Don Roy, Ph.D.

Be a Genius- Be Adaptable to Change

Change is a dominant theme for me this time of year. As an educator, August has as much significance for ringing in a new year as January does for most people. A new beginning in the form of meeting new students, teaching new classes perhaps, and implementing new initiatives or policies are part of the way of life in academia. And, change brought about by a new school year impacts anyone with school age children. Kids make new friends, meet new teachers, and even find themselves in a strange place if they are in a new school. The adage “the only constant is change” is evident this time of year.

Change is Tough

Change may be prevalent when you embark on a new year, endeavor, or project, but just because it is expected or common does not mean it is easy to handle. Change is not only hard to handle, it is too much for some people to deal with. The result is they do not adapt to change and struggle to keep up as the world moves forward without their buy in. Why is change difficult to embrace? Three barriers to embracing change are:

Disturbs our comfort zone. Change can elicit a negative response because it is just that- change. We have to do think or act differently than normal, and normal may suit us just fine. We have a comfort zone in which we exist and operate. It is called a comfort zone for a reason- it is comfortable! But, comfort and growth are often incompatible conditions. The photo below was taken at Middle Tennessee State University’s commencement ceremony recently. The message is powerful. I hope a lot of graduates were able to see that message!

What if I fail? Related to the notion of upsetting our comfort zone is that change brings risk that we are subjected to if we fail in adapting to change. Could you get fired if you do not meet expectations in a new position? Yes. Could you go bankrupt if your business venture flops? Yes. Could you stub your toe when you walk across the room to sit on your sofa to spend an evening watching television? Yes. Risk is ever present, but it should not keep us from doing something that we need or want to do.
What if I succeed? This barrier might seem odd given that the objective for trying something new is to succeed at it. If so, why would the possibility of success make us resistant to change? The answer goes back to the comfort zone in which we reside. Success in a new job might mean more responsibilities, greater demands on your time, and even travel that physically takes you out of your comfort zone. You may have heard the saying “be careful what you ask for- you might get it.” That sentiment applies here. Change can result in success that can bring about even more change that you must be prepared to handle.

Adapt to Change

This week’s One to Grow On quote spoke to me when I encountered it. I was not seeking out words of wisdom to deal with change; it fortuitously crossed my path. However, it could not have been timelier for me as a new academic year is around the corner, my department is going through a reorganization, and I have taken on a new role as interim department chair. Change is going to be a theme for me in 2015-2016, for sure! When change unfolds, we can try to resist it or modify it to suit our personal agenda, or we can embrace it and adapt so that we not only survive change but thrive from it.

I am not suggesting to blindly accept and go along with change when imposed upon you. In some instances, standing on principle and fighting for what you believe is the right thing to do must be done. But, do not confuse those behaviors with defensive responses that fall into the three areas described here. Consider Stephen Hawking’s words that infer a link between intelligence and adapting to change. How you approach dealing with change and leading or working with others through change can result in the impact on intelligence that Hawking suggests.

Avoiding the Double-Life Lie in Personal Branding

One of the most daunting aspects of developing your personal brand is figuring out how to progress on the journey from where you are now to how you want to be perceived. This challenge can be further complicated by comparing our current state to others who have “arrived.” They have the success we aspire to attain, enjoy the benefits of position and influence that we long for, and in general have made it to where we believe we want to be. Looking to others as examples can be motivational, inspiring us to work harder and be more persistent. It can also be soul crushing, discouraging us because we cannot imagine ourselves worthy of the trappings of success.

Living an Illusion

Returning to the point about personal branding being daunting, comparing ourselves to others whose brands are far advanced in development can lead one to conclude that personal branding is an illusion. In other words, to become the brand we want to be and have, we must act differently than who we are. Could you imagine a product brand conducting business in this manner? A brand whose words and actions are inconsistent with how it sees itself is a recipe for failure. Branding is not a role play exercise, nor is it an endeavor in putting on a desirable face or appearance to please others. It is an ongoing management of your professional identity; there is no beginning or ending. Thus, you cannot engage in short-term behaviors that might serve your brand well but that are incompatible with how you see yourself.

Your Own Worst Enemy

As I reflect on the evolution of my brand, it is clear that one adversary stands above the rest in holding back my development: Me. Inconsistency between how I see myself and where I want to be often keeps me stuck right where I am. Perhaps you know that adversary, too. Fear, self-doubt, and lack of confidence can thwart well-conceived personal branding strategy faster than a weak economy, strong competition, or any other external force. The threat to our growth is looking at us in the mirror, becoming our own worst enemy.

