And what a lack of motivation means..

As you read this article you will start to understand why a lack of motivation is costing you even more than you realize.

As you read story below notice how much you have in common with me...

Growing up I never really had much trouble getting things done. I was told what to do by my parents or by my teachers and I did what was expected of me because it was easiest choice for me.

Getting punished never appealed to me very much.

Then as I got older and especially when I joined workforce I could get away with doing less and with leaving things until deadline approached.

In fact in one company where I worked it made no sense finishing work before deadlines because management kept moving goal posts.

And very often I worked with people who refused to stretch themselves. This culture of doing as little as you can and appearing to be productive slowly dragged me down.

Over years as a result of experiences like these I developed bad habits.

One of those habits was a lack of motivation habit.

I can see now how a few bad choices in how I approached work affected all aspects of my life.

The same may be true for you...

What we did over years was create bad habits that need to be given up and replaced with a new way of behaving.

Do you realize what these bad habits have cost you in your life?

1. You missed sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that comes with succeeding on a big scale.

2. You lost respect of your peers and you are excluded from winners circle.

3. You no longer feel in control of your destiny and in fact you are a victim of circumstance.

4. You earn far less than people of lesser intelligence and ability.

INTROVERT ALERT

The more introverted you are, more taxing holidays are likely to be. Extraverts get their energy from people (often from willing introvert!) while people drain introverts of energy. It has nothing to do with “liking” people, it has to do with means and mode of relating to people. A party full of strangers, semi-acquaintances and small talk isn’t introvert’s cup of tea. (Sitting at home along with a toddy in front of fireplace listening to Luciano Pavorotti’s Christmas concert is not extravert’s cup of tea!)

Know what you like, what makes you well, and stay there as much as you can.

FIRST RULE-OF-THUMB

The holiday rule-of-thumb is about numbers. Actually there are two. The first one is, do about half as much as you’d like to.

I had to remember this myself! I’m planning a Christmas cookie party for my grandchildren and friends, and it’s on same day as “The Nutcracker.” I started to shift times around so we could rush from one to other, and then reminded myself of “half as much” formula. I know kids would enjoy it more to just hang around house after party and unwind.

Then I pared party itself down. We’ll be baking and decorating cookies and I began with 4 varieties. Now I’m down to just sugar cookies. Instead of moving kids from one type to another, which I know children don’t enjoy (they’re smart and don’t like to be rushed), we’ll just spend our time with sugar cookies and they can work at their own pace.

Is Santa coming? No. Am I putting on a big spread? No. Who do I need to impress? And who will I impress with my company if I’m exhausted? Instead of a huge buffet spread, I’m fixing just a few things.

Then, because I know kids, we’re going to do some dancing. When folks get excited, they need physical exercise for balance. This applies to kids, too (smile). I have a great tape with “The Chicken Dance” and others, and we’ll take a break and have a work out. And no one does Chicken Dance like I do!

SECOND RULE-OF-THUMB

Because second numbers formula is – your kids will likely benefit from about twice as much time and attention from you, and about half as much of your money spent on them. (This applies to your partner and other loved ones as well.)