Motivation..or lack of it!

So, it’s late on a Thursday morning, it’s the first full week back at work after the festive break and I’m struggling to motivate myself. Felt the urge to write a blog post but couldn’t think what to write about, until a good friend suggested writing about what does actually motivate me. Genius idea. Although, be warned, this post could be waffly. What’s that I hear you cry? “More waffly than normal, god help us!” Yes yes, I know. But, you’ll cope.

I love my job, I must say that first and foremost. I genuinely do, and anyone that I work with is probably aware of this. I work for a great company (yes, it frustrates me occasionally, but I still like it!), I work with a great set of people and I’m genuinely interested in the stuff that I do. But, regardless of how much one person may adore their job, we all have moments of “I can’t be bothered” and anyone who says they don’t is a fibber.

I’m naturally a very reactive person. I work best in a situation where I need to react to something. I don’t get stressed by unknown items, I tend to take them in my stride and deal with things as they come along. This applies to both work and my private life. I can over think things, but it’s rare if I’m honest. If something is bothering me and I have the power to change it, I will. If I don’t have that power I’ll deal with it, make my peace and move on. This comes in very handy for a big factor in my life, and were it not for this attitude, I think I’d have driven myself into the ground worrying about something I have absolutely no control over.

I can be pro active, when I put my mind to it. But I have to be in the right frame of mind. I am a bit of a control freak in some ways, and I like to know where I’m going to be and what I’m going to do in advance, sometimes. But there are other times I’ll just fly by the seat of my pants and love the ride. If there’s a group of people trying to organise something, I’ll generally take the lead and try and drive the group forward to where they need to be. This could apply to a group of friends booking a holiday, or a bunch of colleagues in a meeting.

Actual planning in work is a bit of a struggle for me though, which could prove difficult in the near future given that I work in Project Management and am looking to head into a Project Manager role at some point! But, I am fully aware of this ‘flaw’ and know it’s something I need to work on as part of my career path.

But what does actually motivate me? That’s a rather expansive question, and if I’m honest, I’m not entirely sure of the answer. Some people might see me as lazy. If I don’t HAVE to do something, I generally won’t do it. It’ll get done, at some point, but it’ll be lower on my list of priorities than the stuff that I have to do right now.

We could go to town now and analyse exactly WHY I’m like this. Something in my childhood perhaps, or just my inherent personality? But, I’m not going to, we’d be here all day.

Money motivates me a little bit, but it’s not a huge factor. I realise I need it to live, and yes, like everyone out there I’d love to not have to worry about money, but I don’t crave it. I don’t particularly crave power either. I sometimes look at the top dogs at work and think “Nah, I couldn’t cope with that”

I like recognition, I like praise, and in some ways criticism because it means that someone has noticed something. I’m a sporadic Tweeter. I blog because I like outpouring my thoughts and sharing stuff, and I’d love for more readers/followers. But, I fully realise that to achieve this I need to put more effort into my ramblings. But, I don’t, because I’m not THAT bothered. (which I now realise probably wasn't the wisest thing to admit to you, my lovely reader!)

One thing I do crave is knowledge. I love knowing stuff, finding out new stuff and imparting my knowledge on others (sometimes to their chagrin I’m sure! I blame my father for this). I like knowing how stuff works and learning new stuff every day. Which I think is one of the reasons I like my job so much. Although fundamentally my job is the same daily, something is always different. Projects change every day, it’s a very dynamic environment and I love it. My first proper job was in a call centre changing mortgage interest rates for customers. I loved it for the first 12 weeks or so because I had 6 weeks of training then was able to put that into practice. But then I had nothing new to learn. I was bored senseless and I got out of there as soon as was humanly possible; straight into projects and I’ve never looked back. I’d go so far as to say that knowledge is probably my main motivator in work, which is quite handy really! I work in an environment where there’s always scope to learn new things and that excites me. It doesn’t necessarily have to be knowledge that I’d use but the fact I have it makes me happy.

It goes without saying that happiness is a motivator for me too. I want to be happy in my work life and my private life, and in the main I am, but there’s still work to be done, which I’m working on it bit by bit.

I find writing blog posts very therapeutic, and this one is just the same. But, it’s made me think about something that I’ve never though about before. What actually drives me. I think I’ve answered it and it would fit with the way I am.

So, to the friend who suggested the topic, I thank you. To the rest of you, as always, I thank you for reading my ramblings.

Happy 2013 to you all, stay happy!

Sandra.

xxx