A tricolour Basset Hound. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We all have tasks that we believe we “should” do if we want to achieve some goal. If you know what you “should” do and believe you “should” do it, then why is it so hard to do it?
Do you know how to do it? Whenever there is a gap between actual and desired action or performance, a great place to begin is to ask yourself if you know how to do the task. A great test to see if someone has the required knowledge and/or skill is to ask, “If someone offered a million dollars to complete this task, could I get it done somehow?” (Note: hiring someone else to do the task and pocketing the rest of the cash is not an option.) If you could complete the task given a significant incentive, or if coerced to avoid significant harm or punishment, then you know what to do and how to do it.
GETTING ADDITIONAL TRAINING WILL TYPICALLY NOT BE HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL IN MOTIVATING ONE TO COMPLETE A TASK! Teaching someone how to do something better that they already know how to do, but choose not to do, is usually not very effective in motivating someone to do what they don’t like to do. So what’s missing?
longhaired Basset Hound (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Do you have the will to do the task? Is there significant internal motivation to satisfy a need or desire to complete the task? We are all sometimes able to do things we really aren’t interested in or hate doing. Why can we do these sometimes and other times we are unable to rise to the occasion? Denying a natural need or desire to go against one’s natural motivation and choosing to act in a way counter to one’s nature requires resilience and willpower and comes at an emotional cost. Studies have shown that willpower requires significant energy, and if you expend all of your highly limited willpower reserves, you are unable to overcome your natural resistance to denying your internal motives or base desires.
Dr. Steven Reiss studied human motivation extensively and has created a motivation theory which categorizes basic human motives or desires into 16 common motives. You can read more about Dr. Reiss’s theory at www.16desires.com. If you don’t fully understand and appreciate what drives your internal motivation and desires, then you are easily blocked and frustrated. When we don’t get our needs satisfied, we tend to get frustrated and this too is draining. Frustration and willpower are tough to power at the same time. Unfortunately, frustration outlasts willpower and we give up as we run out of mental steam.
In many situations, you may wish to “fix” or “educate” someone who is not meeting your expectations in a personal or business relationship through teaching them the “error” of their ways or selling them on a new path to personal wellness. This will be successful in the long-term if the client or subject is internally motivated to use this new knowledge or skill in a way that satisfies a significant need or desire. It’s news they can use. If not, the behavioral change will at best be temporary, and under stress, the client will typically revert to natural behavior based on personal need satisfaction.
Determining whether a performance gap or failure to adapt to a change results from a lack of knowledge and skill or a lack of will is often the key to determining the lasting effectiveness of any performance improvement intervention. Too often we try to teach a sheep to sing and end up frustrating both the sheep and the teacher. There is an apt coaching admonition which says, “A coach cannot want a player to play better than the player wants to play.” It’s typically best to hire the best players you can find and afford and not try to teach sub-par, unmotivated team members to success through coaching and training. If someone simply does not have the will to do what they know how to do, then until they find an internal motive to do the task which is greater than the natural resistance, the odds of successfully seeing it through are small. We each chase our own hybrid of motivational carrots.
Why are you not achieving your full potential? What are you regularly forcing yourself to do that fizzles you out, even if you are good at it? Is frustration holding you back from peak performance? Are you chasing the right carrot for you?
A Reiss Motivation Profile® can be an excellent starting point on life’s motivational marathon. If you would like to discover what naturally motivates you, please send me an email at andy@adgrowthadvisers.com, and we will schedule your personal RMP consultation.
Basset Hound (Photo credit: Philippe Guintoli)
Learning to use your strengths to satisfy your needs and desires is a surefire way to live Fired Up!
Ready to fire up your work and your life? I’m an executive coach from Indianapolis, and I work one-on-one with executives and managers, in person for local clients or via Zoom. If this post raised a question about your work or your next step, we should talk. The first discovery call is free and confidential. Book your discovery call, or call or text me at 317-643-0058, Monday through Friday, 9 to 5.
