Very interesting. After several years of a very challenging economy that impacted so many industries, organizations and individuals … things are clearly on the upswing. Isn’t that great and exciting? I sure see this in going from company to company and from client to client. For many 2014 was the year that signaled “we’re back!!!”
But wait. Oddly enough what I’m experiencing as a coach isn’t matching this positive change. This year, for a noticeable number of folks, the starch to take themselves higher and maintain their motivation has diminished and noticeably. Why? Where did their ‘’mojo go? What took it away and what needs to happen to get it back?
One can dwell on the questions of where it went and what took it away however ultimately
the focus needs to be on getting it back for without it, we lost the starch that serves to drive
us positively. And losing one’s ‘mojo is not that rare or unusual for there are times when
we all hit a plateau after being excited and energized about what we’re doing. And when
we do, we feel stagnant and unproductive and there goes our motivation, compelling desire
and enthusiasm for the work at hand.
After reading some articles on this topic, two summed it up well. One in Forbes was written by contributor Josh Linkner and the other by Marshall Goldsmith in the WSJ. Here are suggested steps we can all take when we find ourselves trapped in the land of “nojo”.
- Change your window – Where is it written that when we’re working that you must always be at your desk, your cubicle or even in the office? And if you think about it there are aspects of your job that can be accomplished elsewhere. By changing the view through which you see the task at hand it can reinvigorate us and our views. Doesn’t sitting on a bench at the beach or in a park or walking through a zoo with pad in hand sound potentially expansive? Try it even if only for an hour, just once or twice a week.
- Change your attitude – When the mojo is gone, “I can do” often becomes “I can’t do”. As soon as we recognize this in ourselves, we are able to ask the likes of this: “When I am successful at this what will I have accomplished? What will I have learned that was necessary to complete the task?” With that vision of success, identify what you now know you need to learn that will enable to reach the envisioned goal and set out to do just that.
- Break your ‘normal’ pattern – So often we approach each day in a set pattern. On one hand this is good because we can execute in an organized manner. And still, we can find ourselves bored with our own routine. The solution is simple. Change it. Maybe you now work out at the end of the day. Try doing that enroute to the office. Perhaps you work on spreadsheets, address emails, return phone calls in a certain pattern because that is what has worked for you previously. All good except that it’s not working now. Create a new routine and you are likely to find that mojo hiding among the tasks.
- Change or simply find a mentor – There has never been a coaching client whom we work that hasn’t realized success in some way. And yet, a most compelling reason that they undertake the ‘coached approach’ as the tool of choice is because they recognize that the old ‘mojo’ has taken a hike and they want and need it back. Whether it’s a coach or a mentor you select in the form of a co-worker or friend, the value is that we recognize that we want and need the help to regain our advantage. Regardless of how or who, just making this decision is invigorating and a big step to taking your own reins again.
Losing one’s ‘mojo’ is nothing to be concerned about. The concern comes from realizing the absence and doing nothing about it. Are the above steps easy? Not necessarily because they all represent making a change. However, the initial step is … and that is recognizing it’s missing and refusing to settle for that. Mojo on!
Mike Dorman
