Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, I’m taking my family to see the new Star Wars movie this morning, and I believe if you are learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I talk about the things that motivate us.

Today’s fun fact:
Did you know that today is International Dalek Remembrance Day? From the great folks over at www.daysoftheyear.com:

Doctor Who fans may not be surprised to discover that those forceful characters the Daleks appear to be the only one of the Doctor’s enemies to have been given their own celebratory day. Dalek Day is held on December 21st each year. This date was chosen to commemorate the anniversary of the Daleks because they made their first TV appearance in Doctor Who on December 21st 1963. The official title of Dalek Day is the International Dalek Remembrance Day. There does not appear to be any regular organized celebrations each year to commemorate Dalek Day and it is unclear whether Dalek supporters meet or actually even dress up in Dalek costumes. Many of their fans appear to celebrate Dalek Day at home by having a Doctor Who marathon and watching again their favorite episodes with the Daleks battling against the Doctor.

We are now just 4 sweet days away from this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special, so why not prepare for that and celebrate this fun holiday by watching some of the great Dalek episodes of Doctor Who?

What I learned yesterday.
As we wrap up this calendar year, it’s a great time to review and reflect. If you’re a long time listener to this podcast then you know that I like to make lists, set goals, keep track of accomplishments, and make periodic checks of how things are going in my life. One of the best times of year to do that is the time of year that says goodbye to one year and ushers in the next.

So as a reminder for all of us, here are the goals I set for 2015:

  • Read 10 books
  • Get up earlier
  • Remove distractions from my work environment
  • Shut down the studio at dinner time
  • Go to bed earlier
  • Add 10 new production clients
  • Add 30 consulting clients
  • Develop 10 training resources for my clients

How did I do?

  • Instead of reading 10 books, I read 7.
  • I did a much better job of getting up earlier and being consistent with the time I start working.
  • I could have done much better with removing distractions.
  • I got way off course with shutting down the studio at dinner time.
  • I developed a consistent bedtime.
  • I added 21 new production clients and have 6 others that will start production soon.
  • I had 20 paid consulting sessions.
  • I developed 4 training resources for my clients.

Well, if you compare my results with my goals, I achieved 3 out of 8. Since I’m the kind of guy that likes to make lists, set goals, keep track of accomplishments, and make periodic checks of how things are going in my life, you probably think I’m pretty upset about these “failures.” I’m not.
If you haven’t listened to episode 376 yet, please go check it out. George did a wonderful job of expressing pretty much how I feel about my failed goals. That is, the very process of striving toward these goals brought me to a much better place than I was when I started the year. Even though I didn’t reach all my goals, I found success.

However, I will still continue to push myself, set goals that seem impossible, and strive to be better in all areas of my life.

What I want to focus on today is motivation. I want to talk about this topic because it plays such a pivotal role in our lives. To set this up, I want to play a portion of a conversation I had with my 13 year old daughter about an hour ago.

When I wrapped up the conversation with her, I felt like I had totally failed to make my point with her. That is, that motives impact every single decision we make. Sometimes our motives are good and honorable, and sometimes our motives are poor or even lazy.

However, a few minutes ago she came into the studio to show me her hair. She had just had my wife cut about 4 inches of it off. She then began to tell me about her motives for asking Kari to cut it of. Hmm, I guess my conversation made more sense than I realized.

When I look back at the goals I reached this year and the way things got crazy busy, disorganized, hectic, and overcrowded over the last 5 months, I have to look squarely at my motives. I also have to look at hierarchy. In 1943 Abraham Maslow published a paper in the Psychological Review. That paper established what is now commonly referred to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Starting with the most basic needs first, he identified 5 things that we all need in order to thrive.

I believe a hierarchical approach can be applied to many areas of our lives, even our goals. For example, which goals are most fundamental? Which goals, that if not accomplished will set me back the most, and which ones, if achieved, will propel me the furthest forward? It’s a way of establishing priorities so that decisions can be made more quickly.

For example, I only had 20 paid consultations, but my goal was 30. On the other hand, I landed 21 new production clients when my goal was 10. I made a decision to make more of an effort to land production clients and even give away free consultations to many people I felt had a strong chance of becoming recurring production clients. Why? Because a recurring production client represents a much larger and stable form of revenue over a period of time than a consulting client does. A consulting client gives me a greater return on my time, so I don’t want to do away with them altogether.

Look at where I was a year ago.

Last December was the first time in the 8 months prior to it that I did not have to pull money out of my savings account just to pay my bills. I did have to pull money out for Christmas gifts, but even those were cut to the bare minimum. So my most fundamental or base need was to establish consistent, recurring income. My motivation was to gain financial stability and quit borrowing from my nearly empty savings account.

What a difference a year makes.

This month I was able to pre-purchase a booth at the biggest podcasting conference, buy many Christmas gifts, go on a trip to Dallas and Las Vegas with my wife, and give generously to 3 different families who really needed help. Of course, all of that was done after all bills were paid and money was added to our savings account.

I don’t say all that to brag. I only bring it up because it reinforces the importance of motivation. I was motivated to grow my business because most other areas of my life are dependant on my business being successful. I also have other things that I want to do and accomplish. I have things on my list of goals that I still want to achieve. I’m motivated to do those things because I believe they will make me a better business owner, consultant, father, and husband.

I also admit that there are things that I fail at, because I have poor motivation. There are administrative business tasks that I hate doing. Each month when it comes time to do those things, I find myself dragging my feet. I’ll allow myself to get distracted by the simplest and dumbest things. One day a couple of months ago I spent 8 hours doing a task that should have taken 90 minutes. Why? Because I the wrong motivation. I wasn’t motivated to get the job done, I was motivated to put the job off. I was so mad at myself for allowing myself to waste such a large amount of time that I really needed to have spent more wisely.

What have I learned?

Everything we do is done by motivation. Sometimes that motivation is good, sometimes it’s bad. We must identify what is truly motivating us to do (or not do) things.

For those things I hate doing, I’m finding other solutions. For example, some of those things can be done by my wife, who actually enjoys doing them. If she can’t do them, then I look to see if someone else can. If it turns out that I need to be the one doing them, then I look for ways to keep myself on task. For example, I’ll set a time goal. If I get the task done by a certain time, I’ll reward myself by watching a movie on Netflix.

I’ve also learned that not everything has to be accomplished in order to be a success or on the path to success. I understand that not every step of our journey looks the same or propels us the same distance forward. Sometimes it’s more important to take the best step than it is to make the perfect step.

Lastly, I’ve learned that each day is a new opportunity and a fresh canvas. My failures of yesterday don’t define my today. My victories of yesterday don’t guarantee me an easy path today. This means that I must appreciate each and every day. I must make the most of them, but not dwell in them. Instead, I must get up each day, make the best effort I have, and wake up tomorrow with the motivation to give it my best shot all over again.

I’m Darrell Darnell and this has been stuff I learned yesterday.

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