Get Motivated!

Welcome to LegalBiz Cafe! Digitally remastered with AI, in this podcast series, Attorney Shaune B. Arnold gives to frustrated professionals like YOU the tools and resources you need to make the LEAP to entrepreneurship so you can start, build or fix a business you will absolutely LOVE. 

This no-nonsense episode of Legal Biz Cafe tackles procrastination at its roots. Attorney Shaune Arnold breaks down the mindset traps stealing your momentum and shows you how to spark consistent follow-through. If you're ready to stop stalling and start thriving, this is your wake-up call to take bold, focused action. 

Transcript

Hello friends! …and welcome …once again …to legal biz cafe. I am your host, Attorney Shaune B Arnold. I am here tonight to get you motivated! But before we go jumping off, up and at it tonight, we have a little housekeeping to do. I want to chat with you for just a moment about what we're doing here on legal biz café.  

We are working on your mindset as an entrepreneur. You keep finding things that stop you, things that get in your way, obstacles that keep you doing busy work rather than the work that you were brought here on this planet to do. So, stick with me. We're going to get you into that entrepreneur position, starting with getting you motivated tonight.  

You know, when we think about a lack of motivation, it's usually associated with a failure to start, or a failure to finish a goal or task. Now, in either case, what's probably at work here is procrastination.  

There are a lot of reasons for procrastination, and we're going to chat about some of those during this episode. But one thing I really want you to get about procrastination itself is that we often think of procrastination as us sitting around doing nothing, not accomplishing what we are supposed to accomplish. Now, while we are indeed not accomplishing what we are supposed to be accomplishing while we are procrastinating, we are NOT just sitting around doing nothing. You see, you have a strategy to activating and practicing your procrastination. There are certain things that you do while you're procrastinating.

Even deeper still, something typically triggers the procrastination. Usually, it's a negative thought or emotion regarding what you can or cannot do, and then something else helps that procrastination thrive. It could be that you have plenty of time to get something done, or maybe that you allow distractions to get in your way, like the television, reading, busy work, or the internet. The Internet is the new crack. Yeah, it keeps all of us distracted. It gets us spinning our wheels, and we think that we are accomplishing things, but we're not. 

As we think further about our procrastination, we realize that something always ends it. Usually it's a looming deadline. That was exactly me many years ago, but I have pretty much nipped it in the bud. We are going to talk about some ways to do that this evening. 

You know, the trick here is to not beat yourself up about the fact that you're procrastinating. Instead, I invite you to ask yourself what you're doing when you're motivated as opposed to when you are procrastinating. See, much like procrastination when you are motivated, something gets it started. Maybe it's an empowering thought or emotion about how you've got this goal, the distractions don't come into play. Something also helps motivation thrive. Could it be that you are getting incremental successes along the way, and with each success, you feel a little bit stronger?

Something keeps you going in that power until the very end. What is it? What is it that you were doing when you're motivated that keeps you going until the task is complete? I encourage you to really home in on that disempowering thought that causes you to procrastinate, or the empowering thought that galvanizes you when you are motivated. Find ways to eradicate the disempowering thoughts. And find other way to amplify and multiply an empowering thought.

Being motivated often comes down to taking responsibility for what you know you need to get done. So, let's talk about that for just a second. You know, I teach undergraduate and graduate level courses in business law, ethics and human resources at a local university. Some of my students are very motivated, and some are simply not.

I have to tell you, I can tell by the second week of class who's going to pass, who's going to pass with flying colors, and who's going to fail. The people who pass my class show up. They do the reading. They participate in the class discussions. They look me in the eye when I'm lecturing. They hand in their homework on time. Now, I know you think that this is really obvious, and you know, on a lot of levels, it really is. But I am shocked at the number of students, these are working adults, mind you, not 19-year-olds, I'm shocked at the number of them that seem to think that the work is going to get done on its own, and it simply won't. 

