Jul 02 2008
6 Ways To Motivate Yourself At Work
To succeed in the workplace, you need to be at your best, and you can only truly be at your best when you are motivated to work. With the proper inner drive, everything can seamlessly fall into place. So how can you motivate yourself at the office day in and day out? Here are 6 ways to do just that:
Create early momentum
The way that you start your day will dictate the pace of the rest of your day. So it is crucial to start with a “bang”, so to speak. You need to mentally prepare yourself for the day ahead as soon as you are out of bed. Then, you can ride that wave of momentum all the way to the afternoon. It makes a huge difference, no question about it. Psyche yourself up, go over everything that you plan on doing on that day and remind yourself that you are not only capable, you are doing it, period. I have written a great article, 7 Ways To Wake Up Motivated!, you might want to read it to get other helpful tips on starting your day with a purpose.
Think about your salary
It’s no surprise that money is a great motivator. However, after some time at the same job, we tend to forget that big motivator and what it brings to us. Remind yourself of the money you are getting for the work you are doing, and think about all the things that you want to do with the money. Whether it’s to buy that new car you want, or pay for your home, or save up for that great vacation you are looking forward to, never let it slip your mind that you are working for money that can help you achieve things in your life that are of great importance to you. If you work in an environment where you can actually affect your salary, such as being an entrepreneur or a salesperson, then money should be one of your biggest reasons to motivate yourself to work harder than anyone else. As a matter of fact, even if you are salaried and your income is not dependent on how hard you work, you should always work at the best of your abilities and this brings me to my next point.
Focus on long term growth
Whatever your current position, there is most certainly room for advancement. There is always some other position that you can work towards, and this can be one of the best ways to motivate yourself at work. I remember at a job I used to work at a long time ago, they had announced that they were looking for a new manager, and told everyone that they would assess everyone’s credentials and abilities over the next two months. You wouldn’t believe how this helped turn around the work ethic of certain people. The ones that really wanted the position had a huge motivator pushing them to reach for that goal. You should approach your work thinking that the higher ups are always looking for someone to promote. Trust me, that usually is the case, even if it is not said in public. So concentrating on your potential career growth can definitely increase your motivation to do stellar work and be at your very best to ensure that you do get the recognition that you deserve, and get promoted to a higher position.
Only positive talk
In a recent article about the advantages of working from home, I talked about how one of the main negatives of the office is the fact that you have employees and coworkers always badmouthing the company and bringing everyone around them down mentally. Needless to say, it is incredibly difficult to remain motivated when you keep hearing about the negatives of the workplace. There is good and bad in every office. Focus on the positive, surround yourself with like-minded people that enjoy their work and are there for a reason (such as the ones listed above), and you will be guaranteed to always be in a frame of mind where your motivation is pristine. When you allow negative discussions at work to enter your mind, you subconsciously start doubting your reason for even being there, so you think you will possess the right motivation to work properly? Definitely not, so at all costs, always be positive when it comes to your discussions about your job.
Compete with your peers
When I used to work on a sales floor, I would walk around the room looking at each other’s numbers and performance during breaks and lunches, as a way to motivate myself to do better than they were. I even remember working closely with a colleague where we would always try to out-do each other. We shattered sales records because of this. Even if you are not in a position where your work dictates your salary, you should always strive to perform better than everyone else around. Such things like being more professional, quicker at answering questions, quicker at resolving issues…these are ways that you can compete with your coworkers within your own mind in a way to motivate yourself to increase the quality of your work. Competition can lead to great accomplishments, take a look at this article I wrote 7 Positives of Competition, and you will see how this can truly benefit you.
Personal pride & accomplishments
At the end of the day, do you want to go back home and be proud of what you have done? The way I see it, if you are somewhere for 7+ hours per day, shouldn’t this be pretty clear that this is an important part of your day and your life? Treat your job, whatever it may be, with pride and witness your motivate & your success soar! I remember once, I crossed this garbage man on the street that was just having a blast, he was singing along, smiling to people, and doing a fantastic job. That’s how we should all approach what we do. Even if what you do is not your ideal job, there is a reason why you are doing it…focus on that reason, and while you are at it, might as well make it a joyful, pleasant experience. When you can go home and be proud of what you have accomplished during that day, when you can be satisfied with your work ethic and attitude, then you are truly living life the way it was meant to be lived 
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Regarding Point #2
what if the salary isn’t good enough and is the main reason of your de-motivation
If you cannot be motivated by your income, then you need to seriously think of doing something else, either change job or add another revenue stream. Unless it is something you are completely passionate about (in that case the long term focus & love for it will motivate you), you should always be motivated by what the main benefit of work provides, which is money.
I could use some motivation in some days.
Thanks for the tips ! I will use them !
