People experience the state of flow twice as often at work than they do at home. So, what’s the big deal about Friday? Find out how work is good for you, and make Monday, yes Monday, your best friend! IT’S ALWAYS been fashionable—and in many cases it’s probably true—to see work as a grudge activity. The words we use say it all. The grindstone. The salt mines. Sigh, you do it because you have to. And so on. Plus, it’s normal and natural to complain about your boss in [...]

One thing you can know for sure about getting motivated: when you’re starting out with any activity, you almost never feel like it. Sadly, getting through the dip is the only way. Enter the state of animation. YOU KNOW that positive feeling you get when you’re in the flow state? Or that sense of accomplishment when you’ve finished a task? We all want that feeling, right? Well, guess what? There’s no other way to achieve it than to simply get stuck in. Perform the activity. Do the task. Duh! [...]

You don’t have to wait for your feelings to come right before you can get motivated. You can choose your motivational state and act to bring it about. Your feelings will follow. WHEN YOU’RE weary, as the song goes, or feeling small—or feeling down—you tend to focus on, well, your feelings. You try to nurse them into a better shape. You need to feel better, you tell yourself, in order to get motivated, to get going. Similarly, when you’re struggling to get going on a Monday—or to drag yourself [...]

Getting motivated, and knowing how to get people motivated, is both art and science. The good news is, you don’t have to become a motivational speaker to do it. You just have to understand these five motivational states. This post is also available as a YouTube video (click here). Or jump to the audio version. IN THE days before actual coaching, the only option we had for getting motivated were those dreaded motivational speakers. They whooped onto the stage and spewed out platitudes like, “Today is [...]