We have all struggled to do things we recognize we should. Each of us has fallen short of accomplishing a goal. Most of the time even the goals we fail to attain are reachable – we just neglect to put forth the needed effort and energy to make it happen. What makes certain changes more difficult than others? One reason is self-control. How do we change our approach, our pattern? How can we overcome the conflict?
One way is to take advantage of “Fresh Start Moments.” We all know what happens at or around New Year’s Eve. People overwhelmingly make resolutions and go after goals with strengthened gusto. What if you could utilize moments like New Year’s throughout the year to stay focus, re-energize your efforts or get back on the wagon? You can.
Think about it this way…there are always fresh start opportunities such as new week, new month, birthday, anniversary, returning from a holiday or vacation and we should leverage them more often. When people use fresh start moments, they detach or distance themselves from earlier failures and that allows us to endeavor for better.
This is actual research that came out of The Wharton School of Business. The study showed that when you took a date such as March 20th and offered a reminder to tackle their goals, more people opted for the reminder when March 20th was described as the first day of spring. How long does the motivation last? It depends on the fresh start moment. The bigger the moment, the longer lasting. But that is not really the point.
If you are a manager you can create and frame fresh start moments as a vehicle to motivate your team. And when you are doing so you can support that motivation and moment with tools to support them and help them achieve their goals.
It is time to rethink motivation. It turns out we need regular doses. Does your company or manager provide them? If so, how?