'Motivation' Begins and Ends With 'Motion'

OK.  So I stole the title for this post from my friend, Joel D Canfield.  He’s a pretty forgiving guy, though, so I’m sure he’ll let it slide.  Especially when I flatter him by saying that is, quite literally, one of the most brilliant phrases I’ve ever read.

Take today, for example.  As you may or may not have already read, today started off pretty badly for me.  I was having one of “those” days, and I wanted nothing more than to just call it quits and spend the day wallowing in my funk.  I decided, instead, to take some of my own advice by getting out of the office and seeing some prospective clients.  When I got back, I had a conversation with Joel in which I mentioned to him that the minute I talked to my first prospect and she said “No,” I immediately felt 100% better.

Joel was a little confused by this, so I explained that the rejection was validation that I was in “action” mode.  And that, so long as I was in motion, I was buiding momentum.  That’s when he uttered the phrase that became the title of this blog post.  And I agree with him wholeheartedly.

You see, even though I didn’t sell anything today, I got engaged in the process.  As I’ve said before, you don’t make an orange by magic or positive intent or even by trying to force it to happen; you make an orange by planting a seed, by starting and then supporting the process that will eventual lead to an orange.  The same is true in your business: you never, and I mean never ever get results by wishing for them or trying to force them.  You only get results by taking the first step, planting the seed, then supporting the process that will lead to the outcome you’re looking for. 

I learned a valuable lesson today.  Actually, it was more of a reminder than a lesson, since I talk about this all the time.  I was reminded that the best way to solve a feeling of negativity is to change your state, to conciously choose a different reaction…to do something, no matter how small or insignificant that something might be.  Go out and risk a little rejection. Trust me; it feels a whole lot better than doing nothing.

Jerry