On paper, Jason was the perfect salesperson. He was charismatic, he was knowledgeable of his industry, and he had great sales skills. He had been working on a commission only basis for about two years and barely making a living when he approached me about helping him. After speaking with him the problem became very clear. He had all the skills, but didn’t have any will.
Will (or motivation) can be tricky. We’ve all experienced the ups and downs of motivation. Some days we feel like we can conquer the world while other days we can barely do the basics. This all seems very mysterious. But you really can be in the driver’s seat of your motivation. First step is understanding how motivation works.
Understanding where motivation comes from
Motivation comes in two forms: external and internal. External motivation is a product of (for lack of a better word) bribery. If you do this, you will get that. It’s the proverbial carrot being dangled out in front. Most of the time we respond to it…..but only for a little while. You can even play this reward game with yourself. Let’s say you make a deal with yourself that when you have completed 10 sales calls, you can have a hot fudge sundae. Woohoo! Unfortunately, that hot fudge sundae will work only once, maybe twice and then you return to your old ways.
But worse, it could backfire. The carrot being dangled out in front of us creates contempt and we do the exact opposite. I experienced this in high school when my mother offered me a trip to Europe in exchange for quitting smoking. My response was to smoke more. Did I want to go to Europe? Absolutely. Did I like smoking that much? Not really. In fact I quit a couple of years later.
So why have that reaction?
Well, we are wired that way. All of us want what psychologists call autonomy, which means we all want to feel like we are in charge of our own behavior. So when someone comes along and attempts to change us, we push back (That can even happen when we try to change ourselves). That’s the downside of attempting to motivate with the carrot.
The only long-term solution to the “Will” problem comes from internal motivators. We need to understand what we want….our vision, our goals. Many people are motivated by the need to accomplish; others need for status, some the need to do something important for others. Your source of motivation could be one of those or all of those.
What motivates you?
That the big question and is the first step in lighting the flame under your career.
Most of us ignore this question because there is a potential failure associated with it…i.e. if I think about this dream and then don’t reach it then I’m a failure. Instead we opt for the more reasonable thoughts of I will pretend like there is no dream and spend a life of mediocrity going around in circles while feeling ok about myself!
Often those dreams are buried so deep you may have to spend time digging for the answers. I have been helping people for a long time with developing visions and know that the answer is never, ever money. Really. Rather it’s what money can get you….security, experiences, status, etc.
Start contemplating. Set aside all the judgment. Set aside all the “yes, but”. Answer the question, “If there were no limits and you knew you could not fail; what would you do, what would you have, and what would you be?”