Strive for Congruence

Take the One to Grow On quote personally this week- I am. Make it a point to achieve consistency between the personal and professional growth you desire and self-concept. Don’t let the “stinking thinking” that Zig Ziglar talked about (e.g., “I’m unsure if I can close this huge deal” or “I can’t be any more successful than where I am now”) drive a wedge between performance capabilities and the heights to which you want to take your personal brand.

Fuel Brand Purpose with Passion

Purpose defines your reason for being. Recent posts examined the role of motivation in determining purpose and how to articulate brand purpose. When applied to managing your professional identity like a brand, purpose serves a similar role to that of a mission statement for an organization- it provides meaning that guides the career you pursue, the employer you choose, and your actions on the job. But, there is another force that guides development of your personal brand’s Meaning: Passion. In contrast to the thought provoking questions used to clarify your purpose, passion is stoked by emotions. Feelings that you have about what you do and the impact you create through your work comprises your passion.

Where exactly does passion fit in with building your personal brand? This question is one for which differing opinions are held. One view is that passion should dictate your career choices- what type of job to hold, what company to join (or go out on your own as a freelancer or entrepreneur), and what city to live in as you pursue your career goals. An opposing view is that allowing passion to lead your career planning could result in going down a path that does not bring the fulfillment and happiness desired.

What Is Passion, and What Should I Do with it?

Before you know whether passion should lead or follow in personal brand development, it would be useful to examine just what passion means. Passion has connotations with eliciting strong emotional responses such as excitement or love. However, the origin of the word passion can be traced to the Latin “pati” which means “to suffer.” Whoa! Does this mean you should be searching for a job or employer that will make you suffer? Of course not- a deeper interpretation of passion is that it is linked to something for which you are willing to invest heavily- time, effort, and yes, suffer through occasional adversity and disappointment. But, because of the intense emotional connection you have with something for which you are passionate you will go through tough times to enjoy the pleasure and satisfaction derived from the endeavor.

Fuel for Your Purpose

Think of passion as the fuel for your purpose. Your values and motivation are energized when connected with passion. In the context of personal branding, passion can be defined as the sources of happiness that energize the work you do. The impact of passion is not limited to work you do through carrying out job duties- it is evident in the volunteer work you perform, conversation topics in which you engage on social media, and the hobbies or outside interests you enjoy. All of these non-job aspects of your life play a part in defining your personal brand. Thus, recognizing your passion is vital to personal branding success. The challenge is how to channel passion to strengthen your personal brand while enjoying the synergy of a career in which your passion figures prominently in your work.

Follow or Lead ?

Two distinct viewpoints exist about the role passion should play in your career and building a personal brand. One camp lives the “follow your passion” mantra. The other camp subscribes to the belief that you are led to your passion through developing skills and capabilities that enable you to fulfill your purpose. What are the merits of each viewpoint? Is one of them more viable than the other? Great questions, but unfortunately ones that should not be answered here. They merit their own space and will receive it as the focus of a post next week.

One to Grow On: Content Creation with Purpose

This week’s One to Grow On quote is more practical than philosophical, and it is advice anyone who is tasked with being creative on the job should take to heart. The source of this advice is someone who knows a thing or two about creating content. Ann Handley is a writer (author of Everybody Writes and co-author of Content Rules) and Chief Content Officer at Marketing Profs. In marketing, the shift toward content has been swift and dramatic. Brands and individuals alike recognize the benefits of leveraging content channels to build a community, educate customers, and yes, even generate revenue. Recognition of why you should be concerned with content creation is the easy part; implementing a system to plan, conceive, create, and distribute content is where most of us are baffled.

