Motivation in action, or how to create a better version of yourself

Planning is one of the foundations of modern business society. And it works if you know exactly how to put it into practice and are ready to act immediately

Maksym Prokhorov Founder and IT manager of PM Partners

Planning is one of the foundations of modern business society. And it works if you know exactly how to put it into practice and are ready to act immediately

When the motivation to proceed with a plan is not enough, there is a reason to delay or not to begin. Let’s talk about why this is happening and what you can do to help yourself.

Among the excuses to start to do something, I met different ones:

• laziness and usual reluctance;
• uncertainty in a result or fear of failure;
• lack of faith in yourself;
• the result, in accordance with the performer, does not worth the work and time;
• difficulty in making a decision because of the large number of possibilities or constituents that affect it;
• resistance to changes.

I’m sure the list can be continued, but let’s look at what I think are the most common in the society, especially in IT companies and their customers.

Laziness or unwillingness as indicator of a certain condition

The reasons for our laziness or unwillingness to act are, in fact, different. And typically, in order to overcome that state, people don’t want to understand them, they just continue to force themselves.

And when people succeed in this, they feel proud of themselves. And if don’t, it often involves internal criticism and self-destruction.

Сlear understanding of why you feel this way and understanding of the situation will help avoid a state of laziness or reluctance, for instance, you do not have interest, the task seems difficult, uncertainty that you are going the right way, etc. The reasons listed above are called demotivators. They are the ones to fight. But how? Try to simplify the hard things and to find the important and attractive for you. Then you will get motivation, and laziness and unwillingness will disappear.

What to do with uncertainty concerning the results and/or self-doubt?

Try to look for the internal causes that invoke this feeling. By the way, they may not necessarily be related to the current working situation. It’s important to understand in time when uncertainty comes from and to deal with it, even with help of a specialist. According to coaches and psychologists, this is the way to overcome this condition and keep it away.

When it can be thought that «the game isn’t worth the candle»

How a normal employee perceives the task is not always so obvious. And if you find the assignment to be irrelevant and not worth the effort and time, talk to your supervisor about it. It is likely that you simply do not have enough information about the task, and if you have more information, you will most likely reconsider your attitude.

If it is difficult to make a decision because of the opportunities

Lack of sufficient knowledge hinders work almost as much as excess knowledge. And when you realize that you can solve a problem in several ways, it can be difficult to choose the right one. Here either «brainstorm» with colleagues, or face-to-face with the person who set the problem can help.

What must we find out in order to make a final decision? First of all, the deadline and the possibility of transferring it, in case you perform the task in a more time consuming way in terms of time and resources. Next step is to specify the desired outcome and how far the details should be considered. And also ask yourself how the tasks that you need to do now will affect the future.

Once you have complete information, you will be able to find the right and optimal way to complete the task.

About resisting change

Reluctance to leave the comfort zone may be a reason to oppose innovation or even to sabotage projects. We often encounter such opposition when we automate the processes in the customers. Sometimes it is difficult for the employees to accept changes, because for them changes are foreign and uncomfortable. «We have always done so, why to change something?» You can hear it as an argument. It’s the reluctance to go out of the comfort zone that hides such statements.

That phenomenon must be worked at. Effective ways include staff training, gradual introduction of change and time for adaptation, leadership role models, well-established control points, and necessarily collective discussion of the first and subsequent benefits of change.

So, to create a better version of yourself, which is motivated by a result, it’s within the power of every human being. What you need is a willingness and an understanding of the reason. And then it will work, because there is no limit to perfection.