Motivating yourself in the Workplace can be difficult-especially when times are challenging.  However, you are much more powerful and employable if you are the kind of person who can be the “cause” of motivating yourself.  Below are 10 ways  you can improve your motivation and do your best work.

1. Be clear on your personal values and who you want to be. This is your ultimate purpose – to live your values and be who you want to be. How can you bring more of your personal values and who you want to be into your work.

2. Think about who you most enjoy working with at work – your peers, team, leaders, customers and clients (regardless of the formal hierarchies). What about the people outside of that circle who inspire you? Consider how you can create more opportunities to connect and collaborate with these people into your work.

Characteristics of Gen Y

3. Tune into the organization’s greater purpose. What’s the organization’s greater purpose beyond profitability? What’s the big picture on how your organization seeks to serve and contribute? How does what you do help the organization to achieve their purpose?

Collaborative Resolution

4. Create a self-directed learning plan. It doesn’t have to be expensive formal education. Decide what you want to learn more about, detail your specific questions that you’d like to answer on that topic, create a reading list of books and blogs on that topic, schedule a weekly learning appointment in your calendar and get committed to your life-long learning.

5. Set goals for yourself on a weekly basis. What are your learning and performance goals for the next week? Keep pushing yourself to grow. You will perform your best when you’re working on goals that are just outside of your comfort zone.  As you achieve your goals, adjust them and increase their difficulty so you can take it to the next level.

6. Take the initiative on projects rather than waiting for instructions. Have a conversation with your supervisor and negotiate on gradually increasing your autonomy at work. How can you have more autonomy in how you get your results, who you work with, and where and when you work?  Taking initiative on projects really provides opportunities for Motivating yourself in the Workplace.

7. Seek feedback from your leaders, team, peers and customers. Often people only give feedback when they’re complaining or criticizing. Set up times to collect regular feedback and you’ll be more likely to hear about the good stuff too. Use this good and bad feedback to design your weekly learning and performance goals and to track your progress, and your motivation will increase as you watch yourself improve.

8. Don’t wait for your annual performance appraisal and for your boss to tell you how you’re doing. Take responsibility for this. Conduct your own performance appraisal on a weekly basis. What are you doing well? Where do you want to improve?  Also, you can ask your boss each time you meet “What do you want me to keep doing, What do you want me to start doing, and What do you want me to stop doing.

9. Get a mentor or coach or a mastermind group. Again, you don’t have to restrict yourself to people in your organization – in fact it’s probably better to look outside your department, company or organization so that you get the benefits of an outside perspective. Regular learning-focused conversations with other people will help you to increase your purpose, mastery, autonomy, and quality connections.

10. Make a difference each day. Reach out and help a co-worker by going to lunch or listening/supporting to their challenges.  You will find so much joy in helping others and supporting their growth. In return, that will motive you!

How else do you help motivate yourself each day? I would love to hear from you.