How do you get motivated? What is the spark that gets you out of bed and back on track? Are you a stick or carrot person? In many ways you are likely motivated (at least a little bit) by both. Last week we looked at incentive motivation- carrots (click here to read that article). This week we tackle deterrent motivation – sticks.

Now, if you work for someone you probably already have plenty of sticks built in to your job like getting fired, losing a commission or bonus, formal reprimand, bad mark in your permanent file etc. These are all external built in systems to keep you performing. For this article, and my philosophy in general, focuses on internal (self) motivation. Here are 5 ways that we can create motivation and motivate ourselves using disincentives.

Sticks- so you are a stick person

1. Accountability partner- nearly 2 years ago I set up a weekly accountability call with a friend of mine. Each Monday we have had a 30 minute phone call at 8:30am where we share goals, accomplishments, ah-has and areas of improvement. And, each week one of us is “in the hot seat” meaning after the goals and accomplishments/lack of accomplishments are shared we discuss specific challenges/obstacles we are facing at that time and how we can overcome them. A few times I have shared that I started the previous week motivated and excited to conquer the world but then during the week faded and finished less productive. It is at this point my accountability partner holds my feet to the flame and drills down as to why I wasn’t able to accomplish my goals. Knowing that I will have to explain myself at the next checkpoint incentivizes me to finish each goal before the meeting. Do you have an accountability partner who can hold you to your goals and drive accomplishment?

2. Financial fine- I don’t know about you but finances, fines and penalty payments get my attention. A powerful motivator to commit you to your goals is to set up a monetary penalty for missing them. My accountability partner has a weekly $100 fine if he doesn’t make a certain quota of prospecting calls. This is not something instituted by his employer (well… he is self employed so I guess it is “technically”) but rather something he set up because he knows he is motivated by not having to pay that weekly fine. Recently there have been a number of companies and apps set up to facilitate this. One company, Gym-Pact.com, allows you to set a punishment for not going to the gym. You go, no fine, you miss…pay the fine. You can do this for waking up, eating healthy, or pretty much any measurable task that you want to accomplish.

3. Missing a reward- In addition to financial disincentives you can also try removing rewards. Last week I talked about how I set up rewards for accomplishments. If I meet my quota for writing or prospecting calls I get to watch the big game on Saturday or go to Yogurtland. Well this is just the opposite, if I’m planning to go out Friday with my friends but don’t get a project completed, or hit the gym 4 times, or get up each morning at 5am I’m not going out. The desire to not miss the reward can be powerful.

4. Don’t let people down- Social pressure can be a huge motivator. And today, more than ever, there are ways to share your goals and journey with the masses. You can post on social media or the old fashioned way of telling your friends and family in person what you intend to accomplish. There are also a number of new apps that have specifically integrated the social pressure of accomplishing goals with goal tracking. A popular one I recently tried is lift.do. You set daily tasks/goals and then track your progress. Others can join your journey and encourage which builds momentum. The stronger the momentum the less desire you have to let your network down.

5- The bad way you feel- Yuck! I hate the feeling I get when I miss a goal. I am not talking about social pressure or missing a reward, I am purely referring to the feeling I have in my gut when I miss an objective. I can see my potential and I have high expectations for myself and when I miss an opportunity to grow and get closer to my improved self I feel terrible. A few weeks ago I wrote about journaling (read article here). I make sure that when I experience that negative feeling of missing a goal I put it down in my journal and then use it as a motivator to remind me that I don’t want to feel that way again and to avoid that pain (guilt) I buckle down and make sure I don’t miss the objective.

There you have it, 5 ways that we can use the internal “stick” to motivate performance. But, for these to work we have to be committed to following through with the punishments. Remember, these are internal “stick” motivators. No one is going to force you to have an accountability partner, or pay your financial penalty or miss your reward. It is on you to be so committed to your goals that nothing will step in the way. The power of using the above disincentives is to first recognize that you are more motivated by rewards (see last week’s Carrots post) or by the penalties. Once you have figured that out you can implement (some or all of) the motivators discussed above.

