Motivation – Mark S. Brown

Creating Positive Momentum

As my friend John Maxwell has written, “Momentum is a leader’s best friend”. Positive momentum makes everything easier. Negative momentum makes everything more difficult.

So when we are faced with slowing momentum or even negative momentum, we need to focus some energy to get things moving again. Here are some ideas that I use.

1. Find a small win. Take advantage of some small wins to get yourself moving in the right direction. It helps you pick up speed.

2. Review your bigger goal, and set interim milestones to achieve. Define a goal that you can achieve now, this week. Then set one for next week. Then the week after. Achieve those goals every week and you will find your momentum building towards the bigger goal.

3. Find new support or resources. If you are working within a team, swap some members with another team. Add talent or ideas to rejuvenate the team’s passion by finding a new spark in additional team members or other types of support.

4. Increase your learning effort. Getting stuck can sometimes be triggered by not having enough knowledge, or by being reluctant to act on the knowledge you have. Which is affecting you? Figure it out and then move past this stumbling block.

5. Find and reflect on the positives. Momentum slows when your team is challenged and you feel like you are not making progress. Make it a regular habit to celebrate the achievements. It can be the fuel that keeps your team moving.

Momentum is your friend. When you can harness the energy, everything becomes easier.

This Too Will Pass

Nothing in life lasts forever, and with time, all things change. Do you feel like your life is in an unhappy state? Are you stuck in a rut? It will pass! Sadly, this also applies to the good times as well. All will fade with time.

We should have plans and goals, but we can be assured that life rarely follows the best laid plans. Learning to face the ups and downs with a positive attitude can help smooth our path. Today’s challenges will only be history tomorrow.

We can’t control all the factors that affect us each day, so what can we control? We can learn to maximize the sweet times and minimize the sour ones.

The 3 P’s of Success

Let me warn you, success requires more than just 3 P’s. On the other hand, success isn’t achieved without the 3 P’s. Here they are in no particular order:

Persistence. Following through on intent is the first step toward improving success. Generate the drive to continue working toward your success every single day. Don’t ignore the roadblocks, but learn from them. Adjust your course and keep going.
Persistence. Getting past the failures is not easy. This is where persistence really gets tested. When you feel you have run out of options, failure can seem overwhelming. But before you give up, think about other resources you may have to help you find a new path. This could come in the form of a mentor, a book, a historical figure, a role model, a friend, or a family member. Sometimes we can forget the image of success. Remind yourself about your goal, and discover the motivation to continue.
Persistence. Success doesn’t happen overnight. Most times success requires consistent effort over a long period of time. Small wins accumulate and allow for success on a much larger scale. Passion is the fuel that will keep you going when the path gets long. Connect your daily progress with the passion that created your goal in the beginning.

When is the last time you encountered failure, and decided not to give up?

Evaluating Expertise and Character

No one characteristic defines success, but we should consider expertise and character. Some people find success through their expertise. Others find success by utilizing great character and relying on others for expertise. Which do you utilize best?

This is obviously not a right or wrong question. We need both character and expertise to succeed. You alone can’t be successful. It requires the help of other people. Even when it feels like you are working on a project by yourself, you are probably getting help from sources such as books, videos, research data, or online searches. Many times we forget to be thankful for all that help.

Our work is impacted by our character. Our character is embedded in what we do. It exists the results of the work, and also in how the results impact others. The things we value will be visible in our output and our actions.

When we take time to reflect on our successes or our challenges, the scale between expertise and character can give us new insight. What would improve your results over the next week? Should you invest more time in your character or your expertise?