Start with Motivation

If you find yourself struggling to create content in any form (photos, video, blog entries, articles, social media posts), a logical question to ask is why do you want to create content in the first place? Perhaps your employment security depends on it, meaning that content creation is in your job description. While that is true for many people, even more people realize content could make their work more distinctive and make their personal brand stand out. Start with the why of content creation to make the what and how easier to answer. Consider these motives:

Create to help others. The best content is based on what recipients consider useful to them. Does you content solve problems? Teach a skill? Give people comfort? If you are driven by a desire to make a positive impact on those who consume your content, you will find instances of “writer’s block” or its equivalent diminishes as you are inspired to create content that benefits your audience. The information or education benefit for the audience could in turn become an economic benefit for you if people are moved to buy from you or your company based on the utility of your content.
Create to help yourself. A funny thing about content creation is that when you set out to help others, you often help yourself, too. For example, I began blogging in 2007 because… well, no particular reason. However, I soon discovered that the exercise of writing blog posts strengthened my writing and editing skills. My confidence increased the more engaged I was with the craft. Audience metrics? I did not look at them for years because blogging was more therapeutic and recreational than it was a commercial endeavor. I write for others’ consumption as well as my own release, and if the former does not occur the latter still does.

From Work to Want

Whether you are motivated to write to serve others or for self-fulfillment, you may still be challenged in finding how to put joy in creating content. Based on the external/internal motivations discussed earlier, joy in content creation can come from the following sources:

Being a resource. If you enjoy helping other people, consider how you can use content to make that happen. How-to videos, best practice articles, or step-by-step blog posts are examples of information that could benefit your audience.
Making a difference. You may go beyond merely providing helpful information to content that could be life changing in some way. An open discussion on a sensitive topic, being willing to be vulnerable and share your own stories of mistakes and redemption, or providing encouragement to people who need it could give wings to any content creator in search of ideas.

Regardless of the scope of impact you seek to achieve with your content, when you are driven by wanting to do something for someone else (educate, inform, or inspire) or for self-improvement your outlook changes from “have to” to “want to.”

Go Forth and Create

Online channels give everyone a voice today. You have a platform; the choice is yours whether you step up to the platform and use it. It is a privilege prior generations did not have as content creation and distribution was reserved for people who had access to mass media outlets- TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, and books. The goal is not to become the next celebrity; it is to impact your network in a positive way.

The Dangers of Brands Swimming Downstream

A harsh reality about brands is that there is no brand in existence that is for everyone. Some people think your prices are too high. Others think your quality is unacceptable. Yet others believe your brand is aligned with interests incongruent with their own. You get the picture- even the most popular brands do not appeal to all buyers. Segmenting markets is the typical response to this dilemma, targeting different groups of buyers with distinct offerings. Instead of seeing segmentation as a strategy of last resort, recognize it as a default strategy- you are going to have to segment in order to pinpoint the customers you are best equipped to serve.

Two recent brand extension announcement by prominent retailers reflect a desire to broaden appeal to a wider customer base, specifically “trading down” to serve more price conscious buyers. The companies differed in the strategy employed to compete at lower price points, and the decisions may not only affect the success of their value-based ventures but impact long-term brand health, too.

Whole Foods Market’s Downward Move

Whole Foods Market has established itself as a force as an upscale supermarket, even earning the nickname “whole paycheck” for garnering price premiums paid by shoppers wanting better-for-you food products. However, Whole Foods Market’s brand positioning has a downside: It essentially paints the brand into a corner from which it cannot escape. You could say Whole Foods did too good of a job with brand positioning. It is so entrenched as a premium brand that there is no way to attract buyers more concerned with price.

The solution to Whole Foods Market’s positioning quandary was introduction of a new brand concept, 365 by Whole Foods Market. The stores will be smaller and although selling products at lower prices than Whole Foods Market stores they will be driven by the same values and commitment to brand execution that has set the parent brand apart. More importantly, branding of the new concept strikes a balance between attracting customers that may believe the Whole Foods Market brand is beyond their reach and leveraging equity of the Whole Foods Market brand by using it in an endorser role. The 365 brand name takes center stage as the platform to move down in the grocery category.

J.Crew Moves Downward, Too

Last week, clothing retailer J. Crew announced the launch of a new retail concept aimed at luring price conscious shoppers. The J. Crew Mercantile brand will widen the company’s reach by offering lower priced products in addition to an existing its J. Crew Factory stores. Retail analysts see the move as a form of diversification. J. Crew seems to be taking a page from Gap’s playbook as that company’s lower priced Old Navy brand has thrived even as Gap stores have been challenged to attract shoppers.

The move downward to compete in the lower priced segment of the clothing retail category is understandable, but the branding approach taken by J. Crew is risky. Will shoppers make distinctions between the name J. Crew Mercantile and existing brands J. Crew and J. Crew Factory? The name of the new concept may have the unintended effect of confusing consumers and creating unfavorable associations with the J. Crew brand. More distance is needed between the J. Crew brand and the Mercantile store concept.

