My Theory on Motivation
🖖🏻 Hello - yes thats me in the header picture - welcome to the Clique, my clique. It's where I share my rambling thoughts on sales/business, practical life advice and insights into building my own personal brand through content.
Motivation has been an enigma in my life, I've had periods of pure apathy for anything which drove my life forward but on the flip side, I've been like a vociferous animal who won't stop at anything to achieve my goals and it's quite often a case of it being completely black and white.
It's weird because external success (what people percieve as success) has to come from somewhere, unless it's pure luck - and that 'place' is what I have tried to uncover. I've spent a few hours on my bike wondering this in the last few weeks (again, it's part of my annual goals - see the last newsletter for reference) and it appears that I can almost pigeon-hole it into five areas.
These five areas are where I can see that motivation has been 'created' in my life and it's driven me onto bigger and better things - its where I have been most successful and it's also given me an opportunity to grow my career.
Don't get me wrong, motivation isn't the only factor - you can be motivated as heck to acheive a goal but application, consistency, skill and a tad bit of luck also allow you to realise the result. I believe though, that motivation is the starting point for achievement.
The Five Areas of Motivation
So, where I believe that you can channel motivation from to get the results that you want.
Its pretty simple if I'm honest and if I was to sketch it out, it would look something like this..
I know what you're thinking - "There's only four on that grid" and you're right - but I think that everyone is born with a portion of 'natural' motivation.
The Odd One Out - The Natural Motivation Enigma
Natural motivation is what everyone is born with, it's what we inherit from our parents and it's what causes us to get up in the morning and drive forward. I think this motivation level can be affected by social circumstances and dependant on your own mental health, can either be positive or negative. Ultimately, I think that this natural and innate motivation level is our 'baseline'. When I'm sat in my lounge in the evening and I'm ruminating to myself about my physical appearance, my career options and my lifestyle - I believe that the voice that drives me to 'be better' and do more is my natural motivation.
The One which Drives Us - Internal Positive Motivation
Internal positive motivation is the motivation which drives us to achieve greater things based on our own internal narrative - this could be rephrased as 'internal monologue' - its when we're on that run and we hear that voice in our head which drives us forward to reach that next lamppost - it makes us push harder and reach that next push up. This internal monologue is a phenomenal beast and does transcend the limits of what we'd normally acheive.
In 2019, I ran a 1/2 marathon - having never ran that distance before and having never ran past 5 miles in the months leading up to the race. I (in error) elected to put myself in the elite running group for the race and by mile 10, I was running down Bournemouth promenade, away from the crowds with my lycra shorts starting to chafe and the only person who could have got me through that was me. I could have stopped, I could have caved and jumped onto the beach and chilled for a bit but I wanted to finish the race and I wanted to get that medal.
Thats internal postive motivation.
I was shattered.
This was me once I’d completed the half-marathon.
The One that Makes us Quit - Internal Negative Motivation
Equally, that positive motivation has a negative counterpart - we're our own worst enemy when it comes to success. If we're able to talk ourselves out of it and it's the easiest option, human nature will say that we'll do just that.
This is why I love sea-dipping on a Friday morning - its raises this negative voice loud and clear - it's the loudest voice in my head (especially when you turn up and there isn't a crowd to help you in) and if you're there at 5am with the wind howling and the easiest option is to stay in the car and stay warm - I'll admit, I've done that. You can't always win - it's a trade off.
For example, back in 2015 I was in the last few months of a sales job and despite being full of positive internal motivation when I actually booked physical sales calls - when it got to pulling into the parking lot of a client with whom I had never met, to sell something that I wasn't interested in anymore - I'd drive away. It was the easiest option.
I wouldn't even try - I'd not even stop - I'd drive away without trying.
It was the easiest option. I know, as much as you do that going to those meetings would have been positive and I could have earned more money and gained more success but I just wasn't motivated enough to do it - it was a negative force that drove me to make that decision.
The One that Pushes us Forwards - External Postive Motivation
It's what we do as parents on sports day. We have our cheerleaders and in business, it's what good leaders can harness (think Jurgen Klopp) to generate results through positive re-inforcement.
