You Are Capable Of Far More Than You Think
You just need to find the right motivation — here’s how.
There’s a huge difference between how much effort we will make grudgingly and what we will put in if we care.
I’ve sat in offices, willing the clock to move faster, living for the coffee, tea and lunch breaks and trying to work out which thankless dull task to do next for a boss I don’t like or respect. It’s not fun.
I’ve also sat in training courses, on video calls, or at my desk at home and disappeared into inspiration, creativity and flow as the hours flew by. I’ve experienced wanting to work, and it’s a great feeling.
The difference is motivation. It’s an elusive beast to hunt down, but here’s three ways that could help you find yours…
Define Yourself By Opposites
We’ve all heard the quotes about finding a job you love and you never work a day in your life. It seems so easy — just find something you love to do.
But that means knowing what you want to do, and that can be an oddly hard question to answer.
It’s a lot easier to identify what you don’t want to do.
Start ruling things out. I spent 16 years at one organisation, knew I wanted out, then joined another organisation where I thought I would be happier, but I hated it.
I can see now, a few years later, that the reason I have more motivation these days is partly because both those roles showed me what I didn't want.
The first role taught me that I needed more freedom and independence — I didn’t want to be a lost cog in a vast corporate machine. The second role revealed that my values mattered to me the most.
I didn’t want making money (for me or anyone else) at all costs to be the most important thing. I didn’t want to sacrifice creativity, quality and ethics just to scrape in a few more dollars.
So ask yourself: What don’t I want?
You will have narrowed the options more than you think.