Share or Split?

The underlying branding question faced by Whole Foods Market and J. Crew is whether their downstream brand extensions (as well as their core brands) would be better served by sharing associations with each other or splitting to create their own identities. Both companies have solid brand associations among upscale shoppers. Extensions that drag the core brand downstream run the risk of harming existing equity and confusing buyers about the value proposition of the core brand as well as the extension. The endorser brand approach taken by Whole Foods Market for its 365 concept is an acceptable middle ground. Associating the Whole Foods Market brand via an endorser role gives instant credibility to the upstart 365 brand, and it protects the core brand from dilution in ways that J. Crew is not protected with the J. Crew Mercantile branding strategy.

Put Your Purpose into Words: A Brand Purpose Statement

In recent posts, I have shared how values and motivation drive your personal brand’s purpose. It is now time to pull it all together by putting into your reason for being into words, packaging purpose, if you will. The benefits of distilling your purpose into words are:

It’s communicable – Committing your purpose to words is a simple way to convey what drives you to create value for others and yourself.
It’s memorable – Putting your purpose into words enables others to easily associate your personal brand with the values and motivation behind your purpose.
It’s powerful – Most of your competition has not gone through the process of defining their purpose. Articulating your purpose sets you apart by creating clear meaning for your brand.

So how can you transform why you exist into words? One method for communicating purpose is a personal purpose statement. This approach combines methodology with creativity, allowing you to follow a “formula” while giving you leeway to package your purpose into a collection of words relevant to you.

Purpose Instead of Mission

You might be familiar with a mission statement- most organizations have them to summarize what they do and who they serve. It is often described as a statement of a firm’s reason for being. Many personal branding experts suggest composing a mission statement for your personal brand. This advice is not wrong or over-the-top (although some people struggle with the idea of applying concepts used on non-living entities like a business to themselves). But, the concept of a statement that summarizes your reason for being can be made more personal by not coming at it like a mission statement.

Instead, you should package thoughts about your existence and value offered in the form of a purpose statement. In contrast to a mission statement that suggests existence is a means to an end (i.e., achieving a goal), a purpose statement is a declaration of who you are and what you have to offer- today, next week, next year.

Why is defining your purpose preferable to stating a mission? Human Resources expert Stephanie Krieg cites three advantages of packaging your personal brand using purpose instead of mission:

Purpose plays to the Law of Attraction – When you state your purpose, it can have the effect of drawing others to you that have a similar vision or interests.
Purpose is inspiring – A purpose energizes you to be and do, while a mission is a course of action to which we strive to follow to stay “on course.”
Purpose is empowering for the greater good – Purpose goes beyond a goal orientation associated with a mission statement. When you are able to live out our purpose, benefits are realized not only personally but also through the impact you have on your co-workers, customers, and communities.[i]

How to Write a Personal Purpose Statement

The process for writing a purpose statement is similar to earlier tasks you completed to gain understanding of your values and motivations- You need to ask questions of yourself to develop pieces of your purpose statement. Specifically, three questions that can reveal purpose are:

Who am I? To answer this question, consider the industry in which you aspire to belong, the target market you serve, and the type of work that you do. Part of your purpose is wrapped in these standard descriptions or labels that are applied to our work.
What do I do? This question takes into account tasks performed in your work, how you create value for those whom you serve, and why your work is valuable to other people.
What is my impact? A follow-up to the “what do I do” question is “so what?” Impact answers the “so what” question- what benefits are realized from what you do? How does the work that you do differentiate you?

Let’s put these three pieces together in a template you can use to write your personal purpose statement:

I, (your name), am (description of industry, occupation, market served, or job title) that (value created and benefit).

Using this template, I (Don) created a personal purpose statement:

I, Don Roy, am a marketing educator who helps position future businesspeople by encouraging them to grow intellectually and compete professionally.

After writing this statement, I reflected to consider if it truly fit me, or was it a collection of words written to the template. The answer was clear- It is me. It is the approach I take in developing the courses I teach, how I conduct each class meeting, and counsel I give to students. The elements of my purpose statement figure prominently in the scholarly research in which I engage and the professional writing I do.

