Motivation Exposed!
The Truth About the Motivation Industry, Motivational Speakers and What You Need to Know About Motivating Your Employees & Yourself

By Brian Norris

The truth about motivation is that the ONLY true motivation is internally created.

And yet, an entire industry of speakers, consultants and publishers purports otherwise. Know this, no external force—person, product, process or strategy —will motivate anyone to do anything that they don't want to do, can't do or aren't trained to do.

That's reality.

As an expert in motivation, I've put thousands of hours into researching the question of "How do I motivate people?"

I've tested all the things others in the motivation industry peddle. Most of the stuff doesn't work. Still the billion-dollar motivation industry continues to churn out new panaceas to desperate organizations and individuals.

Why doesn't the motivation industry come clean about the ineffectiveness of their wares? Their goal is obvious; Make a profit on their products and services. It's the overriding goal of any business. But to get those sales, these companies have to get you to believe that a poster or charismatic speaker will sufficiently increase sales.

That's unethical.

And since so many consumers (employees and otherwise) refuse to blame themselves for their conditions, the farce continues. Truth is, most people ENJOY being a victim. That's how they satisfy their need for recognition and attention.

And that's absurd!

You know I'm right. We've all fallen into the trap of the motivation industry. For instance, how many self-help books do even you have half-read, sitting on a shelf somewhere collecting dust? How many Rah-Rah sessions have you attended where you left feeling great, only to go back to your original state of misery in a few days?

Don't spend another cent on anything that claims to GIVE you bliss. Can someone act as a coach, counselor, mentor, catalyst or sounding board? Absolutely. Still, it's important to remember that the only long-term changes in behavior must be made because a person WANTS and IS READY to improve or change.

That's where your motivation focus has to be:

"How do I create the conditions in which a person will want to change, grow, improve their condition on their own, without me having to be a baby-sitter?"

Follow these 4 practical steps. They are all you really can do. The rest requires initiative on the part of the people who lack the motivation.

• First, create awareness.

• Second, present alternatives and describe cogent steps to approximate those alternatives.

• Third, set tight deadlines that require a person (or group of people) to take tangible action steps that bring them closer to the outcomes that they think they want.

• Fourth, follow up and present positive and negative consequences of taking action or the new behaviors.

These are the steps I use in my speaking and coaching business to influence morale and motivation in the workplace.

Attitude is totally dependent on internals. I focus instead on systems, behaviors and actions that get average, lackluster people to get tangible results, despite their horrible attitudes.

Present the alternative. Work at magnifying the awareness of those alternatives.

Since many workers at every level are content with being average or below average. You have to accept that these people NEED specific guidelines, training and strong consequences just so that they don't derail your profit and productivity objectives.

5 Motivation Realities "They" Don't Want You to Know

1. Motivation is a warm bath.

You feel good temporarily. But when you go back to move work and the euphoria wears off, you realize that nothing has changed and you still lack the tools to do your job or to run your life more effectively. What we need is that same dose of positive energy mixed with specific suggestions and techniques to integrate the message immediately.

 2. Motivation is only good for people willing or ready to change.

I can't motivate you to stop being cynical or hateful or fat and out of shape (unless I threaten you). But I can inspire you to reevaluate who you are, your purpose and your passion. Motivational speakers and products are automatically put into a scenario where they are over-promising and under-delivering ... That's not a good place to be.

 3. Many motivational speakers, books and products are generally full of ... hot air.

They say a lot of nothing, liberally borrowing stories from others and trying to pass them off as their own. Many are victims of buzzword overload, still referring to paradigm shifts, re-engineering, cheese moving, FISH philosophies and other concepts made popular in the 80s and 90s.

Furthermore, how many times are you going to hear the one about the ship and the lighthouse or the boy and the starfish or the room full of fertilizer before you get sick to your stomach?

Even the latest phenomenon, the Secret, isn't much of a secret. You attract situations, people and energy into your life every moment of every day. So it's wise to monitor your thoughts and not get bogged down in perpetual misery or low-level thinking.

Thinking alone doesn't change the world.

Change requires constant movement. Sitting on your ass all day thinking or visualizing is only going to leave your frustrated. Wishing someone would be nice to you without having a conversation with that person does nothing to change the current situation. Praying for peace is meaningless unless you're willing to do something more than just pray for it. Behind every success story or successful person is a team of doers; people who make things happen through their actions or relationships with others.

 4. Motivational speakers and resource producers typically lack the skill or experience to give solid advice or focus on the fundamental realities that drive us to succeed more or work harder.

Again, they mean well, but fail to realize the importance of fusing soft skills AND hard skills. Words are powerful. Still, faith and positive intentions without works and physical actions is meaningless. Worse, telling someone to do something without teaching them ways to do it is a recipe for bankruptcy and high turnover.

5. Most motivational speakers really aspire to be celebrities.

Another motivational speaker looks at someone like Zig Ziglar, Stephen Covey, Tony Robins, or even Mark Victor Hansen and sees them getting tremendous speaking fees. It's natural to aspire to earning those fees. $50,000- $100,000 for a single presentation is sweet! What the typical "motivational speaker" fails to understand is that these guys get the fees because they've become best selling authors and become celebrities. The bulk of their income comes through product sales.

The most recognizable names aren't necessarily the best or most effective trainers. The ones who earn the most in this industry are the ones with the largest PR machines and the most back of the room product sales.

When the Ziglars of the world get invited to speak they aren't getting paid to train or even to motivate. They're getting paid to make the audience feels special by watching a live celebrity and being in their presence (as if being in the same room with them will transfer success via osmosis).

Want to learn more about true motivation? Need to create a corporate culture that encourages average people to do their best and to act professional? Want to be sure your top performers keep performing? Email me at info@briannorris.com.

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