One of my favorite quotes, and I think is really applicable here, comes from Christopher McDougall’s book, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen:

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”

Question: Are you motivated like a gazelle (stick) or like a lion (reward)? What do you do to keep yourself motivated and on task? Leave your comments below or by clicking here.

Want to read about incentive motivation click here.

How do you get motivated? What gets you up early in the morning fired with passion and ready to take on the challenges that await? Or, do you find yourself struggling to get going and dreading the day?

We all go through periods in life where motivation can be tough, where the routine gets monotonous and we find ourselves dragging a little. I find that for me, when I am tired I start to get this way and I get distracted and catch myself watching television or hitting the snooze bar a little too often. I think taking a break every so often is important to recharge the batteries but eventually you have to power through the funk and get yourself going again- refocus and recommit to your goals. So how do we do that?

The first step is figuring out if you are a carrot or a stick person. I imagine that you have heard this analogy before. Imagine a work animal that is hooked up to a large load hauling it to town. The owner is in back trying to get the animal moving. He has 2 options; he can whip the animal from behind (the stick) or he can dangle an incentive in front (the carrot). Which is more motivating to the animal to get it going in the right direction?

Well, it really depends on the animal.

The analogy is similar in motivating ourselves. Some are motivated by rewards- bonuses, days off, gold watches etc. Others are motivated by the stick- being fired, not paid, verbal discipline etc. There are plenty of arguments about which is better but ultimately it comes down to each person individually.

What is that spark that we need to get back on the track, out of the bed, and back to accomplishing our goals? In many ways we are all likely motivated (at least a little bit) by both. This week we will look at incentive motivation- carrots. Next week we will tackle punishment motivation- the sticks.

Carrots- so you are a carrot person

I find that very often in my life I am more motivated by the carrot. So what kind of carrots can we set up to drive accomplishment?

1- Rewards- a few years back my wife and I were trying to save some money and get a handle on our expenses. We were brand new homeowners and just waking up to the fact that when you own a home there are more expenses than just that monthly mortgage. So, we had to cut out some our fun discretionary spending and watch each expenditure. To help keep us on track we created a very elaborate spreadsheet to track every penny in-or-out. At the end of every month we reconciled the accounts and if there was anything left we, according to a predetermined formula, put some in savings, some in investments and little bit into personal separate accounts. The personal money could be used for anything we wanted, no questions asked and no judgmental looks. I can buy $150 hockey sticks (my carrot) and she could get anything she wanted books, clothes, exercise equipment (her carrots). It has worked so well we continue to use it today.

2- Sense of accomplishment- sometimes the only carrot you need is the sense of accomplishment you get when you complete a goal or task. That little bit of pride where you can sit back and smile. Like the feeling that you get when you finish a vigorous work out. I do not run often but when I do I have this specific route around my block that I take. When I finish I walk back and forth in front of the house to cool down. I reflect on how good I feel. I did it, I got out and exercised and now I feel great. The next time when I struggle to get off the couch  I think back to how good it felt to accomplish the run and I get out again.

3- Brag board, Facebook, or social recognition- social pats on the back can be incredibly motivating. It would be awkward to pick up the phone and call your friends and say “I just woke up at 5am for the 5th day in a row”. But the social media culture is such that you can pop on with a status update saying the same thing and instantly gets a handful of “likes”; people acknowledging and recognizing your effort.

4- The prize- This is one that I find useful in my life. It is the when…then… motivation. I set a task that I want accomplish and then immediately place a reward for its accomplishment. For example, I love Yogurtland. I think I could skip dinner and eat there every night, which makes it a great motivator. I can easily commit myself to doing something with the reward of getting some yogurt. If I make 30 prospecting calls by Friday I will go to Yogurtland. I also reward myself with movie time, down time or sports. If I know a big game is coming up Saturday night and I want to take the time to sit down (guilt free) and watch, I give myself a goal to “earn” it. Things like writing a chapter in my new book or publishing a podcast episode. If I don’t get it done, guess what I am doing during the big game…..

