Don’t Let This Happen to You!

Marcianne Kuethen

July 11, 2012

A while back, we hired Leo*, an intern, to help with our social media launch. He seemed self-motivated and tech-savvy. Because we were just figuring out for ourselves what this job entailed, we were not very good at directing him. His progress was slow, and one day, to our frustration, he fell sound asleep at his computer. Eventually, we realized that Leo’s self-motivation was low in our environment, and we began a new approach to social media which allowed Leo to move on to greener pastures.

Have you ever had trouble achieving what you set out to do? Is it there a gap between what you say you want to do and what you actually do to reach it? In both life and work, self-motivation is crucial in helping you accomplish your goals. If you struggle with self-motivation, here’s a tool that can help. It starts out with a short self-quiz, followed by practical suggestions in those areas where your self-motivation could use a boost.

For instance, it suggests that you can’t rely on your environment alone to motivate you, but you can use outside elements for extra support, like looking for teamwork opportunities to help hold you accountable to others.

Take advantage of this great resource, and start growing your self-motivation skills today!

*Name has been changed to protect the intern!

Originally published on mindtools.com.