This situation happened in a client session not long ago:
“David – I have all this stuff I want to get done. I need to get motivated to do it!”
Sounds like a good thing to do, right?
Find some motivation to get all those important work tasks done.
After listening to my lovely client (she really is that awesome) talking about wanting to get motivated, it occurred to me just what might be going on.
It seemed to me that everything was right there in the words she said.
Still, it was a hunch and we had to coach around it to get to the bottom of it.
I said “You know Michelle (not her real name), I hear that you say you need to get motivated first, before doing what you want to do.”
To which she replied:
“Yes, I just am not feeling motivated right now and need to get motivated, so I can get all this stuff done.”
Can you see what’s going on here?
I’ll bet you can, smarty pants.
So what she was doing (and we all do it) was defining her world via what I’ll call “declarative thought.”
Michelle is literally declaring her world, through this thought as if it were true, when it is just a thought, nothing more.
She speaks it into the world, and so it is.
More importantly, she holds it in her mind as the way it should be, so she aligns her world with it.
She bases her strategy to get things done on this thought and it solidifies what is possible and what is not.
She stays stuck, as it were.
So I said:
“Well, you know I have some news for you Michelle. The best way to actually get things done is…”
Wait for it…WAIT FOR IT…
“It’s simply…
To do them.”
At that point she busted out laughing, saying “that’s brilliant!”
Yes, this is why I get paid the big bucks, people.
“It seems to me that you are putting this ahead that you need to get motivated in front of doing things. As if it is absolutely true.
Who ever said you had to get motivated to get things done? Where did you hear that?
Actually, it isn’t true at all. I’m not debating whether it is true or not, it might be…but it might not be. One thing is for certain, is that it certainly IS NOT TRUE that you have to get motivated before you do something. Unless you make it that way.”
I gave her several examples and she agreed.
Score, coach!
“So how’s that working for you in terms of getting things done, trying to drum up the motivation that isn’t there, and doesn’t need to be there Michelle?”
“Well, not very well. I sit here and stress about it and don’t do them. But now I realize I don’t need to be motivated to do these things.”
All I want to show you here is how often we think we need motivation, the right strategy, more information, the right mindset, (insert any element here) to get shit done.
I have nothing against strategies, or if you feel motivated and ride that feeling while getting things done.
But you certainly don’t need to be motivated to do things.
This story makes the point of how powerful the mind can be and how simple it is to get in our own way with such thoughts.
With just a sentence or two.
With just a thought, we think to be real, but it’s not.
None of them are true.
They might be true, but one thing is for certain:
They certainly aren’t true.
These thoughts are as true as we make them out to be.
She proceeded to get things done effortlessly in her business and with her team, and made millions of dollars in just one day.
(Kidding on that last part, though she’s doing well and bought another business just a couple of months ago. I put that on her brilliance more than anything. She’s well on her way to making millions and has an amazing vision for her business, team and impact she wants to make.)
That’s what some of us coaches do, help high-performers like my client draw out their brilliance via their state of mind.
State of mind is highly overlooked on its effects on being highly productive, effective and making more money. Its what top performers on all areas of mastery point to, when they’ve been at their best – whether sports, arts or business.
High-performers rarely need more information/ideas. What they really need is the clarity and confidence to know what to do. That comes from them.
Especially when they perform at levels that amaze others, but to the high-performer like my client Michelle, it feels effortless.
I’m trully obsessed with the way of effortless success, and helping high-performing business owners, professionals and leaders.
You can read about coaching here, if so inclined:
-David
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