Self motivation part 11
Make a list
Lists have many uses and for some people they can provide a feeling of historical successes and future actions.
For example, you might keep a list of every book and poem that you have ever read with as much detail as you wish.
This can give you a great sense of achievement plus a strong indication of areas you still want to explore.
Such lists can give an individual a lot of motivation to keep going in a specific area.
Make a list of things that you wish to achieve and post them somewhere that will give you a constant reminder.
As you achieve them tick them off. Again this will help in driving you forward.
Dealing with rejection
Rejection comes in many forms some nice and some very upsetting.
Most people as they reach adulthood will feel rejected as a result of job applications.
Others will suffer rejection in relationships.
When rejection happens it is easy to think that the other person is at fault.
It’s a lot better to understand the reason for rejection.
A classic case is the Catch 22 situation in job applications. You can’t have the job because you lack skills and experience.
You can’t gain these without having the job. Basically, you just can’t win.
However, there are also plenty of occasions where employers don’t want great experience otherwise they would have to pay for it.
So what can you do?
Rather than blame the situation on someone else decide what the real reason is and try to fill the gap.
If you lack experiences you might consider the following:
- Seek out courses that will help gain the necessary experience for additional job interviews.
- Do your research well before the interview and understand your limitations. You can then go into the interview with tremendous enthusiasm and a game plan that shows how willing you are to learn.
- What experiences can you put forward that may be similar?
In other situations decide on the real issue and then ask yourself some key questions.
Draw up a list of possible solutions using a brain storm style technique.
- Have I defined the issue accurately?
- What are possible solutions (list)?
- Which require short term and which require long term action?
- Can you do it alone?
- Will it cost too much? Etc.
Basically, be positive and see how you can develop from the rejection.
In addition you must keep things in perspective.
- Rejection may seem a lot worse than it actually is in practice.
- Keep up your skills and don’t let things slip.
- For every ten ideas you have you may succeed only once. The more times you try something the easier it will be to succeed.
- Expect rejection, it will happen.
Action
Everyone has problems. It’s how you deal with them that counts.
A lot of people will give vent to their issues by telling another person about them.
They need a good listener.
This may make the person feel a lot better.
The old saying, “A trouble shared is a trouble halved” may be useful to some but in the main the problem is still there waiting for the next bout of worry.
What if, instead of just listening you said, “What are you going to do about it right now?” the situation changes.
You will go from a passive, no action pessimistic view to considering possible short and long term solutions.
Of course, in some circumstances, notably in bereavement, part of the solution for many is to talk to someone.
For other more mundane problems talking doesn’t achieve much.
Once you have carried out even one action you are no longer responding to the world but shaping it.
Ask yourself or another, “What can I actually do about it right now?”
Again, use a brain storm technique to list alternatives and generate a plan of action.
By dwelling on an issue we can make it seem insurmountable.
Action provides the motivation you need to help you move forward to a permanent or manageable solution.
The action doesn’t have to be huge and providing an immediate solution.
A small action will provide you with a great deal of satisfaction that will immediately raise your spirits.
Some people have an aversion to using the telephone when trying to solve an issue.
In this case, if you feel awkward, begin by marshalling all of the facts that you will need so that they are to hand.
You will find that the experience is no where near as bad as you might imagine.
Again, this will boost your morale.
S.W.O.T.
The S.W.O.T. technique is well known for examining issues of strategy from various perspectives.
This is covered in more detail elsewhere (see The Complete Project Management package).
Rather than using it for looking at a particular strategy, as is usually the case, instead you are looking at yourself using S.W.O.T.
The letters stand for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
From a motivation perspective make a list of all of your strengths and weaknesses.
Be proud of the strengths and display them somewhere to help with your motivation.
Examine your weaknesses and see how you can exploit them.
Instead of thinking about potential opportunities and threats for a strategy you can focus on the opportunities that you may be able to derive from your weaknesses.
Again, you can formulate a list by taking each weakness in turn and seeing how you can use it to make a strength out of it.
You could consider the threats as the hurdles preventing you from maximising your potential or stopping you from exploiting a weakness in a positive way.
Practice can turn a weakness into a strength. Presentation skills may seem a stumbling block at first but can be a great strength once you have more experience and generate confidence.
Are your English or writing skills poor?
Take the opportunity to write more letters. Get a friend to review them. You will improve.
If a person is particularly quiet and shy they may have other attributes like being a good listener.
Another person may be over meticulous and irritating to some but finds a niche in checking figures and other data.
It’s all about identifying weaknesses and finding ways to either use them or overcome them.