One of the things I’ve learned as a daily blogger is that it’s impossible for me to sit down and write something that motivates, educates, and inspires others until I have first motivated, educated, and inspired myself.  The same is true for you if you’re a dentist, chiropractor, or any other type of small business owner.  When I walk into a business and find an unmotivated team, I know that I’m going to meet an unmotivated business manager.  So I’d like to share with you my top 5 ways to motivate yourself.

1. Read.  Leaders are readers because leaders know they must motivate themselves and their teams to get things accomplished.  What are you supposed to read?  Just about anything.  Most business leadership gurus will tell you to read everything you can get your hands on in your field or area of expertise.  That’s good.  But I’ve also had a lot of speakers tell me that reading mystery novels and fictional romances helped as much to motivate them as anything else. Reading something outside your area may free up your subconscious mind and spur creativity to help solve an on-going problem in your office.  Men in leadership positions seem to do well with biographies about famous leaders such as Sir Winston Churchill.  More books are coming on every day now for women in leadership.  Find something that interests you and engages your mind, and read it.
2. Slow down!  Focus on one thing at a time.  Make yourself do this.  We’ve become so fascinated with “multi-tasking” that we’ve forgotten why this term was created in the first place.  Multi-tasking refers to a computer’s ability to hold jobs in memory while completing other jobs.  Human beings have been multi-tasking since our creation, but nowadays, we’ve taken it to new heights – we try to multi-multi-task.  Stop it.  Focus on one thing at a time.  When you’re focusing on helping one patient, you’re still multi-tasking.   Take a minute and just think about all the things that you have to do to get one patient in and out on time.  Worrying about what’s going on in treatment room 2 while you’re in room 4 is just going to drive you crazy.  Do one thing at a time.  Your patients, your team, and your brain will thank you.
3. Write it out.   “This is my answer to the gap between ideas and action—I will write it out.” —Hortense Calisher   This is a fantastic technique.  When you have so many things going on in your head that you can’t focus on one thing at a time, take a couple of minutes to write down everything that’s on your mind.  Scribble and write fast if you have to, but do it – it really does help.  There’s something about stimulating both sides of the brain that helps bring the two together to solve problems.  It doesn’t matter if it’s your to do list, a problem you need to resolve, a creative idea you need to brainstorm – whatever it is – write it out.
4. Remember that you create what you want.  We humans spend too much time in reaction mode.  Whatever is going on in your life right now, you created it.  You made choices and decisions that brought you here.  Now, what are you going to do about it?  You can re-create your reality by making new choices and decisions.  Sure, those new choices will have consequences, but sometimes that’s exactly what we need.  You work for yourself.  You are in control of your time, effort, and energy. What do you want to create right this minute?
5. Simplify.  Eliminate all activities that do not contribute to your Mission or goals.  Of course, you must first know your Mission and have goals to strive for, and if you need help with this, see my posts, What is Your Mission, Goal Re-setting, and What is Holding You Back, Part II.  It is easy to become distracted by requests and demands from people we love and want to show respect.  But sometimes those expectations wreak havoc on our goal accomplishment and leave us feeling overwhelmed.  Learn to say, “No.”

Thanks for reading today.  I hope one or more of these techniques will help you motivate yourself and others to live the life you want.  You can leave a comment by clicking the “No Comments” link below.

Posted under Inspiration, Leadership, Motivation