“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” Zig Ziglar
This column is the result of a great conversation I had with my Business Partner and the professional I admire the most – Ruchira Karnik. We were discussing the ongoing struggle any professional or/and entrepreneur has to go through, to build anything of any consequence. She said – “the key to being a good professional is daily inspiration.”
That got me thinking about the work I do as a Corporate Trainer. As part of my job, I happen to go to a lot of conferences to conduct the Key-Note Addresses & Team Building programs. What’s common in most of these well orchestrated conferences are the ambitious targets, snazzy slogans and event names. Each one of these conferences looks the same to me. The AV’s are the same. The talk given by the head of Department sounds the same. The look on the face of the professionals attending them is the same.
I try to impress upon these professionals and Business heads that the Big Hairy Audacious Goals (Thank you Jim Collins) are wonderful and really help the team understand and soak in the goals set by every department or the company. But the snazzy slogans and event names are not going to bring in the business. What you do every day at work subsequently will. Whether the company actually achieves its conference-laid Goals or not will depend on how the company & its people go about executing their plans, EVERY DAY. (“Your Days reflect your life.” Robin Sharma). And in my opinion what’s of utmost important for excellent daily execution is excellent daily inspiration.
Your mind will play games with you everyday. There are times when it seems like its better than it actually is. There are times when it seems like its worse than it actually is. Times when you feel like your attempt at doing something interesting is just not worth it. That’s where inspiration comes in. The key difference between excellent professionals and mediocre ones is their ability to keep themselves inspired and motivated far more than anyone else. Cause the bad days (weeks or months rather) are a part of business. If you give up (although sometimes it’s wise to give up), don’t work hard enough, it’s impossible to do anything special.
So how does one keep oneself inspired? Each to his own. Different things inspire different people. For me, what really works well are Quotes. They inspire me a big deal. I love reading about entrepreneurial success stories (gives me some hope really). I love going through the Forbes Rich List. Love Business Magazines and reading about professionals pushing the limits of their imagination. I love looking at innovative business models from over the world. Often when I need inspiration, I talk to Ruchira, who always manages to inspire me about our Training Business and what we should do with it. Every time my cousin drops by from Singapore, his 14 hour days, non stop travel and passion for work inspires me to do more. Do better.
What’s the point – Be aware of what inspires you or gets you into a good work state. (At times, nothing can). Keep your daily inspiration handy. Let your mind be open to the possibility of inspiration. You are going to feel miserable at work (even if you love your job, you’re going to feel miserable once in a while.) You will go into Bad Phases. So know what brings you out of those phases and puts you into a great state. Cause you can’t get too much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good!