.

Carol: We’re not talking to you.

Katie: We’re not talking about that.

Carol: But I think even then, you can find your purpose. And a lot of times, that kind of thing has to be more about a personal purpose. Maybe the purpose is – “I’m making money here and I’m taking it home to feed my family.”

Katie: Sure. I feel it. That’s great.

Carol: I mean there’s a lot of purpose in that and that’s got to feel good.

Even a janitor has to have purpose. “I’m keeping these hallways clean – for the students that walk through here every day. They may not appreciate it, but I know in my heart – it’s the right thing to do.”

Katie: Right. So you get that.

So the first question is – What is that general purpose that’s happening around you?

The second question is – What are you working on in that environment? What’s your role within that?

So if it’s feeding the homeless, I make sure the shelves are stocked with all the food that we need. That’s where I fit in – to making that end thing happen.

Carol: Right.

Katie: I work at a hospice. Maybe you’re a nurse. You have that small piece of a bigger picture that is one on one with a certain patient or a group of patients. You make that happen. That’s where you fit in.

Carol: Right. So find your purpose. And I always come back to what does success look like. What does it look like when you’re totally motivated? Things are working for you. And I know you’re not through your complete list of questions, but what does success look like to you and what is that end goal?

Katie: Okay. Good.

Carol: So you’re always working towards something higher than yourself.

Katie: So that piece of it – the picture where you fit in and that end goal is a piece of that as well is hugely important.

Now, there are some other pieces around it – that need to be answered because they affect that. Otherwise, we’ll just be able to say, “Here’s my purpose. Here’s life.” And you kind of have to make the building blocks of that happen.

One of that is – What if I need help? That speaks to resources. What do I use around me for the resources to make that come into play, to happen?

The fourth question – How am I doing? How do I know I’m doing it well? What sort of feat do I work in?

Carol: True. Feedback is really important. And for those of you who are in charge of other people – just remember that feedback is totally important to other people. They need to know how you feel about what they’re doing. So don’t hesitate to tell them and try to make it positive.

Katie: Yeah.

Carol: That’s motivational. Negative feedback is less than motivational. You’ve got to couch that in some ways that we talk about in other videos.

Katie: Then the last question ties all of that together. Which is – What’s in it for me?

If you’ve identified the purpose, the environment, the goal, the resources around you, how it plays out. What’s in it for you (either it’s recognition or it’s respect or it’s personal growth or your building relationships by doing it, maybe that’s what really drives you) that pulls all of it together to be the motivational piece that’s personal to you?

Carol: Nice.

Katie: Times to think about when you’re in the flow, when you’re in that phase of your life when you’re in the flow – you know it, you love it and you wish it could last forever. It just doesn’t, but maybe that’s what makes it special – as you got those times when you’re really flowing.

Carol: And that’s okay.

Katie: Well, that’s it for this video. We love having you. Follow us. We’d love to have you every single video that we have because our website is a treasure throve of all sorts of resources – blogs, video blogs, we have a podcast.

Carol: Don’t forget the podcast because it is something you can do while you’re exercising, while you’re commuting. Listening to Katie and I for 30 minutes a day is always motivational.

Katie: Well, we like to think that.

Carol: Yeah! It is.

Katie: Yeah. We love having women work with us and follow us.

There is a monthly subscription. If you would like to be held accountable on a weekly basis, we’ll send you an assignment – a small, tiny piece of training on a different topic each week that fits into the monthly topic and it’s an audio and a one page worksheet – easy to do, but nice for keeping those skills in front of you on a small manageable basis.

Thanks.

 

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