Tag: motivation

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motivation

Are we all being recorded now?

Cartoon of a pastor saying, "I must remind you my sermons are recorded for quality assurance."

When I drew this cartoon, I worked at a call center in Arizona for a time. We had to remind anyone we called that the line could be recorded. It would make me think whenever I would make a call. I wanted to choose carefully the words I would use.

Today, I have noticed when I am on video calls, there is an option to record the conversation. Since we are using electronic communication so much now, I wonder how many times this feature is being used.

Does it matter? If you knew your conversation was being recorded and could be broadcast to the world, would you be kinder, more thoughtful? Perhaps you would think before you speak?

Perhaps it is good to assume we are being recorded. I’ve made an effort to consider this when I create a blog post. Let’s all consider the words we say and how we say them.

Cartoon of a pastor saying, "I must remind you my sermons are recorded for quality assurance."
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motivation

How Do You Endure in a Pandemic?

Cartoon of a girl scolding a kitten. She says, "Come down from there! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Many of us are getting stir crazy these days. And it looks like we have another month of self-sequestering.

Even the pets are feeling it. Some may be like the cat in this cartoon. They may need to run up a tree and cause some commotion. I saw a video the other day of a cat that was very upset she had to share the house with her owners. Let’s face it. Cats are the kings and queens of social distancing!

Staying inside and hunkering down is the right thing to do as we attempt to stem this pandemic. But there are some proper ways to take risks and keep your edge as we wait this out.

  • Use the Internet to learn a new skill. What is it that you have been meaning to learn but never got round to?
  • You can take e-courses. Some are free including Yale’s Happiness Course.
  • Reach out to an old friend through the phone or social media.
  • Use social media to spread a message of encouragement. 
  • Read a book about something you always wanted to know. You don’t have one handy?
    • Your library probably has ebooks to check out.
    • You can read free ebooks at Project Gutenberg

Find something useful to do. It’s possible. But I also understand if you’re feeling like climbing up the walls, or even an occasional tree!

Cartoon of a girl scolding a kitten. She says, "Come down from there! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
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motivation

The Benefits of Feeling Nervous

Cartoon of a girl scolding a kitten. She says, "Come down from there! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

“Nerves are the body’s response to opportunity.”

Ken Coleman

Are you nervous? Are you out on a limb and wondering if you did the right thing? Are friends and loved ones trying to talk you out of it? Then it may be a good sign you are staring at opportunity.

It takes audacity to embrace an opportunity. If the dream is big enough, you are naturally going to feel nervous. You’ll feel a little adrenaline rush as you take the plunge.

Cartoon of a girl scolding a kitten. She says, "Come down from there! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

It’s okay to feel nervous as you go out on a limb. You may find on the other end of the opportunity that it was the best decision you ever made.

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motivation

Emphasize the Good

When criticism is minimized and praise emphasized, the good things people do will be reinforced and the poorer things will atrophy for lack of attention.

Dale Carnegie in How to Win Friends and Influence People

Why is it so easy to see the speck in another person’s eye and ignore the log in our own? We like to pick apart those that are close to us and ignore the self-improvement we could make and have the control to do.

I am the oldest of four kids. Unfortunately, that meant I was really good at seeing the faults in my siblings since I had at least a two-year head start on them. I’d say none of them benefited from my years of “constructive criticism.” They are wonderful, healthy adults today in spite of my influence rather than because of it.

Criticism is too easy. It lets us off the hook of our own self-improvement and focuses on the improvement of others. Sure, employees need to be accountable to bosses and managers. But look for ways to do it that inspire good behavior rather than place an undue emphasis on the bad.

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motivation

I Had One Job!

Cartoon of a boy and a teacher. The boy says, "That was due today? Seriously? I need help.Where can I get some homework insurance?"

Looking back, it seemed such an easy job. All I had to do was complete my homework and turn it in. I had no other obligations. I didn’t have a job, nor did I have a side hustle. After all, I was in third grade.

I had plenty of motivation. I am a firstborn son and very self-conscious. I yearn to do the right thing and do it well. I feared my third-grade teacher because she was a yeller. I didn’t want to get on her bad side. Yet, somehow I forgot to do my homework that day. I had one job and I didn’t do it. I remember the yelling. I had to stay in the class at recess time. What was I thinking?

Cartoon of a boy and a teacher. The boy says, "That was due today? Seriously? I need help.Where can I get some homework insurance?"

Now I know why I didn’t do my homework. I reasoned there was nothing I could do to please my teacher. In fact, I was sure she expected me to mess up. So I delivered and didn’t disappoint her.

Frequently, I’ve heard the phrase, you had one job… as a joke. A seemingly simple job can be messed up. It may appear to others that a person had only one task to do, while it may have been one in a dozen that day. What seems obvious in hindsight may not have been so when the work was done. If a supervisor expects a direct-report to mess up, they frequently don’t disappoint.

I had one job in third-grade and I didn’t do it that day. I learned my lesson and got my homework completed after that. However, it took years for me to see myself as a good student and to do the work because I wanted to, not because I feared some wrath. I was motivated by fear, not by the enjoyment of learning something new.

Expect the best in people today. Sure, they may disappoint and there may be times when we wonder what they were thinking. But it is better to expect the best and get disappointed once in a while than expect the worst and get it every time.