I once attended a leadership summit and when one of the speakers came up to talk, he made a statement that I valued so much. He said "as a leader, one of your core duties is to motivate others towards personal development." At that point, I realized that motivation is a very fundamental aspect of the human life and more often than not, we tend to also motivate ourselves to be better by motivating others. If your life has not gotten to a point that you become a motivation to others simply by your actions, then you need to do more. I remember what a friend once said:
Be a light that others have to see.
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There is a feeling of joy that comes when you see someone taking actions because of the motivation they drew from you. The truth is that everyone can be a motivation to others but we have to start by motivating ourselves first. Obviously, what you want others to become should, of necessity, begin with you. It is pointless if you try to motivate others whereas you yourself lacks motivation. So you have to start by becoming a big motivator to yourself first, then it can extend to others. There are lots of ways by which we can motivate others and we shall be exploring some of them here.
A very potent way to motivate others is by defining what you want from them - like a goal. As a leader for example, if your followers know what to expect from them and what they are to achieve, they will put in their best towards achieving it. More so, by expecting something big to be achieved by someone, it means that you have faith in them that they can achieve it. It is worthy to note that there is an incredible amount of power and ability that lies dormant in every human and is just waiting for a little push to be activated and unleashed. A little motivation could be all that is required to get the person going and giving in their best towards achieving the seemingly impossible.
With the right motivation, there is no task that cannot be achieved, because it has a way of giving one a boost. I remember the pumping machine we once had. When the pumping machine got a little faulty, it stopped pumping water on its own. For it to pump, after it is switched on, water has to be poured from the top nozzle to give it the required boost. This process is known as "priming." In the same way, in life, motivation has a priming effect on the individual because of how it releases the zeal and enthusiasm to pursue after one's goal.
Another way of serving as a motivator to others is by providing genuine and unbiased feedback about them - that is; tell them what you feel about them that will help them to realise themselves. During my junior secondary school period, a particular classmate of mine then was known for his unserious nature both inside and outside the school. While others saw it as a vice, the school's guidance and counsellor saw the potentials in him. One day, he called him and said; "you will do well in the entertainment industry." Those words reaffirmed within him that he is actually good at something.
This made him to look for ways to work on himself and to discover more about his comical nature. After we finished from junior and senior secondary, he went ahead to study theatre art in the University, and that was what gave him the exposure he needed. He was exposed to the nitty-gritty of the art of entertainment and even before he graduated, he started performing on live shows and concerts. At the moment, he is one of the well-known and respected Nollywood actors in the country. All these were possible because someone believed in him and motivated him to discover himself.
Motivation comes in various forms. It can be through words of encouragement, through relevant ideas, and even through actions and support.
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More so, incentives and remuneration can also serve as motivation. For example; in your workplace, you will discover that if you add incentive to a particular task, people will be more piqued to perform and complete the task more than if you had not added any form of reward. So in order to motivate others, you can consider doing so with some rewards or incentives and it will go a long way to help them.
Thanks for reading