Motivation Skills Blog

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Chris Farmer's Leadership and Management Training Blog

Welcome - the purpose of the blog page is to provide you with a never ending source of valuable, practical and entertaining information designed to help you get the best performance from yourself and others.

In these blogs you will find all the information you need to make faster progress in less time and effort. Here you will find all the information you need to achieve your goals. In addition to helping yourself to achieve your goals, you can use the same information to help others to achieve their goals.

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Motivation Skills Blogs

Motivation is important because motivation drives action.

Motivation comes in two basic types: Positive motivation and negative motivation.

Positive motivation includes emotions of: Desire, ambition, optimism and goal focus.
Negative motivation includes emotions of: Fear, anger, bitterness and revenge.

Some managers motivate by negative means: fear, threats and anger. (Sticks)
Other managers motivate by positive means: setting up goals and rewards. (Carrots.)
Some managers use a mixture of positive and negative means. (Carrots and sticks).

It all depends on the situation and the mindset of the person to be motivated.

We recommend you use negative emotions as a last resort.
We recommend you use mostly positive motivators which can be triggered by: promise of Money, security, achievement, appreciation, team acceptance, and pride.

Motivation Skills Blogs

Motivation Techniques

12 March 2024

We are driven by two main aspirations: the quest for enjoyable rewards and the wish to evade unpleasant outcomes. Harnessing both motivators can spur us to initiate actions.

Load the Dice In your Favour

19 December 2023

Success requires all three dice; representing you, others, and circumstances, to score a 6. Your excellence, others' performance, and favourable circumstances must align for success. A challenging feat, over which you only have partial control.

The Myth of Natural Talent

28 November 2023

Success is crafted through deliberate knowledge acquisition and rigorous practice, dispelling myths of innate talent. 'Sixth sense' stems from experience, not magic. Persevere through setbacks; quitting is the real failure.

How to Find Positive Motivation

14 March 2023

People who have positive motivation are more likely to feel empowered and be more adaptable in difficult circumstances. Find out how to develop a positive mind-set.

What is 'Quiet Quitting'?

23 August 2022

Basically, Quiet Quitting is when employees do the bare minimum amount of work, in order to avoid being fired. It is a new phrase for an old problem, but what are the causes of it and how can organisations deal with it?

How to Change People's Bad Attitudes At Work

10 May 2022

Attitudes affect results because attitudes affect behaviour. People with positive attitudes will always get better results than those with negative attitudes. Learn how you can change people's bad attitudes.

How to Handle Uncertainty About the Future

9 November 2021

Uncertainty slows progress. But even in uncertain times we must learn to adapt and move forward, or risk being left behind. Learn how to handle uncertainty and you will continue to make progress.

Understanding Human Motivation: Fear of Rejection

23 February 2021

The fear of rejection can stop people from applying for their dream job, simply because of the fear of failure. Learn how to overcome this irrational fear and live life on your terms.

Six Scientifically Proven Ways to Motivate People At Work

20 October 2020

Keeping staff motivated is important to keeping your business efficient and productive and to avoid high staff turnover. Make your organisation a place where people want to work with these proven ways to motivate people.

How to Stay Motivated During Lockdown

5 June 2020

Fed-up being on lockdown? It won't last forever, but in the meantime, here are some ways to stay motivated and make the most of this unique situation.

How to Deal With a Manager Who Loves Pointing Out your Mistakes

12 May 2020

It is a fact that nobody likes to be criticised. But some managers seem to criticise the small percentage of errors people make, without recognising that the majority of work is done well. This leads to employee demotivation.

How to Stay Motivated When Self-Isolating

27 March 2020

During the Coronavirus crisis, many people are self-isolating or working from home. It can be difficult to stay focussed outside of your normal working environment. So, here are some great tips on staying motivated during these unprecedented times.

How to be More Fun

17 January 2020

Nobody likes being round a grump. Being fun is a trait most people appreciate in others. Obviously, there is a time and a place, but on the whole you can develop a fun attitude that will give you joie de vivre (or the "joy of living").

How to Inspire Others

3 December 2019

Leaders create visions for the future and getting people to buy into a vision is vital for its success. Leaders must be able to effectively communicate and inspire others to believe in their plans. Here are five ways you can inspire others.

