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Jamie Smart’s NLP tip #22 How to motivate yourself to do the nasty things in life, 4 June 2003
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This Week’s Tip This week’s tip request comes from Steve Matthews, who asks “How do you motivate yourself to do some of your work tasks, even when you know they should be done. Examples are expenses, cold calling, VAT returns that type of thing.” What a great question. So, do you have an example of something which really should be done, but that manages to evade your efforts (or that you leave until the last minute?) Avoiding the question Before I answer the question directly, I would like to make a suggestion: Avoid doing things you don’t enjoy doing. If there is some way that you can successfully avoid doing it, I suggest you do, so…
If you can, that’s great! I’ve never enjoyed doing tax returns, so I pay my accountant to do it. Result! I am spared hours of discomfort, for a very affordable fee (my accountant reads this newsletter.) I love writing this NLP tip, but Tom (who sends you this email) is great at managing the tips & the website. So, who can you pay or barter with to do this? If they enjoy doing it, so much the better.
When I was a contract project manager, I had a very simple business, & only raised 1 invoice per month. Nevertheless, once per quarter I would subject myself to a painful 3 hours trawling through expense spreadsheets to prepare my VAT return. Now we use Sage software &, even though the business is much more complex, do you know how long it takes to do the VAT return? 2 minutes. Result! So, how can you use a system to make this easy?
One of the people currently doing our Master Practitioner training was telling a story about a car company that had 27 different types of horns for the various cars they produced. After spending hours & hours in a workshop attempting to streamline their processes, they were at an impasse over the number of horns. Impassioned arguments were made for all 27 horns. Then the MD popped his head round the door, heard what was going on & made an executive decision. He decreed that there would be two horns: HONK-HONK (for trucks) & beep-beep (for cars.) 25 fewer types of horns to source, store, track, install, repair etc. So, what would happen if you just didn’t do this? Wanting to do what has to be done Assuming that you have certain things which it is important for you to do, & that don’t yet fill you with joy & anticipation, here are some tips which I’ve found can help. Ringing people & following up with them is a big part of how I get business. What does that do for me? Well, it helps me to:
When I think about these things, I get a bona fide warm feeling that makes it much easier for me to want to pick up the phone & get in touch with people. So… 1) Get clear on why you are doing this. What will it get for you? How will doing this task help you create what you want in your life? I was working the other day with someone who wanted to devote more time to practicing NLP. Now, NLP is a very big field, with lots of different aspects to it. The idea of ‘practising NLP’ can be overwhelming. Yet, if you break it down into bite-size chunks, it becomes much more manageable. Plus, you need to schedule time to do it. So… 2) Make sure the task is of a manageable size. If not, break it down into smaller pieces. 3) Schedule time for it (go on, put it in your diary.) As usual, state is important, so if the warm feeling from the ‘Why’ in point 1 is not strong enough… 4) Build a strong motivation state & anchor it (see Tip 18 – choose your state) Whenever I sit down to do any piece of work, I imagine what it will be like when I’ve got it done. I literally imagine that I’m holding the finished piece of work in my hands (or seeing it on screen in front of me.) I start to feel the good feelings that I’m going to feel when I’ve finished it. Then I step out of the picture & see myself with it done. This gives me something to aim at. 5) Imagine you’ve already done it, how good it feels. Look out through your own eyes at the finished task, hear what you’ll hear & feel those good feelings. Then… step out of this picture & see yourself with it done. See this picture wherever you see future events (typically up & to your right if you are right-handed, up & to your left if you are left-handed.) Finally, rewards are very powerful. Every time I make a follow-up call, I put a marble in a dish. At the end of the week, I count the marbles. I get a good feeling every time I put a marble in the dish, & when I count them at the end of the week. I also reward myself for closing deals, hitting sales figures & the like. If I promise myself a reward, I make good on it as soon as I hit the target. 6) Reward yourself! Come on, do it! Play fair - reward yourself as lavishly as is appropriate to the task. Summary This week’s tip invites you first to creatively avoid doing things you don’t want to do (while still getting them done.) If you can’t avoid it, try the following… 1) Get clear on why you are doing this. What will it get for you? How will doing this task help you create what you want in your life? 2) Make sure the task is of a manageable size. If not, break it down into smaller pieces.
3) Schedule time for it (go on, put it in your diary.) 4) Build a strong motivation state & anchor it (see Tip 18 – choose your state) 5) Imagine you’ve already done it, how good it feels. Look out through your own eyes at the finished task, hear what you’ll hear & feel those good feelings. Then… step out of this picture & see yourself with it done. See this picture wherever you see future events (typically up & to your right if you are right-handed, up & to your left if you are left-handed.) 6) Reward yourself!
Next time (Speaking of playing fair, we’ll do the exercises for vocal flexibility I mentioned last week, next week). Have fun! J best wishes, jamie PS. How would you like to learn NLP in a small group training where you get 1:1 attention from me? On our 1-day Introduction to NLP you’ll get the opportunity to really increase your skills & start getting more of what you want in your life. With us, you & your results count. jamie smart director If you have found this tip useful, please share it with any friends, family, colleagues and associates who you think will be interested. Feel free to reprint it (with credit and subscription information) and continue to enjoy the tips. I am always grateful for any comments, criticisms or other feedback that you may have. Please send them to info@saladltd.co.uk ©2003 jamie smart all rights reserved How to Subscribe If you have been passed this tip by someone else, and wish to receive Jamie Smart’s 7-day NLP tip, please go to www.saladltd.co.uk to subscribe, or send a blank e-mail with the word 'subscribe' in the subject line to subscribe@saladltd.co.uk If you no longer wish to receive this tip, please send a blank email with the word ‘unsubscribe’ in the subject line to unsubscribe@saladltd.co.uk
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