Discover ways to motivate yourself that work specifically for you Part two

Two weeks ago I shared an invitation to my monthly Learning and Development Roundtable: Six skills to help you manage change.  I started my post with “You’ve made your new year’s resolutions, you’ve been back at work for a month or so now and everything is ticking along smoothly.  Your future’s so bright you’ve got to wear shades.  Overwhelm, exhaustion, and juggling 100 plates in the air simultaneously are all things of the past. Am I right? “No!  That’s not the case!” you scream into the void with consternation.

Then last week, based on those spinning plates, exhaustion, and overwhelm, we tackled motivation.  As in yours.  As in how to gently increase yours if it’s waning.

I showed you how to identify your motivation style(s) and then how to specifically motivate your particular style.  Cool eh!

Now I’m going to show you how to motivate yourself depending on which of the ​​Life Lenses® you are.

Don’t know about my Life Lenses® assessment?  Take a quick pause and do the assessment now.  Then come back to find out how to motivate your self-assessed Life Lenses®.

Life Lenses® shows you what comes onto your radar easily, naturally, and comfortably.  As well as what you miss, because it’s awkward, uncomfortable, or foreign.

Welcome back.  Now that you know your Life Lenses®, let’s dig into what specifically motivates each lens.

Heart Life Lenses® 

• What stresses out a Heart Life Lenses® are feelings like overwhelm, and the weight and pressure of a massive to-do list
• The motivator: Believe in yourself.  Draw on those marvelous positive feelings of yours. Give yourself a pep talk.  Watch a motivating reel or video.

Head Life Lenses®

• What gets to be too much for Head Life Lenses® is too much information, and/or too much research.
• The motivator: use tech tools to help you keep track of information, tools like Workflowy, Manganum (a fabulous Chrome plugin I’ve just started using), Trello for project management, Google sheets, etc.

Carrot Life Lenses®  

• What gets Carrot Life Lenses® sticking their head in the sand is not being able to get a handle on the details.
• The motivator: break larger projects into smaller steps.  If you’re super overwhelmed, break them into tiny, wee steps so you can check off the easiest, peasiest thing and carry on.

Mountain Life Lenses®  

• What gets Mountain ​​Life Lenses® putting their heads in the cloud is feeling constricted by endless details, rules, and unruly specifics
• The motivator: keep your head up and aligned with your bigger picture, vision, and strategy.

Lacking motivation for those online meetings you have to have?  I have your answer.

Stop Life Lenses®  

• What gets Stop Life Lenses® anxious and stuck is analysis paralysis – researching, ruminating, thinking, and analyzing too much.
• The motivator: celebrate your natural tendency of thinking, planning, and researching.  Be sure and indulge yourself.  Annnnd know when to then step on the gas and gently take some action.

Go Life Lenses®  

• What makes Go Life Lenses® unmotivated is not being able to try things, step on the gas, experiment, and take action.
• The motivator: eat the frog!  Do your MIT (most important tasks first) and you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment.

Journey Life Lenses®  

• What gets Journey Life Lenses® jammed up is not being clear about ‘how’ things are to be done, and being fuzzy on the process.
• The motivator: get some systems in place, including this fabulous article about delegation, one of the most read Harvard Business Review articles of all time – Who’s got the monkey.

Destination Life Lenses®  

• What gets Destination Life Lenses® in a pickle? Not being clear about where they’re headed or what the goals are.
• The motivator: get clear on your objectives, and your goals, including your MITs (your Most Important Tasks) of the day.

Once you know your motivation style and what motivates your particular style plus your Life Lenses® and what motivates your specific lenses you’ll be away to the races.  Enjoy your newfound motivation and get going on those gifts that only you have to offer the world.

Now go on and learn, laugh, and lead

Learn

• Want to learn more? Check out “Eight ways to amp up your motivation, even and especially if it’s in the dump right now.”

Laugh

We all need some support, and some motivation when we’re tired, overwhelmed, etc.  And sometimes that simply includes someone else’s shoulder. 

Lead

• Share your Life Lenses® assessment results with a friend or colleague and compare your motivators and support each other accordingly.

P.S. Have you RSVP’d yet for this month’s Learning and Development Roundtable: Six skills to help you manage change? No? RSVP now.  More info here. Hurry up though as it’s in two days!