You are a moron. Pride in your job is JUST NOT POSSIBLE for many professions, because too many idiots block you from being able to do your job effectively. Projects get cancelled more often than not, and when you’ve invested yoruself, your creativity, and your pride in them, it kills you emotionally. And it doesn’t help much when your boss says “don’t worry about it, its just how this industry is; things get cancelled a lot. Just be happy you’re getting paid.” The only way to survive in my industry is to NOT CARE about what you are doing, and just plug along and do the best you can. Remain detached. But, I agree, thats a horrible way to live your life, so I am looking for some EXIT as soon as possible–a career change, whatever. I’ve tried 3 times before to quit this industry, but there is no way to make more money doing anything else, in fact, I make SIGNIFICANTLY less if I take a different job–and worse, they won’t even hire me when I try to take an ‘ordinary’ job because they see my work history and how much I made and they aren’t interested. I have tried lying about my work history, but that just makes me look like I have ZERO experience working, and they still won’t hire me. What the hell does one do in my situation!?!?!?!
Jason,
first of all….name calling is completely immature. You want to truly make a change in your life, start with your attitude! You get nowhere in life being negative and insulting other people. I am here to help you….I’m not against you, so why call me a moron? Completely unnecessary!
Now, if money cannot motivate you, you need to find motivation elsewhere. If career growth is not even possible, then you need a change, I agree there. For example, I had a high paying job in a financial company many years ago. But I was miserable. I left that job to start my own business, doing something I was passionate about. Sure, it was a major pay cut, and I found myself highly in debt the first few years, but I was passionate and motivated to do something I truly wanted, and that was worth taking the risk.
You need to figure out what you really want to do. Follow your passion. Yes, sometimes that means taking a huge cut in your salary and changing your lifestyle, but those are the risks of the game. You have to take risks in life otherwise you can’t gain anything.
Read this article about finding your true passion, maybe this will help you figure it out
best regards!
OK to rephrase things in a more mature & intelligent fashion, I am saying:
1) Watch out when taking pride in the workplace. your employer will often use the fact that you are emotionally invested in your project (i.e. taking ownership, etc) to manipulate you. Even when they don’t do this, you can suffer severe emotional distress/trauma when things get cancelled, plans change, etc, due to market forces or bearucratic nonsense. Its good thing to want to do your best, and take pride, but it can be a source of much anguish (and even nervous breakdowns if taken far enough) if you don’t take steps to protect yourself emotionally.
2) Attitude is destiny. this is related to teh ‘only positive talk’ heading, but I am taking a less polly-ana approach to the explanation. An off-putting attitude will make people not want to work with you. Yes, it is unfair that you cannot just ‘be yourself’
3) watch out for people who give good advice but only paint part of the picture. Sometimes a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I have quit my job 3 times and taken time off to pursue my passions, and each time it lead straight into the pit of despair. Why? Because, although my technical skills and business knowledge were excellent, my people skills were virtually non-existant. Plus, I believed that one shouldn’t be REQUIRED to have good people skills just to succeed in this life. I was proven wrong ( I think… I’m still not entirely sure why I failed 3 times in a row, starting my own projects).
(oh and p.s. name-calling and swearing are ways to get draw attention to the issue, get an emotional reaction out of people, and make the discussion have a little more zap: if things are kept too ‘professional’ and polite then you run the risk of having fake, plastic interactions, which will not lead to learning and growth… at least, this is what my experience has taught me)
Hi Jason,
I appreciate your input into this topic.
Your point #1 about pride. You are saying that as if every employer is evil and will use and manipulate you. It was your experience unfortunately, but there are millions of people that have good employers. These people have every reason to be proud of the work they do. You do have to protect yourself emotionally, and being in charge of a company, I understand that fully. Otherwise, you may not sleep at night! I am still proud of the work I do, even if I don’t take it personally if something goes wrong.
As far as you following your passions and failing each time, that is not a reason to quit forever. I have been there, I started many different companies that failed and put me in debt until I did something that worked. I totally agree that people skills are needed, along with a host of other skills. I started very young, and I got most of my training through experience. I did not read a book or an article with all the answers, that’s not possible. There are tons of help available out there, but it’s up to you to glue all the pieces together to figure out your own path. If there was one such piece of advice that could resolve all issues in one shot, then everyone would succeed….such is not life as we know it.
I think that instead of focusing on what’s currently wrong or what you did wrong, focus on what you can do right. I feel that this topic is really fueling your energy, and I think that if you were to channel that energy in the right direction, you would figure out a way to resolve your current predicament. There is always a solution, you have to believe that, because there really is a solution, you just have to be in the right frame of mind to be open to hear it.
Are you saying that you have tried absolutely everything and that you are stuck, and there is nothing that can be done to get you out of your situation?
Thanks for the great post! Keep up the good work….
Thanks for the great post.
I totally agree that “only positive talk” is very important to have a positive working group. while to do that is not easy for everybody. Even myself, sometime can not help from complaining something. Later on feeling regret about it.
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