One to Grow On: Eating Elephants

Dreams are essential to our existence because they inspire us, breathing life into taking on new projects or forcing us to go beyond our comfort zone. We imagine possibilities for our life that stand to make us happier, wealthier, healthier, or wiser. Dreams can be the catalyst of growth, but our dreams can end up overwhelming us if we are apprehensive in pursuing them.

When Dreams Remain Dreams

A dream can be little more than an unfulfilled longing if not acted upon… and if we could stack all of the dreams left unacted upon they would likely touch the stars in the sky. If dreams reflect a wonderful state we would like to reach, why do they often go not only unfulfilled but untouched? Among the most common reasons that we fail to take action on our dreams are:

Fear. You may have heard that fear can be thought of as an acronym for “False Evidence Appearing Real.” In other words, most of the fears that we feel are not actual dangers or risk to us. But, if we perceive danger or risk it is real in our minds, and the antidote for our fears is to avoid whatever it is that causes them. “What if my business idea fails and I go broke?” “What happens if I apply for the promotion and get passed over?” Why would anyone want to invest in my venture?” These negative thoughts are dream killers, even if based on false evidence.
The wrong dream. Sometimes we never act on our dreams because the outcomes we want may be wrong for us or are based on someone else’s dream. When I was a young boy, I thought about becoming a lawyer when I grew up. The reason was that all of the lawyers in my small hometown seemed wealthy and successful to me. If I wanted to be wealthy and successful then being a lawyer would be the ticket, right? Thankfully, I was able to shake that dream on my own, recognizing it was not my dream but the dream of others. Unfortunately, too many people become lawyers, accountants, engineers, or some other professional because it was the dream of their parents or someone else influential in their lives.
Lack of an action plan. Even when you defeat fear and have the right dream, you could remain stuck in dream mode if you do not have an action plan to turn your dream into reality. In most cases, I don’t think it is laziness or indifference that is creates this roadblock to pursuing a dream. It is lack of understanding about the route to take to get there.

Small Steps on a Long Journey

The lack of an action plan to act on a dream could be due to fear or that the dream is not energizing because it is not our own. Often, lack of an action plan can be attributed to a simple reason: We have no idea where to start or how to plan. The task of moving from point A to point B seems overwhelming. Perhaps it is here that fear is fed and becomes a convenient reason why not to pursue a dream.

Rather than being overcome by the enormity of the requirements of fulfilling a dream, we should heed the advice of General Creighton Abrams. He (along with many other people) have used the illustration of eating an elephant one bite at a time to make the point that grand undertakings are completed through a series of small steps. Recently, I had a dream for a book I wanted to write to help people transform their personal brand over the course of a year. The challenge: Writing 52 essays, with each essay being 600-700 words, and write them by the end of October. It would have been easy to stop right there and blow off the dream as unattainable (I know that because I have done so many times in my life). Instead, I broke down the project to pinpoint the number of essays I would need to write each week to be finished by the target date. To my surprise, I realized the goal could be achieved if I stuck to the plan I devised. I am pleased to report that I met my writing goal for the first week. The feat must be repeated over the next twelve weeks, but the combination of having a plan and evidence that I can do it is energizing me to keep building momentum.

Are You Hungry?

This week, take General Abrams’s advice and eat the elephant that is your big dream or project one bite at a time. When you go to a restaurant and the server brings out a plate filled with generous portions, you probably don’t say “take it away- I can’t eat that much food.” If you are like me, you dive in and take one bite at a time, enjoying the moment. Do the same to make your dream a reality.

Change Your View of Networking from Freak Out to Stand Out

Building and nurturing a network of contacts is essential to success in nearly any endeavor or field you enter. Networking has obvious implications for professional growth, but it also can lead to a richer, more fulfilling life in general. Hard to believe something that is painful for many people to do could make you happier? That idea is not a stretch if you buy into the ideas presented by personal branding expert Dorie Clark in her book Stand Out Networking: A Simple and Authentic Way to Meet People on Your Own Terms (Penguin, 2015). If you are unsure how to get the most out of networking or apprehensive about taking the plunge into networking activities, this quick read is worth checking out.

Preparing to Network

Among the most valuable takeaways in the book are ideas shared in the Introduction and first chapter. In the Introduction, Clark points out that networking to grow your business should not be viewed as dirty, but treating it solely as a means to an end is damaging. In other words, if the focus of your networking efforts is how meeting people can help you land new clients or make more money, you will likely not be an effective networker and will wonder why you struggle to see payoffs from your networking activity.