Feed your Brain the Right Thoughts

13 September 2019

You are guided by your thoughts. But who decides your thoughts? You do! If you want to achieve better results, then you must take control of the thoughts that occupy your mind. Overcome your self-doubts and fears.

How to Motivate Someone to Change

3 September 2019

Many people dislike change and will do anything to avoid it. Motivating someone to change can be difficult, but the Pleasure/Plain Questioning Technique is a brilliant way to help motivate people to change. It's all about asking the right questions!

How to Change the Way you Feel

27 August 2019

The best way to change how you feel is to become more conscious of what you are focusing your attention upon. If you feel down about yourself or what is going on around you, then chances are you will feel down mentally.

How to Overcome the Fear of Failure

6 August 2019

We all experience fear at some time in our lives. Some fears are necessary for our survival, but fear of failure can hold us back from achieving our full potential. Learning how to overcome this fear is key to your success.

How to Make 2019 your Most Successful Year

2 January 2019

Are you ready to make 2019 your best year ever? We have put together eight fantastic tips to help you achieve this goal.

How to Gain Respect

21 September 2018

Respect cannot be demanded, it must be earned. Which of these character traits could you improve upon, in order to gain more respect?

Motivational Management: Positive Mental Attitude

3 November 2017

Nothing succeeds like success! Here is a powerful eight point plan for developing a Positive Mental Attitude. If you apply these points, you will rapidly achieve excellent results.

Give Yourself Positive Feedback

2 October 2017

Giving yourself positive feedback is the art of recognising when you have done a good job, and remembering to praise yourself. This promotes a good self-image. A good self-image is important because it is the basis of a healthy personality.

How to Succeed and How Not to Fail

19 September 2017

There is a reason for everything, including success and failure. Don't be a loser. By following these four steps you can be successful.

How can I Fulfil My Potential?

5 September 2017

You were born with great potential. Learn how to actualise your potential in your professional life, your health and in your relationships, by RAISING your game.

Motivational Emotions

2 May 2017

Motivation comes in many forms: some positive and some negative. Which of these three motivational emotions do you think are the most effective: fear, anger or desire?

How to be Happy and Successful

21 April 2017

In order to be happy and successful, you need balance in your life. Your life is made up of different parts, and each part has to be in a harmonious relationship with the others, otherwise your life will become unbalanced.

The Difference Between a Wish and a Goal

14 February 2017

Goals give you hope for the future, something to aim for. Wishes are not goals, they are fantasies, detached from reality. Do you know the difference?

How to Motivate Yourself and Others

7 February 2017

To be happy, everyone needs to have a goal. If you have a goal, then you have something to aim for. Goals give you a mental image of a better future. With a goal, you have hope, desire, ambition, motivation and enthusiasm.

Make 2017 a Terrific Year for you and your Family

4 January 2017

How to make 2017 the best year ever, for you and your family with these five steps.

Motivation by Affirmation

25 November 2016

If you want to feel positive emotions, then you need to create them by holding positive thoughts in your mind, consistently.

How to Motivate Myself and Others

7 October 2016

All leaders need to develop the skill of motivation. Motivation is a specific emotion. All emotions are a product of thought, because whatever you think about causes an emotion. To be positive you need to think positively.

Three Ways to Motivate Others

2 September 2016

How to motivate others is an important leadership skill. The right motivation will bring about cooperative relationships in the workplace.

Blog Categories

Accelerated Learning (6)

Accelerated learning techniques are special methods of organising information, so that you can more rapidly memorise and more accurately recall it on demand. Accelerated learning also includes mind mapping and creative thinking techniques.

Assertiveness (4)

Assertiveness is a both a communication style and a mind-set which, when combined, allows a people to express their meaning using just the amount of forcefulness, in relation to their body language, voice tone and spoken language.

Change Management (15)

Change management training is how to use the fact of continuous change, to work FOR you, rather than against you. It is a fact that all improvement implies change, but many people hate change. Change management is about training people to love change as a means of making the future better.

Coaching, Mentoring and Developing Staff (8)

There is a pressing need to develop the next generation of leaders, managers and technical experts. One way to develop staff is through coaching and mentoring. To be an effective coach and mentor is not an easy skill to master. These blogs discuss the skills of coaching, mentoring and staff development.