5- The chain- This idea came from comedian Jerry Seinfeld. He said when you are trying to get into a habit or you have a routine that needs to be maintained, print yourself a 1 page calendar with just the numbers of every day of the month. Start with day one and when you accomplish the task for the day take a colorful marker and draw an “x” over the date. After a few days you have created a chain of x’s that you will not want to break. This can even work for breaking bad habits. The desire to keep that chain going is incentive not to miss a single day. If you do miss a day, you can just start a new chain. I recommend printing a new calendar and starting a new chain so you are not continually visually reminded of stumbles.

6- Your cheering section- My wife is a runner and she loves to enter organized races. I try to bring the family out to watch when I can. We always position ourselves at the end near the finish line and watch the runners come through. There is often a big group, music and food. As runners come around the corner and head “down the stretch” the crowd cheers, people on the inside hold out “high fives” and a photographer catches the moment. As exhausted as the runners are it always puts smile on their faces to see and feel the support. Having a cheering section when you accomplish a goal can be a great incentive.

I happen to be a “carrot” person and can relate to rewards for accomplishment. Next week we will tackle the other side of the analogy- stick people.

Question: What type of rewards motivate you? Leave your comments below or by clicking here.

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Last week, in part I, we talked about the elevator speech and the pitfalls of attempting to approach new clients or prospects with memorized 30-second pitches. I shared that in my career I have forced the issue and given an elevator speech because that is what I was taught to do. So, I spent a few hours fine tuning my presentation, memorizing and trying to get the timing right, and then the rest of my career looking for an opportunity to use it.  (To read last week’s post click here).

The Myth of the Elevator Pitch

Why do we feel compelled to have and deliver elevator speeches? Why is it that many of the best selling leadership and sales books teach the importance? Because we have all heard and believed the story of the young man seeking a job on Wall Street. After researching the travel habits of the company president and strategically positioning himself in the back of a cab the president was taking to the airport, he was given 30 seconds to make his pitch. He famously delivered his elevator speech and was immediately hired. Whether this account is true or not, the situation presented is unique and rare and is hardly a model worthy of emulation. For most of us, we find ourselves in conversations at cocktail parties, not sales pitches in cabs. So how do we deliver our value proposition in a conversation?

Here are five things you can do to enhance your conversational value:

1-      Know your business and how what you do benefits. Focus here is on the benefits your business offers, not on the features. For example, if your business is selling flowers and you are at a Chamber of Commerce mixer. Prospect Susan approaches you and during the conversation the question of “what do you do” comes up. Previously we have been taught to prepare our 30 second “I am an award winning flower arrangement artist providing beautiful displays for businesses and families” speech. Notice how the focus is on you and what you do? It highlights the features of your business. Instead, try an approach focused on Susan and the benefit to her. “I help clients retain more clients and increase loyalty through aesthetically pleasing floral displays.” This approach is so different from what most people hear at mixers that additional interest naturally follows.

2-      Guide conversations to elicit questions. Did you notice in the example above that the response to the “what do you do” question was designed to engage interest? It was not pushy or self promoting but rather subtly intriguing. We all want to retain more clients and increase loyalty but how do floral displays accomplish that? The prospect is compelled to ask for more information. “How do floral displays increase client retention?” The dialogue switches from a pitch to a conversation driven by the prospect’s desire to learn more.

3-      Stand out by being different. Most companies are focused on proving that their offer is better. Our flowers are superior, we deliver in under 30 minutes, our exotic flowers are flown in fresh daily, we use only use high quality flowers. Boring! The focus is on trying to be incrementally better in what the customer already expects. How about trying to be different, “Our serenading florists make deliveries in tuxedos on Segways”. Now that would be different.

4-      Be interested in the other person. Remember that you are in a conversation, not a sales pitch. Conversations are two way communication, meaning you need to care about the other person and what they do. At our Chamber mixer from above, you may not have an immediate need for Susan’s services but allowing her to share about her business builds trust. It may be cliché, but people don’t care how much you know until they know (and feel) your genuine interest in them. If you want to build a reputation as a good communicator follow Pareto’s 80/20 principle and listen more than you talk.

5-      Find common ground. In any conversation, establishing commonalities is key to keeping the conversation going and then moving it from casual chit chat to a relationship of business. Continuing our example, Susan may not need a florist but she likely knows people who do. How can we find commonalities? Explore topics outside of business and be interested. Do your kids go to the same schools or play the same sports? Do you like the same movies, read similar books or both really hate Chamber mixers?

