Inspiration Coaching

In Kevin Sheedy’s book Stand Your Ground his old coach, Tom Hafey wrote the Forward. He explained that Kevin realised that sport could offer him so many opportunities but they would only be realised if he worked not just as hard as anyone else but harder. This need to work harder was because Kevin did not have the same natural skills as most of his team mates and opponents. Thanks to my parents’ hard work me and many like me in Australia and other wealthy countries have been given a opportunity to live a wonderful, happy comfortable life. The downside of this great gift is not experiencing the hard work that went into creating it and therefore potentially not valuing it as much as it should be valued.

In earlier articles I discussed surveys that found we are not happier today than in previous times despite having increased wealth and material goods. Perhaps one of the reasons is that many of us have not experienced the happiness that hard work can bring. This does seem weird but when I look back on the moments that have given me most satisfaction, they are the moments that were the results of hard work. They are events like getting through university, sealing work deals, running good times and winning races.

There is evidence that hard work can lead to a happier life. The next question is how to get motivated to do hard work. The following is a six step guide to get motivated to start the hard work and to keep it going during the tough times.

1. Set a Goal: This stems from the Stephen Covey principle of starting with the end in mind. To test the benefit of this principle start with something simple. When you are having breakfast tomorrow morning think of one goal that you want to achieve during the day. As with all goals make this one a SMERT goal. Be Specific about what you want to achieve. Make sure that the goal can be Measured. Check that the goal excites your Emotions (when you think about does it raise the hairs on your neck). Ensure that the goal is Reachable and Realistic but challenging. Finally put a Time limit on the goal. In this case it will be tomorrow.

2. Plan: The benefit of a plan is that it will increase the chances of the hard work resulting in achieving the goal. It can be very easy to be caught in the trap of working hard (I have a real problem of focusing on emails at the expense of other work) on stuff that will not help you achieve your goals. Planning and monitoring the plan will help you invest your time in activities that will help achieve goals. Remember to allow for bush fires in your plan. Bush fires are events that cannot be planned for. The best way to deal with “bush fires” in a plan is to allow more time than expected to achieve the goal. The art is to allow enough but not too much extra time. The plan should also highlight the resources required to get the job done. This could be money and equipment but also remember to plan your support team. This team is people that will give you physical and emotional support.

3. Get the Balance Right: Life is not one dimensional and a life plan with a sole focus on one specific goal is missing out on all life has to offer. It also increases the likelihood of burn out as, in general, humans need some variety in their life to maintain their well being. For example if your goal is a career or study goal make sure that you allow some room in your life for the other things that are important for you. These may be your

o health and fitness,

o key relationships,

o community work,

o hobbies,

o entertainment

4. Develop Self Awareness: This is the ability to know yourself and to respond when things are not going well. For example over the last week my training times have blown out by over a minute per kilometre. It has taken me 31 years but I now recognise that this is my body telling me that it needs to take a break to recharge the batteries. So instead of running I am doing more yoga and core strength exercises this week as well as a bit of cross training such as pool jogging. My hard work has been interrupted but I will be back on the roads again next week with the goal still firmly in mind and the body recharged and ready to face the challenges. Recognise your own signs that suggest that you need to rest and recharge. These signs may include fatigue, a reduction in productivity (not getting as much done in a day that you normally do), lack of sleep or minor illnesses.

5. Keep on Track: Most of us fall off the rails at some stage on the path to achieving something special. The challenge is to recognise that it is OK to fall off and then to get back on the rails the next day and continue with the hard work to achieve the goal. This is where the support team identified in point 2 above comes into play. These people can encourage you to keep focussed on your goal. One thing that some clients have found is that falling off the rails reinforces old self beliefs that they are not good or strong enough to achieve important goals. Dealing with this requires self awareness as outlined above. It is important to recognise the self belief as just that, a belief. It is not true unless you let it be true.

6. Celebrate: We all need bit of celebrations in our life. This time of year is full of them. During the year it can really help to keep these celebrations going. I recommend celebrating the achievement of a goal in an audacious way. Also, it is important to celebrate the achievements along the way to realising the goal. Hard work can become a grind and to keep going week in, week out, it can help to celebrate what has been achieved that day, that week or that month.

Hard work is given a bad rap. It is looked at as a thing to be avoided. However the benefits are perhaps what life is about. Dean Karnazes summaries it well when he says.

“I suppose the enjoyment of hard work is more of an acquired taste than the taste for pleasure and fun, but once you’ve acquired it, you’re blessed with more ways to feel good, and life is better. Harder and better.”