Communication - Clear Communication (76)

One to the most important facets of communication is clarity. Whenever you write or speak, your words should denote only one possible meaning. If your words can be properly interpreted in multiple ways, then you are creating the conditions for confusion, error and misunderstanding. These blogs discuss the nature of clear communication.

Communication - Listening Skills (5)

Communication includes the ability to attend to, understand and memorise what people say to you. Effective Listening is an active, not a passive process. These bloggs discuss what it takes to be a good listener.

Communication - Nonverbal Communication (8)

Communication includes a large visual component. How you appear, as you speak, makes a big difference to how your message is received. These blogs are about how to best use your body language. (Eye contact, posture, dress, hand and arm gestures, etc.)

Communication - Persuasive Communication (39)

Persuasion is the art of convincing others that your ideas are good, right, fair and practical, and in addition, persuasion includes motivating people to put your ideas into action. Persuasion is a key communication skill that everyone should study. These blogs discuss how to be more persuasive.

Communication - Written Communication (5)

A part of your communication is in the written form. Writing well is a skill that most people do not study, though it is of immense importance. These blogs discuss how you might improve your written communication.

Conflict Management and Handling Difficult People (28)

Conflict is inevitable, and when it occurs, you need to resolve it quickly and efficiently. Conflict management (and handling difficult people) is about managing your communication and your emotions, so that you arrive at a negotiated solution as quickly as possible. This series of blogs discusses the various ways you can best manage conflict.

Decision Making and Problem Solving (21)

Decision making is the skill of selecting the best option from many options. And problem solving is the skill at determining the causes and implications of a problem and finding efficient remedies. This series of blogs discusses the elements of effective decision making and problem solving.

Goal Setting (7)

Success is the achievement of a worthwhile goal. And therefore, the first step to achieving a goal is to set it. Goal setting is the starting point of all achievement and is one of the most important topics you could study. This series of blogs discuss the elements of goal setting.

Leadership and Management (143)

Leadership is the art of setting a clear goal and inspiring others to achieve it. Management is the art of organising resources so as to most efficiently achieve that goal. This series of blogs discuss the details of leadership and management.

Mental Health (12)

Mental health is the skill of managing your own mind so as to achieve mental stability and a high degree of rationality. Mental ill health is the opposite, mental instability and irrational actions. This series of blogs, discusses how you might manage your mind.

Motivation (32)

Motivation is an emotion that induces action. Without motivation, nobody would achieve anything of value. This series of blogs discusses the various ways you can motivate yourself and others.

Other (36)

Whilst interesting and informative in their own right, these blogs don't fit into a category.

People Management (11)

People management is a combination of skills including goal setting, communication, planning, handling conflict and motivation skills. This series of blogs discusses people management skills.

Personal Development (72)

The best investment you can make is in your own personal development. If you develop your skills, knowledge and experience, then you will maximise your potential to produce excellent results. This series of blogs looks at the details of personal development.

Personal Effectiveness (85)

You are not paid for how hard you work; you are paid for your effectiveness. It is possible to improve your effectiveness and get more valuable work done in less time and effort. This series of blogs discusses how you might improve your personal effectiveness and therefore speed up your rate of progress.

Positive Thinking (8)

The quality of your results is based upon the quality of your actions. And your actions are controlled by your thoughts. To simultaneously improve both your material results and your mental health, it is vital to develop the skills of positive thinking.

Stress Management (3)

Stress can be both good for you and bad for you. Good Stress triggers improvement. Bad stress grinds you down. Stress management is about using stress to help you to improve, and to avoid the negative effects of too much stress. These blogs discuss the various aspects of stress management.

Supervisory Management Skills (4)

Supervisory management skills are a combination of five major skill sets, setting goals, communication skills, planning, performance management and motivation. These blogs discuss the details of supervisory management skills.

Team Leadership (6)

For the most part, we all work in teams. Leading the team effectively can make all the difference to the performance of the team, as a whole. This series of blogs discuss the details of team leadership.

Teamwork (19)

Teams are often composed of people who have very different personalities and skills. In order to perform well, the members of the team must work well together and play to each other’s strengths. This series of blogs covers the importance of team work skills.

Time Management (16)

Time management is about prioritising, planning, organising and delegating, so that, at any moment, you are always adding the most value, and setting the conditions for your future success. This series of blogs investigates how you might better manage your time.