Education Precedes Motivation

I was invited to train young scholars of Upskills+ Foundation, a non-profit organization in the Philippines, about Essentials in Entrepreneurship and Leadership. I made the theme of the training "𝑬𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏" because it answers the question, '𝐼𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ?' We see a lot of business gurus on social media preaching about how to become successful in business and their main pitch is all about mindset. It is all about motivation. It's all about focusing on the result? It's all about how badly do you really want it? They say it as if it is the only thing needed to be successful in business or in any field for that matter. However, there is something missing here. They left the part where one needs to have discipline to learn to do the right things. The following texts are part of the manuscript I submitted to NEXT MBA University having the title: "𝑰𝒔 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑬𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝑭𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑻𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆?" 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 Once we finally have the right team in place and once, we have set the goals high for our team, it is pivotal to understand the skill of motivating a team. One way of motivating a team is to reward them not only for the big wins but also for their small wins. Rewarding small steps of progress is the “key part in [the] ultimate success” of a team. Another way to motivate a team is to be generous to others by giving praise or recognition that “you don’t really need it for yourself.” Acknowledging someone’s effort is very invaluable. Most people need it more than any material incentive. Additionally, if someone in the team is not doing well, it would be a mistake to push them with motivation. It is necessary to teach them and lead them to the right track rather than motivating them. Borrowing a quote from Jim Rohn, “𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙙𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.” Furthermore, a leader must know how to communicate better with a team. By communicating effectively with a team, a leader will be able to address the needs of the team members and effectively motivate them. According to Jim Rohn, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺: (𝟭) 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, (𝟮) 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 (𝟯) 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴. Training is the first level of communication because what the leader does is simply show how things are usually done. Second, teaching is making sure that after the process of communicating with the team, they leave with added skills. Lastly, the third level of communication is inspiring them. To inspire is to walk them through the vision of the future. Inspiring is transformational because a leader is communicating to the team members that they can be better than their current situation and showing them, it is possible. On the list of ways to motivate a team is to self-motivate. The leader must make the team members realize that self-motivation is the best motivation. One cannot ever be dependent on an external reason to take action. This is a huge mistake most individuals make to get motivated. They usually wait for things to happen until they decide to take the necessary step in achieving their goals. 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗘𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 Jim Rohn believes that motivation is a mystery, and just like any mystery, the expected reaction is not to question its existence. They are simply there. If two people attend the same seminar with the same training materials, with the same speakers, with the same date, with the same tools, and with the same cost for the event, why does one become more successful and the other one does not after the seminar? Maybe motivation played a big part for the one who succeeded, but there is no way to tell accurately if it did. However, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬. Motivation is not the cause of changing lives, but having the right discipline is. It all starts with our thinking habits. As Jim Rohn would say, “𝐼𝑓 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑, ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑙.”