The Power of Positive Engagement
Ever had trouble motivating yourself for something?
Ever done battle with procrastination?
Ever struggled even to get out of bed in the morning?
Yeah, me too. Honestly I don’t think anyone can beat those ogres all the time. We’re human. We’re fallible. Big deal.
So I’m going to look at something that will get you moving most of the time: positive engagement. No, not sparkly rings and in-law headaches. I’m talking about the state of being positively engaged with what you’re doing. The purest expression of this is when you’re in the zone, the state of flow where you lose yourself in your task and the world around you melts away. That’s the sweet spot.
But flow is something I find happens at the level of individual tasks. The engagement I’m talking about occurs at a higher level of altitude, to borrow a GTDism – maybe a role, a job, or a hobby. The difference between ‘write sales strategy’ and ‘I am a salesman’. The more engaged you are at that second level, the more likely you are to hit flow at the first level.
There are some things you’ll likely never get positively engaged with. For such things, such as tax returns, you need negative motivators instead. The incentive to get the thing done is not having it hanging over you anymore or not suffering a penalty of some kind. Those are ok, but suffer too many and you’ll feel ground down. Positive motivators however, those that draw you to them with the promise of fun or satisfaction, are far more powerful.
The big question that arises: how do I get more positive motivators in my life and therefore create more positive engagement? The answer doesn’t come down to a pithy phrase or a bulleted list I hashed out in five minutes in my dressing gown. The hard stuff never does. It comes down to genuinely caring about the outcomes you’re pursuing.
So all is lost? Not at all. I have one suggestion that can help. You’ll have noticed you have some things to do that don’t stick around too long. They’re often things you like doing, the parts of your work, either professional or personal, that hold inherent pleasure for you. Those things come with built-in positive engagement for you (they might not for somebody else who doesn’t like that particular activity).
Those things aren’t the problem. It’s the monthly project risk update. It’s the cleaning out the garage. The things that are not fun to do. Those tasks that do not draw you to them will not engage you, at least not to start with. Once you get going you might find it’s not so bad and bash on through until it’s done. But that’s a stubborn, resentful kind of engagement, the ‘I’ve started so I might as stick at it till I can say it’s finished once and for all’ mentality. Negative rather than positive.
You can create positive engagement by shifting your perspective to a higher goal or outcome. So writing the report is dull, hard and unrewarding. But do you like your role as a risk manager? If so, focus on that. With that perspective you can see this lone report as one tiny piece of the jigsaw that makes you a great risk manager. Not enamoured with risk management as a professional endeavour? Shift your perspective up again: do you see yourself as an effective and professional worker? If so, this report is a contribution to maintaining and expanding that self-characterisation. Are you so disillusioned with work in general that you no longer take any pride in what you do? Shift up once more – why do you work at all? To provide a safe and happy environment for your family perhaps. A worthy goal indeed.
Now if you’re getting this high up in terms of perspective, be warned. You can easily tip over into finding negative motivators to do things. ‘If I don’t write the report I might get sacked and then I won’t be able to pay the mortgage’. To quote the film Thank You for Smoking, 99% of all bad things are done to pay a mortgage. Try instead to look at your continuing employment as a way of bettering your personal circumstances, financially and in other ways such as developing yourself.
As you go through this process, remember that everything you do makes sense at some level, and probably on many levels. At some of those levels, it might only make sense in a negative, ‘my boss will be angry if I don’t do it’ way. But there is almost certain to be a level at which it makes positive sense. Once you can see that you’re doing it in pursuit of something good, you have a great chance of engaging positively. If you can do that, things will begin to flow.
photo credit: Jim Blob Blann
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