The positive motivation in my life comes from my family - I have my own personal cheerleading squad in my wife, it's where I get the most support and if I'm down (and I have been under the kosh this week) then I get that beer poured, that bath run and that favourite meal cooked - all so I can get up the next day and go again.
Positive motivation is that 'thing' that pushes you from an external source - when I crossed the line in 2019 after running 13.1 miles, I was cheered along by random people - everyone sprints at the finish line, everyone can find that small ounce more effort. Its the Personal Trainer not letting your inner monologue dictate your actions - pushing you for that one more rep.
People pay for external positive motivation. It's why life coaches, personal trainers and bootcamps are in business - sporting success comes from this form of motivation and it's a powerful driver.
My Biggest Motivator - External Negative Motivation
This is my gamechanger - this is where I fire up. It's what gets me angry, driven and if I ever hear the words 'You can't do that' - you'll never see a more motivated me.
I joined the Army in 1997 and even now, I can hear the words of my stepfather as he waved me off for basic training - "See you in a few days when you quit".
What the actual f*ck?
There was absolutely NO way I was going to quit. Not ever.
I'll be honest, this form of external motivation has also got me into trouble - again, I was serving in the Falkland Islands in 2001 and despite being a corporal, I was told by some of my friends that I couldn't get into the Sergeants Mess or the Officers Mess - on both occasions, I was caught and it didn't help that I was drinking away like I was one of the boys. That negative motivation pushed me to prove them wrong and I lapped it up..
Ultimately, that form of motivation is what made me leave - rules and bounaries don't agree with me and I don't like strict hierachy which prevents me from expressing myself. If you're repeatedly told that you can't do something and it becomes a lifestyle, it's damaging.
However, I am acutely aware that I am driven massively by negative external motivation - I think it's what comes from independence and a strong will.
In summary..
What drives us is both internal and external - we all want to impress, not only ourselves but others. If you're able to recognize that positive and negative motivators all have their place then the feedback we give ourselves and we get from others should lose it's power over our mindset.
You should use all motivators in a postive way - ultimately, you are the key to your own success and the only person who is holding you back is you.
Negative things happen. Positive things happen. But motivation is ALWAYS positive.
Thats life - but if you have a clear and defined path - there should be nothing that swerves you off your track.
The last two weeks have been extremely stressful in a professional sense, lots of things going on that I feel like I don't have control over - to counter that, we have a lot of positive things happening which means that we should remain on track for our revenue target which as you know, is my number one goal this year.
My wife has caught the big COVID bug in the last week (I remain completely COVID free) and I have had to step up and do the school runs which has meant my week has been extremely disjointed.
I'd love to know what you're biggest motivator is - what drives you to be more successful? Is it the same as mine? Are you fuelled by that negative talk?
Let me know in the comments! 👇
See you in two weeks.
Matt 🤙
Things I Think You'll Like -
📹 Netflix Documentary - The Puppet Master - Tina and I binge watched this in one night last week - three episodes and it's compelling viewing. How can one person get a group of teenagers to spend nine years on the run in fear of the IRA? Conning their families out of hundreds of thousands of pounds and not doing it once, but over and over again - the worst is yet to come (I won't spoil it for you here!)
📱 - Cats are Evil - Mobile Video - Nothing. And I mean nothing, reminds me of my cat more than this video. I have a love:hate relationship with my cat Tico - this video perfectly sums up why cats are the most EVIL animals on the planet.
Things I'm Looking Forward To -
🛹 Electric Skateboard - I've only gone and bloody bought an electric skateboard to ride to work on. I'm super excited for it to arrive. So much so that I'm going to return to vlogging and document the journey from novice to expert. I've bought it from a chinese company and it's Chinese New Year - it won't arrive for another two weeks so watch this space.
🎪 The Digital Circus Live - I'm returning to the digital big top with my friends from Yellow Tuxedo - my top secret sales talk will be on 'Closing the Un-Closable Buyer' and I'm excited to be a part of it - you can get more information here.