There are a number of people that will, for example, hand in assignments like a week late. They want to create work for me by handing in the work late, and they really want to look at me crazy when I say to them, “Did you read the instructor policies that say you're supposed to turn it in by such and such a date? Yeah, we're going to stick to that policy, not because I'm being mean, but because there were some students who were motivated to get it in on time, and we have to be fair to them.”

So, you see there can be some real consequences to procrastination and to not being motivated to do the things that you need to do. See, I work when I teach, I'm looking for stories that they won't forget. I'm being very animated and interesting, …I think, …and telling jokes to keep them engaged and awake. I can see it when they're suffering, because I know they've gone through a full day of work. Sometimes though, I find that I pour more into their education than they do. Is that happening with you?  

Do you find there are people around you, acting as your mentor, acting as your cheerleader, and they are pouring more into you than you are pouring into yourself? They pump you up and get you motivated and get you feeling good about yourself. And then you turn around and start talking negatively to yourself again, and you bring yourself right back down, and you put yourself right back in that hole again that you can't climb out of. And then you want to call them again and get them to pump you up again.  

What I want you to do is figure out a way to pump yourself up. There are ways to do that when situations come up and it feels overwhelming or it feels like it's just a lot of work. It really comes down to how bad you want it and to whether you really can see it for yourself.

When I was an undergrad student, I visualized each quarter, all of the classes that I was taking that quarter, and all of the classes that I had left to take to get my degree. I mean, I really seriously looked at the catalog. I read the course descriptions, I saw myself sitting in those classes, even the classes where I had no idea yet what I was going to be learning. 

I did not know at the time that this was visualization. I felt a bit silly doing it, but I did it again each and every quarter for five solid years until I got my undergrad degree. Then I went to law school and I visualized my way through three more years of school.

This is what you have to do to make it through any long or tough curriculum or task. This is what you have to do to get yourself motivated. 

So, let me ask you a couple more questions. Who are you surrounding yourself with? Do you find yourself on a daily basis dealing with toxic people who have nothing but negative conversation for the world? These people are so negative, they can literally walk into a dark room and start to develop.  

If this is happening to you, you need to change your relationships. And you know, I'll have to tell you, even if this is a family member, you can love them from the next county. I'm not saying being mean to them. I'm saying don't let these people be the dominant force in your world.

Find yourself people who are doing the kinds of things that you want to do, the kinds of people who are intrinsically motivated in their own lives. Watch them, find out what they're doing, and then model them. 

Make a commitment to yourself that you are going to stop the procrastination, that you are going to take responsibility for what you have to get done. Make that commitment to yourself.

Let me also ask you, are you living your purpose? Nothing, …nothing, …nothing zaps your energy and your will to succeed more than living somebody else's truth. So, is that a profession that you chose, or is that a profession that someone else chose for you? Is that a marriage that you chose, or did somebody else choose it for you? Is that a life that you affirmatively chose for you? Because if your life does not look the way you want it to look, then you need to make some other choices. Believe me, everywhere you are right now, in every area of your life, at some point in the past, you made an appointment to be right here.

So, find your purpose. Find your passion and begin living in it. Be very cognizant of the conversation that's going on in your head. Are you telling yourself disempowering stuff; that you can't do this and that won't work?

In order to get motivated, you need to have a vision for yourself that's more expansive than that place that you're in right now. You need to recognize what makes you procrastinate and what makes you motivated. Try to map across the conversation that you're having with yourself when you're motivated to change the conversation that makes you feel disempowered, that makes you feel like procrastinating, and that makes you feel like giving up.

Take responsibility for what you need to get done. Make this a personal challenge, to sign your name to excellence. Ensure that you are living your passion, and in that way, you will truly get stuff done. It will be like breathing.

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you so much for joining me on this week's episode of legal biz cafe. I am your host, Attorney Shaune B Arnold, reminding you, …as always, …to MAXIMIZE YOUR COMPETENCE, to get the CONFIDENCE YOU NEED to succeed.  

I'll see you right back here next week on legal biz café. Bye-bye, friends!