Skift Take
Do you feel like you’ve lost your motivation? Do you dread each day? If so, it’s time you do something about your lack of motivation.
Are you dissatisfied with your job and are you buying too many lottery tickets in the hopes you’ll win and be able to enjoy a quick retirement?
For most event professionals the job can be very exciting. You envision a world, you create it, you see it through the eyes of your attendees, and bask in the glory of watching how much they enjoy it. The process is exhausting but very satisfying.
But what about those times where the stress mounts and there’s no release? What about when your job feels like a scene in the movie Groundhog Day, where it’s the same surly type of client day in and day out. How do you stay inspired? Here are a few tips to find your motivation again.
Know That This Affects Everyone
Even people who are super motivated in their goals have days when they’re down on their job. Famous trainer Jillian Michaels told People magazine, “There’s never a moment where it’s hard and I’m going, ‘Oh, I just love this!’” Embrace that there will be days you love what you do and days where you won’t.
All of us have problems with motivation. You are not unique in this sense. What makes high performers different is that they don’t allow emotions to determine their actions. They show up and get it done.
Find Your Motivation Source
Why stay in your job? There must be a motivation. Do you love the things you can buy with your fantastic salary? Then focus on your next purchase as the goal. Envision whatever it is being yours. Maybe you relish the fact event planning gives you more time with your kids because you control your own schedule. Then relish the fact you’re seeing Junior more. Whatever your reason, make it your focus.
Handle the Boredom
What made Michael Jordan a terrific basketball player, one of the tops who ever played the game? Several things – a natural aptitude, the right stature, timing, and a competitive nature. But plenty of people have those things. What made him one of the best? First, he learned to compete with himself, not other players. He was always trying to be better than he was in the last game. Secondly, he put in the time. He overcame the boredom of practicing every day.
As an event planner, you too need to overcome the boredom of your rote activities and look to compete with yourself in your daily tasks. What can you do better this time than you did last? How can you do this more efficiently than the time before?
Use Visual Motivation
If you follow the earlier suggestion of keeping your motivation in mind, you’d be well-served to use a visual of that motivation. Keep it in sight of your phone or computer. Start each morning by looking at it and maybe even dedicating the day or activity to it. When you know your why, you can let the stressors involved in accomplishing it fall away a little more easily. If you’re on a difficult phone conversation, look at that visual reminder and focus on how this is just one step in getting there.
After you get off the difficult conversation or complete the task, allow yourself to “feel” what it will be like when you attain your why. For instance, if you’re saving for a big vacation, get off that phone and imagine yourself there. Those feelings of satisfaction and happiness will release dopamine into your body and while that’s no substitute for lying on the beach in the south of France, this practice will trick your body into believing that when you complete something difficult, there’s a pleasant reward awaiting, even if it’s just in your head.
Expect Something Great to Come Together
Don’t you love those serendipitous moments of life and career? If you expect and look out for them, you’re more likely to see them. The other side holds true as well. If you’re always looking for the other shoe to drop, it will. Typically on your head.
Let it Go
If you have elementary school-aged children you’re probably experiencing a bad Disney flashback and hours of hearing the song from the movie Frozen playing on repeat, but there’s some very important advice in the title of the song. If your job is frustrating you, let it go. Although event managers work long hours, your career is only a portion of your life. The more you dwell on your discontent, the more it will multiply.
Don’t wallow in the stresses. Instead, enjoy the parts you love. You may hate the client’s brusque attitude. Ignore it. Some people just aren’t happy individuals. Disassociate yourself from others’ negative feelings. Instead, enjoy the smiles on the attendees’ faces.
If you can’t let it go, then find a solution to combat your negative feelings about the person or instance.
Surround Yourself with What You Want to Be
Consider that maybe the reason you’re not feeling motivated is because of who you’re surrounding yourself with. You may be allowing others to dictate your satisfaction level. For instance, your team may all be middle-of-the-event planners who don’t get to see the end result and they’re all sick and tired of it. Their complaining can be a large part of your dissatisfaction. Try distancing yourself and see if you like your position a little better.
You can’t control their attitude but you can control your exposure to it. Make sure your dissatisfaction doesn’t have an outside cause. If it does, step away from it.
In Conclusion
It’s difficult staying motivated under stressful situations while working long hours, but if you remember what you loved about this career in the first place, you’ll get that motivation back.
If these tips don’t work, try finding the source of your discontent. Is it your employer, the team you work with, or is it a lack of growth? Knowing the source can help you plot your next step. Maybe you need to go out on your own. Maybe you need to make some adjustments to your team. It might not be motivation you need as much as a revamping of your current position.
