He was looking through a load of posts on the googlegroup he's a part of at www.themoneygym.com the other day. There was a load of stuff on there about motivation. He told me I motivate him to get out of bed and go to work by digging my claws in his face, or scratching his arm when he's being stubborn, or punching him in the eye when he's really determined not to move. He loves that. Not. Anyway, I don't motivate him. I can't. ALL motivation is self-motivation in the end, and try as you might, if someone does not want to play ball then they won't. That must mean they have to want to play ball then? Yeah, always, for one reason or another, and to a greater or lesser degree or another. I'll explain how I see it, but I have to get him to write this all down here for you, it's the only way it sticks in his head. If your average brain has a quad processor running at 2gig, his head is more your Atari. (The only reason he can type at all is because he did some building work on a research establishment once, and one of the chimps taught him.)
It's mooted within psychological circles that the only reasons that people are motivated to do things are for either pursuit of pleasure, or avoidance of pain. Perhaps, but if it were only that simple then people wouldn't pursue pain at the expense of pleasure to climb Everest and K2 simply "because they were there". In general everyday life that pleasure/pain principle (PPP) may apply, but as always in life there are exceptional people doing exceptional things for exceptional reasons. I'm trying to make him exceptional to get us a bigger house because the bed is simply three acres too small. I do like to spread when I snooze.
Sticking with Joe and Jane Average for the minute, and allowing that the PPP seems to be prevalent (I made him look that word up) then most people suffer lives they don't particularly like out of fear of suffering worse. Why would they do that? Try fear of failure. They might keep getting up and going off to places they don't want to be, doing a job they don't want to do alongside people they wouldn't choose as mates given an alternative, but at least they can cope with it. They'd love to "try" something else, but won't for fear of failing at it. The consequences could be as simple as detractors smirking at them, or major financial loss. Where's the problem? "Trying" is the problem. You can dip your toe into a zillion swimming pools, and dry swim on a chair for decades, but sooner or later you're going to have to do the plunge thing if you want to swim. I've mooched through his Louise L Hay books, and she don't trip my trigger, but he still lives up to one of her strategies for overcoming fear - the "whatever happens, I'll handle it" one. He does it every day, and night as he's working all hours again. Thing is, when you do the plunge, it's sink or swim. Too many sink for lack of planning and preperation, or just the courage to continue. Some fail for other circumstances outside their control. It can be hard to keep coming back, but you have three choices - quit before you start, quit after you've started, or bash on regardless.
You people by and large do seem to look for the easier way, or at least the less frightening way. He was copping out, but lately he's actually got a plan, and he's doing what he does with more energy and commitment because of it. The thing that's motivated him the most is the fear that his main job is on the line due to circumstances beyond his control, so if he doesn't make things happen NOW, he's going to wish he had. I think he might have learned his lesson this time, as he's been here before - but we'll see. One thing he won't do is quit, because he will lose his nads when he's asleep if he does. I am SOOOOO sick of tinned tuna. Whether your personal motivation to progress and endure is positive - being drawn by your dreams, or negative - being pushed by your circumstances, it doesn't matter. If you want to get on and get out of your personal situation, find what motivates you, and get on with it.
A problem he has in his job is motivating others. You can bribe persuade or threaten, but people will always let you down at some point in a job. People working with or for you only fail to perform for one of three reasons - aptitude, circumstances or attitude. Aptitude you can overcome with training or mentoring, and is how the best large companies build their people and promote from within. Circumstances is how any decent company provides what is needed for people to do the job, and in a safe and pleasant environment. Attitude is the main downfall. If everything is in place, and the people are well trained, yet they still won't perform, it has to be down to attitude. That is always based on some form of emotion. Whether it's a form of pride where they are too proud to be told what to do, too proud to clean up behind them, or just plain depression or anger because whatever they do well, it's overlooked in the shadow of some minor trivial negative issue.
He works with a good close team with a good crack, yet they are forever being whipped by people who don't look at the right evidence of success in the right manner. He's got into another freelance situation where the person asking for his help is being frustrated at every point by others who are happily entombed in a world of make-believe. It's not hard to see how the whole culture of a company can influence the individual attitudes of each and everyone of its employees and contractors. It doesn't take much to lift spirits, it takes even less to destroy them.
If you have a company, have a look at yourself if the people working for you or with you aren't performing how you feel they should. Aptitude is what it is, but can be influenced easily. Circumstances are what they are, but can be anticipated and planned for. Attitude is mercurial. If the culture from the people above is a positive and mutually beneficial one of valuing the people that keep them at the top, then the appreciation should show and be genuinely passed down as a matter of great importance. If it isn't, then any plumber will tell you that shit flows down hill, doesn't clean up in a hurry, and leaves a very bad smell.
On the other hand, some soft people only get their arses into gear when they've endured enough shit showers, so maybe all the bad companies out there that treat their committed and competent workforce like sewer rats are actually doing a good thing and making the chance of failure a less worrying option. Perhaps they are spurring people to take exceptional steps they wouldn't normally have taken. After all, negative motivation is still motivation.
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