When you step away from your primary goal of making a sales pitch and work towards conversation you can establish a pleasant relationship that will naturally allow business discussions when the time is right.

Question: How do you establish relationships of trust and intriguing conversation? Leave your comments below or by clicking here.

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When I first started my career it was common for business and sales professionals to proclaim the importance of preparing a 30 second introduction of who you are and what you can offer. The idea, commonly referred to as “elevator speeches”, was that if you fortuitously found yourself in an elevator with Richard Branson, Mark Cuban or some other dream partner or client that you could quickly get out your pitch and wow your elevator mate into supporting your cause.

 The reality in my career is that I rarely find myself on elevators with dream prospects and if I do they are usually on the phone or with people. And even if I were to happen on the opportunity I am not sure that a carefully crafted and memorized recitation would be the right approach. What I experience more often is introduction opportunities at networking events or receptions. It is for these situations I believe you must be prepared to properly introduce yourself, not with a memorized speech limited to only 30 seconds but a genuine introduction designed to connect on commonalities. Here is why:

1-      Access to Information- If people are looking for a professional with certain skills they immediately go to Google or Yelp or ask advice on Facebook. They turn to their community and those they trust, relying on relationships. Finding solutions to their needs has become much more active. Rarely would a prospect be passively waiting for their need to be met by an unknown, untrusted stranger (on an elevator). Additionally, we are in an information overload society and new information is constantly being dismissed unless it’s accompanied by a recommendation from someone they know, like and trust. The goal of any brief introductory encounter should be to identify and connect on similarities. Do you like the same teams, watch the same shows, or eat at similar restaurants?

2-      Trust-Before we trust we want proof. Unless a book came highly recommended would you buy it without checking the reviews on Amazon? Would you stop for donuts at a Yelp rated 1-star shop? Probably not. We have our validation networks that we trust. So the goal of any first encounter should be to spark enough interest to validate further. To get them to view your LinkedIn page or website.

3-      People want to be heard not pitched- When introduction opportunities arise remember that the other person has experiences to share as well. Take, for example, an attorney. He begins talking about his experience and services and immediately the other person interrupts with “my sister is a lawyer in New York City”. Or worse, they interrupt to say they had a bad experience with a lawyer once and dislike all lawyers. The opportunity is dead before it even begins. On the other hand, if you start out asking questions and listening to the other person often the conversation will turn to what you do.

No one likes to be pitched, particularly if they are caught off guard by being ambushed on an elevator. What people do enjoy are two-way conversations; elevator pitches are one way. Today, the traditional elevator pitch is viewed as similar to a telemarketer during dinner. It is an interruption that is not typically effective. Instead of an elevator speech we should craft relationship building introductions. Conversation and dialogue is a better approach than a pitch.

 Join me next week when I talk about how to be conversational in your approach to new prospects.

 Question: Have you ever had the opportunity to deliver an uninterrupted 30 second pitch of your product or service and been successful? Leave your comments below or by clicking here.

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I have three little kids (my oldest is 8) and they are growing up too fast. It is almost a daily occurrence that one of them needs new pants or a new coat and of course new shoes. They grow so quickly and grow out of the clothes often, that I started buying clothes a size big to give the kids a chance to grow into them.

Similarly, I have been playing ice hockey for many years. I am a decent player; I have fun and can control the puck but am not an all-star. A few years back I played for a team full of beginners and I was clearly the strongest skater on the team. I had fun and made some friends; we won a few games and lost a few. More recently I joined a team with some very skilled players.  I had to up my game and skate extra hard to keep up and contribute. By the end of the season I was skating with this team and scoring a lot of goals. My skill significantly improved. I realized during my time with the beginning team my skills atrophied. I needed to step into a higher, more demanding league to improve my game.

Life and success are the same way. When you put yourself out there and set the bar just a little higher, push yourself a little bit more, success will come. Thinking small benefits no one, especially you. Stretch your dream, even a little beyond your comfort zone, play harder and get better.

Question: What dream do you have? What are you doing now to reach your goal? Leave your comments below or by clicking here

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