What’s Your Motive for YOUR Action ?

Watching a TED presentation a few days ago while I was walking on the treadmill and I come across a nugget of gold that I wanted to expand on. It dawned on me that regardless of what we want to do both in life or in business, you need to have a motive for why you are doing it.

Now for every person the motive is different, some need fear to motivate them i.e I need to lose weight and stop smoking as I’ve just had a heart attack or that love is the motive i.e I buy a bunch of flowers for my wife to show my appreciation.

Sometimes though, finding the motive sometimes comes with a contradiction. The reason is the little voice inside your head says things like “I’m comfortable with where I’m at, why bother” or “I know I should do this but how can I”. So why do you do what you do?

So there must be a reason for the motive or the ‘why’ you do what you do.

See I know for me my motive for taking action is that I have a bigger purpose that trumps all the excuses which ultimately I use, as my default or operational setting (What I fall back on when I lack the motive for taking the action) And it stops me thinking small. Here’s an example:

It’s Sunday afternoon, 3pm and I’ve committed myself to volunteer for the Exodus foundation (charity set up to feed the homeless) I need to be there at 7.30 pm. I start to get a thought like “Just call them and tell them you can’t make it , you’re tired and have had a really busy week, it’s volunteering and they probably have a lot of people anyway” . My first reaction is to say yes that’s what I will do, because at that level (Thinking small and just about me rather than the bigger reason) It’s an easy way to get out of taking action therefore justifying the motive for that action. Instead I respond to my inner voice by using my bigger purpose thinking “How many people will I be able to help by getting to the food truck”. This creates an instant shift in my motive or my why I take the action and like a software upgrade, makes the excuse obsolete.

For me the motive for action is to be in service to others. This I’m clear about, it’s my driving force.

Let’s get to the action component.

Be it a small or a big action it’s still an action…right?

Now if you’re struggling to find the motive for why you take action, you may want to ask yourself the following: The key here is to look at it;

1. In comparison to another action i.e If your action is going to the grocery shop to get fruit and vegetables, how does that compare to say working in a coal mine for a day? It’s about perspective really.
2. How will the action that you take affect you and others? i.e If you are needing to make sales calls how will that help your bottom line by creating win/win outcomes for both parties by someone buying your services or product.

If you need some help getting back into the groove so to speak and you feel like you’re a little lost with regards to your Motive for your Action simply reach out to me on ask@nini7705.staging-cloud.partnerconsole.net and let’s set UP a FREE 30 min Strategy Call.
Till the next episode, be cool and help others 🙂