The presents are bought and wrapped. The tree is up. The card writing has begun. Christmas is well and truly here in the Rylett – Jones household.
Due to various appointments and events Christmas 2021 is with me much earlier than normal and it is playing havoc with my motivation. I feel like a school kid in the last week or term. In reality we have another 2 weeks left till the Christmas break and 3 weeks left to the end of the year. You can do a lot in 3 weeks. So why do I feel like a someone floating through the days waiting for the next mince pie and glass of mulled wine? What has become of me?
I am sure you all know the difference between drive and motivation:
Motivation can often be fleeting; it isn’t a steady state. As a willingness to do something, it can be affected positively or negatively by our emotional state.
Drive on the other hand is a planned activity to satisfy the inner needs we have. Drive, essentially, is what will keep moving you forward when there’s a dip in motivation. Drive enables you to strive towards your purpose and drive is something that most people say I have in abundance.
So how do I get my motivation back to where it needs to be? How do I get some momentum going?
What about you – is the Christmas run up helping you focus on what need to be achieved before the end of the year. Or is it a distraction on your work?
Rather like the 12 days of Christmas here are 12 ideas for positive actions that can get your mojo back and develop unstoppable momentum.
To Do Checklist – TICK THEM OFF. We all love ticking things off our To Do list. If that’s your thing, progress to a Master List for enhanced vision re-connection.
Planning – Helps focus on what is important to do right now. This clarity will remove one of the barriers to activity. Once you find the things to do, focus on it until its done. Just start the activity.
Reconnecting to vision, mission, values – Go back to your core. Looking from your own perspective remind yourself why you are doing what you are doing. Very personal thought-provoking exercise.
Reconnecting to purpose – How are you making like easier or better for someone else. Spend some time looking at the bigger picture from someone else’s point of view.
Evidence based mindset – Fact find and find evidence to back up beliefs. Question and be curious. Talk to all your stakeholders, review your processes, test what works, look for validation with colleagues.
Reverse gap thinking – Think about how far you have come, not just how far you have to go.
Celebrate progress – What is says on the tin. However small, always celebrate.
Share for accountability – Sharing plans, changes, challenges and solutions is always worthwhile. Find someone to talk to. We never want to let someone else down or we want to keep our reputation, credibility intact.
Start with the end in mind – Imagine what is possible. Visualise the end point in all its glory. Use a mantra to think positively.
Direction of travel – DOT is a reminder of where you are going. The journey might be not as planned but that doesn’t matter. What matters is you are traveling (moving) in the right direction?
Find out how you recharge – I get energy (NRG) from being with people. Some need alone time to reboot, which ever it is for you make sure you have a REST Day.
Daily habits – Build and stack the good habits you need to move forward. Small steps daily get you to a ‘tipping point’.
If you feel slightly distracted why not choose 4 of the above strategies and try them out over the next 3 weeks. See if you can increase your motivation/momentum and move into 2022 with renewed vigor and pace. I’m going to remind myself where I’ve come from this year. Reconnect to my vision, mission and values. Plan and then focus on ticking actions off my to do list. Let’s crack on!