It seems like everyone would like to know how to become more motivated.

A short while ago I was hired to be a keynote speaker at the wrap-up of a three-day executive retreat.

In all of my years of work as a keynote speaker, I have never considered myself to be a “motivational speaker” specifically, because in my opinion, motivation is an internally driven phenomenon. It’s as much a habit as is anything else we repeatedly do.

Being More Motivated is a Habit

Dictionary.com defines a habit as: an acquired behaviour pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary.

Motivation, in my opinion, fits perfectly within that definition.

In preparing for the presentation, I gave a great deal of thought to the different components that comprise the formation and sustainability of new habits and decided to spend my entire time explaining the Habit of Motivation.

I began keynote address by explaining to my audience that they had been lured to my presentation under false pretenses. They had been told that the final presentation of their retreat was to be a motivational talk and that it was my sad duty to inform them that I lacked both the knowledge and skill to tell any of them how to be more motivated.

In fact, I went on to say, that anyone who claims to be a motivational speaker is misrepresenting what they do for one simple reason: motivation is internally driven and is always managed by what we do inside of our heads, our hearts and our bodies. Not by the dazzling words of a skilled orator.

The world of motivational speaking is filled with wonderful and inspiring platitudes such as: “What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve”’ and, “It’s your attitude, not your aptitude that will determine your altitude.” While I wholeheartedly believe these words resonate, they are just that, words.

It is not the words that we hear from outside that drive us to excel, rather, it is the words we construct on the inside that propel us, for better or for worse, to where we are.

You Are Your Own Motivational Speaker

Instead, I talked about the stories we tell ourselves every day. These stories are the the foundation upon which our habits are built. I explained why it is so critical to consistently tell ourselves positive stories as the stories we tell ourselves translate into the reality of who and, more importantly, what we become.

We explored how our stories trigger emotions within us, which means the more invigorating, stimulating, inspiring and motivational those stories become, the more we respond with corresponding behaviour. This means that the amount of effort, energy and determination we bring to our actions all point to the same factor: the intensity of emotion our stories ignite within us.

If you truly want to be an inspired and more motivated human being, you need to become a master storyteller by constantly telling and retelling yourself stories possibility, endurance, and courage, not impossibility, abandonment of goals and cowardice.

Giving up is always easy, while pressing forward can be fraught with risk and pain; either one will be the end result of the story we tell ourselves. If being powerfully motivated to push through adversity, to never quit and to fight until… is what you desire for yourself, then you must become your own motivational speaker to light your own perpetual fire deep within you.

No one else can, nor should anyone else be able to.

Apparently, they liked my presentation for they have hired me to come back and spend two entire days with the Executive Team in the fall.

The CEO of the company told me he wants the entire group to master the Habit of Motivation, and that is the objective for our next meeting.

And I would love the opportunity to do that very same thing for your company.

I am merely a phone call away. Contact me for a free consultation, and start being your own motivational speaker today.

Let’s make a habit of meeting like this.