DONT WORRY ABOUT MOTIVATING OTHERS, WORRY ABOUT GETTING DE-MOTIVATED BY OTHERS

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Have you ever found yourself in a situation in which you have to collaborate with others to achieve results? This could be in your marriage, work, business or at school.

You may be eager to do your part but with time you begin to realize that others may not be meeting their end of the bargain.

As a result, you may feel discouraged and with time start putting in less effort into the project. In a similar vein when the rest of the team seem committed, it is far easier for us to be motivated and put in our best effort.                                            

Generally, the attitude people have towards a group activity is mostly affected by how we see those around us execute their roles.

However, the bible book of Galatians 6:4 can help us look at things from a different angle. It urges us to evaluate our own efforts and not how others are doing their part.

Evaluate how you are doing by asking yourself some questions such as:

How am I doing with regards to this project? Is this the best contribution that I can make? Will I be missed if I was to leave the project? How can I improve my contribution?

What happens when you evaluate your own personal contribution? The scripture answers by telling us that you will have reason to be happy with yourself alone.

Therefore, whether the projects succeeds or not is irrelevant, what is important is your personal efforts towards the success or failure of the project?

Rather than spending a lot of time thinking about how we can motivate our teammate (spouse, workmates, classmates, business partners, etc.), a better approach might be to work on our own contribution, take full responsibility of our role in the project. 

In a way, it is like a striker in a football team who’s focused on showing defenders how they should be defending instead of working on how he can become better at scoring goals for his team.

Remember, your problem isn't how to motivate other people. Rather it is how to keep other people from de-motivating you and thereby preventing you from doing your best!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
                     

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