To change what you get out of networking, you must change your inputs into networking. Those inputs begin with the mindset held. The goal of networking is to turn brief encounters into real, long-lasting, and mutually beneficial relationships. That view is far removed from treating networking like a game to see how many contacts you can make and whether any of them can benefit you now.

So what does it take to have a networking mindset that focuses on relationships rather than merely making connections? Clark gives three pieces of advice on mindset:

Defer short-term gain to build long-term relationships– Avoid the temptation to ask for favors or help immediately. Focus on getting to know the other person to understand you can help them as well as recognizing how he or she can help you.
Find common ground with people you meet– One of the fastest ways to convert a stranger into a friend is to identify and build on common interests or experiences.
Look how to add value for others instead of how to extract value from people you meet– Too often, people engage in networking in an attempt to get something from the other party (an introduction to someone else, a job interview, or make a sale). Instead, focus on how you can deliver value to them so that they would be willing to do something for you.

When a networking mindset is established that takes an outward looking, long-term view, you will be guided into engaging in networking activities that makes you valuable and set you apart from most people who are driven by solely by personal gain motives.

The Role of Luck in Networking

I found the theme and content of Chapter 6 (Getting Lucky) very refreshing. While the Introduction and Chapter 1 dealt with how we should think about networking, Chapter 6 acknowledges an emotional component is involved, too. Clark advocates developing a lucky attitude. Rather than viewing networking as a necessary evil required to get ahead, she suggests embracing networking for the possibilities it brings in terms of broadening your network to include more interesting and diverse people. Three traits of a lucky attitude are identified:

Humility– A willingness to meet and learn from new people)
Curiosity– A genuine interest in others makes connecting easier
Optimism– Sparks a desire to embrace opportunities to expand one’s network

When feelings associated with networking shift from “it’s something I have to do” to “it’s something I get to do,” you avail yourself to growth opportunities that you might otherwise unintentionally block.

Why and How

Many business books are long on telling us why the topic is important but shed little light on how to become better or more effective. Stand Out Networking stands out (pun intended) in that Clark shares many practical, usable tips for becoming more comfortable with networking. Regardless of your comfort level with networking, you will likely come away with a different outlook and ideas you can implement to become more effective at networking.

Motivation: Energy for Your Brand

Answering the “Who am I” question about brand purpose can be accomplished by asking more questions, beginning with a broad query “Why am I who I am?” This question is not meant to be deeply philosophical- it addresses motivations for wanting to create the personal brand you aspire to have. Motivation has been studied extensively by psychologists, but its meaning can be put in simple terms: Moved to do something.

If you consider every decision you make in your life, it can be connected to a motive. You might be seeking an outcome that gives you feelings such as pleasure or accomplishment (e.g., a personal best time in a 5K run or getting a job interview with the top company on your target list) or one that avoids guilt or punishment (e.g., prepare for a group presentation to avoid looking incompetent or arrive at work on time so your boss does not fire you).

Sources of Energy

Motivation- positive and negative- spurs action, creates urgency to get things done, and keeps you on track toward reaching a goal. To identify and understand what motivates you to fulfill your purpose in ways that align with personal values, you want to determine sources of energy that move you to get things done. These energy sources are better known as extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation. One source is not necessarily better than the other; they are two different ways that you can be energized to action.

Extrinsic motivation. When actions are guided by the expectation of an outcome separate from the action, extrinsic motivation spurs us to pursue the outcome. Actions are motivated by what is anticipated will occur as a result of the actions. Extrinsic motivation is effective when it is believed we have some control over an outcome. For example, a prime extrinsic motivator in business is that being a productive employee will lead to opportunities for pay raises and promotions. The outcomes (raises and promotions) spur action (greater effort or commitment).

Intrinsic motivation. While extrinsic motivation can move you to reach goals because of a reward linked to action, your personal brand needs to be guided by a stable internal compass that moves you in the direction of what is important to you. This internal compass can be described as intrinsic motivation. In contrast to external motivation, internal motivation occurs when you enjoy rewards from engaging in behavior that you find interesting or enjoyable. Intrinsic rewards do not come from an outside source (e.g., a pay raise at work or a grade on an exam). Instead, you could say that we give intrinsic rewards to ourselves; you decide how actions or outcomes are to be valued.

