“I would like to know how to keep myself motivated?” My client brought this topic up the other day.
She has been stepping up to lead a women engineering community at work for a while.
I asked why she does it since it’s outside of her work responsibilities.
Upon answering the question, her face lit up.
I saw her passion toward the women she’s impacting.
I saw the satisfaction when she is able to generate ideas and execute them.
I saw her energized by the relationships she’s building.
So I asked her – “it seems to me you’re pretty motivated. What’s the problem?”
Immediately, she cited the goals (and numbers) that she wants to hit.
She said – “I’m not sure what I have achieved so far. This is so intangible until the survey results come in later”
It is so typical for women leaders who invest a lot in others yet fail to see their own impacts.
So I asked her – “tell me what you’ve achieved in the past year in this group?”
It took her some time but she came up with a few.
From where I stand, these achievements are huge.
Once I helped her see it, she sat taller with a bigger smile.
Then, within a minute, her smile was gone because the biggest energy drainer came up – “but how do I get measurable outcomes for my impact?”
I get it.
We live in a world where we are being judged and measured constantly, especially at work.
If the numbers (or OKRs) don’t tell a good story, we feel like a failure.
This is what causes us to focus on “performance” rather than “passion”.
This is when all the fun dissipates.
We are left with stress, anxiety, and insecurity.
Me, too, have this pattern.
As a coach, part of my work is to put myself out there, to be seen, and to add values.
I am in the flow when I write to deepen my own learnings or share my client’s experience, knowing that it’ll help someone.
Yet, at some point of the creation process, my mind can shift to –
“I wonder how many likes or comments I will get from this.”
Or “Will people get this? Will they think I’m crazy?”
All of a sudden, I don’t enjoy content creation as much.
Then, I have problems staying motivated.
There are two things I’ve learned that help:
- The effort I put in upfront is the lead indicators and the money in my bank is a lag indicator. As long as I focus on the upstream effort, money coming in is an inevitable outcome. I track and celebrate how I’m doing with my lead indicators.
- Nothing is more tangible than seeing someone’s career and life changed, not even the number I track. Focus on ONE PERSON – make a difference. I know I can do this all day long! 😉
After I shared my own experience with her, she relaxed because she felt the truth in what I shared.
There, she learned to keep herself (and others) motivated.
How about you?
What are some ways you keep yourself motivated?
Love, Wen