Recently, I had an interesting conversation with my husband about what motivates people to take action. We were talking in the context of marketing and branding oneself or one’s business and were considering what inspires people to decide (finally) to go for it. As we talked, I was even more convinced that the reason people take action on almost anything is because the “WHY” is strong enough. This question about why someone will stall and delay, ignore and deny and then grab an opportunity, comes up all the time when I talk to folks about what I do.
I explain that “I am the Weight Watchers and the SmokEnders of Getting Organized”, which sometimes causes people to ask, “What does losing weight and quitting smoking have to do with getting organized?”
Well, there are 2 very important common notions here, both worth taking a look at. The first is that Losing Weight, Quitting Smoking and Getting Organized are the top 3 most common New Year’s Resolutions. Every year, millions of people claim to be resolute about making one or more of these happen in their lives. And second, as to all three, the WHY has to be powerful enough to force a change in your behavior – YOU’VE GOT TO WANT IT BAD ENOUGH.
I remember when I smoked cigarettes, and everyone was trying to get me to quit. That just wasn’t good enough for me. Not that I didn’t value those who encouraged me to quit, but I had to get to the point that I no longer liked how it felt being a smoker. I actually got to the place where I wanted to be a non-smoker. It is the same with losing weight (which I have done numerous times in my life): every time I did, it was because I wanted to feel better in my skin, not because anyone wanted or asked me to.
So if you are not feeling good about the way your environment functions because it has you disorganized, stressed out about where things are, what might fall through the cracks, or how the lack of daily productivity leaves you feeling, know that by changing the way you live in your workplace can have a tremendous, positive outcome on your work and your life.
I invite you take the first action towards doing something different in your daily routine. Why? Maybe because you think you have to, want to or need to. Or just maybe because the ultimate WHY is…
* Feeling better about yourself and your work environment * Knowing where everything is and being able to access it in a moment’s notice * Never having e-clutter in your email inbox ever again * Never having piles on your desk again * Never being late to a meeting again * Getting a reasonable amount done in a day and feeling great about it * And the best WHY ever…THE UNIVERSE REWARDS ACTION!
Share with us what your first action was and how it made a difference for you using the comment section below.
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