Motivation on the Run

I noticed on my page stats that I was getting a lot of traffic from the Google search page. The search terms are all over the board, but it got me to thinking about Google and how a search would show up.

I typed in ‘motivational podcast’ and showed up number two in the listing. That is way cool and I have proof. Now I have to work just a little harder…

[tags]motivational podcast, Google search, rankings, Larry Hendrick[/tags]

Last Thursday, I revealed one of my goals for the year and wanted to give a progress report.

The goal statement was “I am posting one major post per week on each blog and two or three minor posts, all of original material.” and one of the ways to accomplish this is to write for one hour each day, Monday through Friday. Today makes one week and I am happy to report I am still on track on the writing goal and in looking at the blogs, am on track with the posting goal.

Each evening from 6-7 PM, I go into my home office and put fingers to keyboard and for at least an hour write about something. Some evenings the time passed so fast I missed the stop time and clocked slightly more than an hour.

It has been easier than I originally thought, but I can already see where some evenings, conflicts will occur. Last night the Redhead and I expected our nephew for supper and I was told I would be a good host (guys, you know what that means). Our guest was not able to make it, but in the future, there will be other conflicts with the 6-7 PM time and I will need to think about how to work around these by making up time somewhere else.

I bounced the idea of writing in the morning from 5-6 AM, but my attention is elsewhere then, and I really don’t want to get up at 4 AM just to write in the morning. The time would suffer less conflicts, but I am not willing to use that time now. That could change and time will tell.

My rule for the time is simple … write. No email, no research (read surfing the web) or any other distraction allowed. It is the time to write and write only.

The hardest part is deciding what to write each evening, but with advice from others, I have written about what I was thinking about. Tonight I have put several posts up on Business Unusual and have worked on several others for Motivation on the Run and with the few remaining minutes, I will write this update because it is what I was thinking about.

To tell the truth, it is great to sit and think about one topic long enough to write what I am thinking on the subject. It helps me clarify my thoughts and in some cases, I realize that what I thought interesting, really wasn’t. After a sentence or two (maybe a few paragraphs) it comes to a dead halt and my brain says, “that’s all I have to say on that topic” and it becomes a saved draft, never be posted (but save for future reference).

I believe, if it was important enough to come to mind, it might be important later, even if to jog my memory or create brain storms. At times, a little thunder and lightning will be good to jog me out of complacency.

[tags]writing, Business Unusual[/tags]

I just checked the Microsoft Live Meeting archive page and the Tribute to Peter Drucker is there. You must provide an email address to gain access, as well as a username and company.

Let me know what you think of the presentation in the comment section.

CORRECTION: I need to make a correction about the source of the Peter Drucker Tribute held yesterday.

I attributed it to Dave’s B2Blog, but it was at Troy Worman’s Orbit Now. Both are sites I read every day, so I was did a bad, bad thing. Sorry guys for the confusion.

By the way, both of these sites need to be on your RSS feed or bookmarks page. All we have to do is get Troy to stick with one WordPress theme for 72 hours …

Today, January 25, 2006, a Microsoft live meeting web event was held to pay tribute to the late Peter Drucker. I found out about it over at Dave’s B2Blog and made plans to attend. The participants were Tom Peters, Marshall Goldsmith, Frances Hesselbein, and David Maister and it was hosted by John A. Byrne, Executive Editor, Business Week.

My schedule was very tight today with a meeting that required my presence at noon and the tribute started at 11 AM Central Time, so I thought I could attend the first half of the meeting and then leave for my other meeting. If only… the telephone would not stop ringing.

What little I saw and heard was great as these people reflected on Mr. Drucker and his accomplishments. They talked about their favorite quotes and how down to earth he was and I was disappointed I couldn’t stay for the whole thing.

However there is good news in this. The tribute is being placed on the Microsoft Archive site for online viewing and it should be up by January 26th. I, for one, can’t wait to see the complete program when it becomes available.

How much does determination play in motivation? I think it is huge and that without the determination to complete a goal, it will not be achieved. In the past week, I read two articles about Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner. One article was in Texas Monthly magazine, and the other in Selling Power magazine.

Before the cancer in 1996, Lance was a good cyclist, but not considered among THE elite. He managed to win one stage of the Tour de France, but also, had failed to finish several times. Post cancer, he became a different person with new goals, motivation to meet the goals, and a determination that assured achievement.

How does determination fit into the mix for achieving goals? First, a definition of terms.

A Goal is a set objective and can be something I want, or it can be something someone else wants (such as a boss or a spouse).

Motivation is the act of inducement toward a goal. This can be self-inducement or caused by an enticement such as money or prizes.

Determination is the resolve to complete a goal or the firmness of purpose toward the goal.

Want an example of how this works? I will give you one that I am doing right now. My goal to write more posts this year is the perfect example. I set the goal and applied SMART. The motivation is made up of several parts and is selfish, because the goal is mine and very personal. Now, with that in mind let’s dissect the parts that belong to motivation and see where determination fits in.

First Motivation -
One motivational factor is to improve my writing and learn how to write prose that entices people to want to get to the next paragraph to see what is coming. I have always enjoyed good writing, and I have decided to become a good writer. A lot of this is for self pleasure, but who knows what the future might bring.