Understand the Motive behind the Motivation

To better understand how extrinsic and intrinsic motivations shape your purpose, consider how each source of motivation influences decisions and actions. When it comes to extrinsic motivation, you have likely heard the terms “carrot” and “stick” used in reference to providing incentives to get someone to engage in desired behavior. The carrot refers to positive reinforcement or reward if the desired behavior is exhibited. It represents a “goody” that one gets for meeting someone else’s expectations. The stick is negative reinforcement or consequences resulting from failing to meet expected behavior. Use of a stick as a motivator is based on the belief that one will learn from the situation and be motivated to avoid a similar negative result in the future.

Determining sources of intrinsic motivation may seem more challenging. How can you come up with the answer to the question of what you truly find interesting or enjoyable? It must be noted that intrinsic motivation not only resides within an individual, but it exists in the relationship between a person and a task. For example, people are attracted to a hobby more often by intrinsic rewards than external outcomes. An avid fisherman could be drawn to the sport because he enjoys spending time outdoors, connection to memories from childhood, or as a way to “recharge the batteries” after a busy week. These outcomes can be experienced regardless of how many fish are caught… even if that number is zero!

The Bottom Line on Motivation

Extrinsic motivation = Influences action because of what it does for you

Intrinsic motivation = Influences action because of what it does to you

Image Credit: Unsplash/Jake Hills

One to Grow On: “It Might Have Been”

Growth entails taking risks, with the degree of risk ranging from taking us slightly out of our comfort zone to significant financial, emotional, and perhaps even physical risk. The thought of facing the consequences of taking risk is simply too much for some to bear, so they protect themselves by not taking risks. In a way, it is like protecting yourself by staying close to home and not venturing out because you feel safer. That is, until you learn that over 50 percent of auto accidents occur within five miles of home and seven million disabling accidents occur within the home each year. So much for playing it safe.

“I Couldn’t Do That” and Other Lies

One of the most effective tactics for risk avoidance is to simply not let risk into your life. In other words, just play it safe and you will not fail or get hurt. For most of my life, I excelled at risk avoidance. Then, the tide turned in 1994. While taking classes toward an MBA degree, I admired the work of some of my professors and got the idea for the next step in my career: Earn a PhD and become a college professor. I went to the library to look at catalogs of different universities to learn more about what it would take to become a PhD. My heart sank as I gathered the information. To complete a PhD program, I would have to do the following:

Complete two years of course work (“That would probably be very hard- I don’t know if I could do that”)
Pass a written comprehensive exam (“That, too would be very hard- I don’t know if I could do that”)
Pass an oral comprehensive exam before a faculty committee (“I couldn’t do that”)
Defend a topic for dissertation research and gain approval from a faculty committee (“I couldn’t do that”)
Defend completed dissertation to a faculty committee (“I couldn’t do that”).

Simply put, if I had listened to the voice calling for risk avoidance, I would not be a college professor today. Thankfully, I persevered over the self-doubt that tried to “protect” me on at least five different occasions… months before I took my first doctoral level class.

You may have never contemplated whether to pursue a graduate degree, but you probably find yourself needing to make a stretch decision occasionally, forced to confront that voice that wants to protect you from failure. You know the voice- it says things like:

I’m too old (or too young)
I don’t have enough experience
Only people with connections get chosen
I need to save more money

The voice means well, but in many cases it is lying to you. The decision to avoid risk has a dangerous side effect: Regret. The short-term relief of being spared embarrassment or disappointment may be eclipsed later by sadness and disappointment that you did not reach your potential.

No Regrets

The One to Grow On quote for this week has special significance in my life. It was my mother’s favorite quote. I never knew the source or context for “of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: “It might have been.” It comes from the poem “Maud Muller” by John Greenleaf Whittier, and is a timeless message about the regret of not taking action because of risk avoidance. My mother left this world thirty-five years ago, too soon and before I could ask her what regrets of inaction she had. She no longer exists in a physical presence, but the simple message passed down through Whittier’s quote is vivid in my mind and helped me in 1994 and many times since then..

Don’t be boxed in by limitations imposed in the spirit of avoiding risk. And, we owe it to those around us influenced by our words and actions to pass down Whittier’s lament. In the end, I would prefer to look back and proclaim “how great it was” instead of acknowledging “it might have been.”