Do you feel that you and your colleagues are working with your best energy at the moment?  I’ve heard it said several times recently that a lot of people are working long hours and keeping their heads down, just to be sure to hang on to their jobs.  This isn’t the optimal attitude for bringing new growth to our businesses and the country out of recession.

In contrast, we all know how energised we can be when we are tapping in to what is really important to us.  At these times, we are inspired not only to get through tough challenges but to become ever better.  When we feel motivated, we enjoy what we do and we find it easy.  As we are drawn to spending more time enjoying what we love, we become really good at it.

I’ve been thinking about this because I recently had the privilege of attending a workshop by Robert Dilts, one of the leading developers of NLP (neurolinguistic programming – a leading methodology for personal development).  Dilts has made a lifetime’s work of understanding how we can manage personal beliefs which hold us back.  None of us feel highly motivated all the time and at the workshop we learned some new ways of reconnecting with our core values when we need to.

The key principles (which are to be followed according to the best NLP practice of observing the physical sensations that arise as you ask these questions, which will point to important insights) are:

1. Identify what you want to achieve.
2. Identify what makes you want to achieve this (For example, by understanding how the organisation you work for makes the world a better place).
3. Identify what it is that holds you back.  (For example, this could be a personal belief that the situation is hopeless, that you are unable to do it, or do not deserve to succeed).
4. Identify what is more important to you than the things that hold you back.  This deep-seated motivation will keep you going regardless of the consequences.  For example, it may include the desire for security, self expression, personal validation or personal growth.

During this workshop it struck me that the power of discovering our motivation afresh is nothing less than a prevailing evolutionary force.  It is so strong that it keeps individuals and movements pressing forward to overcome seemingly impossible odds, even despite the threat of personal danger.  It is the revolutionary energy we have been witnessing through the Arab Spring, and which I heard about in person when I visited Bahrain last May.  What a difference it could make to most organisations if employees brought a fraction of such energy to work!

It is, of course, essential that we exercise wisdom and judgement so that we direct such powerful energy in the right direction.  It can be dangerous to coach individuals along the lines of, “Follow your passion” if this could lead them into unprofitable or unhealthy pursuits.  To borrow Stephen Covey’s analogy*, there is no point climbing a ladder if it is leaning against the wrong wall.

Please contact me if you would like more information about the motivational workshops that I run, “Keeping Motivation High” or if you would like to learn more about NLP training (I am an accredited trainer of NLP with the International NLP Trainers Association and able to award NLP accreditation at Diploma, Practitioner and Master Practitioner level).

* “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”.

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