Another motivating factor is money and it takes several forms. First, there are now professional writers that blog for companies and have enough clients that it becomes a full time job. That is one of the things on the horizon as I progress in my writing skills. Another way is through Google AdSense on the website. If the site contains better content because of better writing, more visitors will come to the site and see something of interest on the Google ads and click through. This is where pennies add up over time, but it is part of the motivation, if I am honest with you.

Second Determination -
That covers the goal and the motivating factors, but what about determination? Where does it fit into the scheme of things? Am I determined enough to keep the goal of writing for one hour each day and having the Redhead edit my text, thereby helping me get better?

Let’s say the motivation wasn’t enough to induce me to keep the goal, then the determination wouldn’t be strong enough by itself to keep me going for the whole year and beyond. Resolve is a funny thing and it can drive you only so far toward a goal, and the rest has to come from something else … oh, yeah, motivation.

Determination can be called “hard-headedness” and I have been accused of being hard-headed many times, but by itself, determination will not get a medium or long range goal done. You might grit your teeth for a short term goal and achieve it with determination, but it will come to a halt soon enough. If the goal was for one or two weeks, you see how I might be able to get there, but not long term. There must be more.

In the case of writing more, I have put a lot of thought into the goal, the motivation, and I have the resolve to accomplish the objective.

[tags]motivation, writing, determination, Lance Armstrong[/tags]

Motivation33 [ 20:39 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Number 33 is ready for your downloading pleasure. I talk about “new directions” and one of my New Year’s Goals that is in progress, spending more time writing. I also talk a little about the Motivation aspect of peer pressure and how to use it for the positive rather than let the negative get hold. Let me know what you think.

This morning I was thinking about peer pressure and how it effects the actions of people, both young and old. We all are familiar with the peer pressure that is put on the youth of today, but few realize the extent of the same on adults.

Our youth are in the early stages of learning and experimenting with the world of adulthood and it is not uncommon for them to do things because of peer pressure, both good and bad. The unfortunate part is that the bad influence seems to be the most prevalent because of the publicity it receives.

As a young 14 year old, I started smoking. Was it because it was cool or made me feel grownup? No, not at all. Several of my friends smoked and always offered me one, and by wanting to blend in, I accepted and began many years of a bad habit (smoke free for more than a decade now). Peer pressure to fit in with those I ran with was all it took to motivate me to try and then give in to the temptation. Other things teenagers (and some younger) do are a direct result of this. Stealing a package of gum, throwing a rock at a car, acting tougher than they really are, and drinking, are all results of the pressure to fit it.

Adults think they are immune and that peer pressure is a thing of the past, but that is not true. The pressure to dress a certain way, go to a certain club or restaurant, be seen with the right person or group, is not confined to the teenage years. No, adults are as guilty on these counts as their children. The “rat race” is a perfect example of peer pressure to succeed.

We spend our lives chasing the big dream and miss our children in the school play on playing 2nd base. We claim it is for them that we do it, but the truth is, we do it for us. We are driven (motivated) to succeed even in the face of ignoring our responsibilities to family. The pressure comes as a result of our peers who are chasing the same ring. We can’t let them get ahead, that would be unacceptable. We push ahead, striving to gain ground on them and excerpting a little pressure of our own.

Why do we give into the pressure of our peers? It has been studied by some extremely smart people for many years and even they can’t agree on the reasons. Some say it is just the way we are (genetics) and others say it is due to the influences around us growing up (surroundings).

I think the truth lies somewhere in between. Some do seem predisposed to certain traits or actions, and the surroundings do seem to play a role. The problem with the rules are all the exceptions; those from poor, drug infested neighborhoods that overcome and succeed and those that grow up with everything, wanting nothing, and ending up in prison or dead at a very early age.

The good news is … there is a remedy. Peer pressure can motivate us toward the good as well. This positive influence is all around us, but without all the publicity, some don’t realize it. Influences of church, community groups, tutors, mentors, and other positive family members can bring about motivation to improve ourselves. It can help us realize where the really important things are and how to invest in them.

The important part is to become a person of positive influence for those that you come into contact with. Parts of the Boy Scout LAW come to mind, … friendly, courteous, kind … reverent. These traits will inspire and affect with positive peer pressure, with children and adults alike.

Your charge: be an influence for positive peer pressure, to be a good “scout” and motivate people toward the truly important things. In doing this, you will see yourself moving to a better place and bringing those around you, with you.

[tags]motivation, peer pressure, influence[/tags]

If you are fed up with all the hoorah and are ready to punch someone out, stop, take a breath and head over to Despair.com. This appears to be the anti-motivation site on the Internet complete with unmotivating posters and coffee mugs.

You can also purchase the book, The Art of Demotivation and bring yourself right back down or watch the videos on demotivation.

I may have more to say about this later, but it speaks for itself now.

[tags]demotivation, despair[/tags]

Luke Johnson must have read Motivation 2.0 with a desire to extend its reach (or not). Johnson seems to be a real cynic on the whole motivational front, from coaches to Anthony Robbins.

At least he works to support his case rather than just being negative by bringing up some of the same reasons I did.

It’s worth a quick read…

Telegraph | Money | The Maverick: Beware the slick-sounding purveyors of snake oil
January is a dire month for most consumer businesses, since the public is feeling broke and overweight after the extravagance of Christmas. But one sector enjoys a bumper time: the self-improvement industry.

[tags]cynic, Anthony Robbins, motivation, Luke Johnson[/tags]