We love singing our favorite songs as I drive my kids to school. Each has a favorite song that is their daddy duet. My original goal was for us just to have fun. What I’ve realized is that our carpool karaoke lifts their mood and gets them excited and motivated for whatever the day may hold.  

This Week’s Edition

MOTIVATION: Sing your way through 2021 to stay motivated for the long haul.

Clarify Your Thinking

Last year’s quarantine was challenging to say the least. Most people hit a wall at some point. I hit my wall in June. This made it difficult to stay motivated.

When we lose motivation, we lose momentum. Loss of momentum is why 90% of New Year’s resolutions fail by the middle of February. When we fail to achieve something we want, doubt takes hold. Our thinking moves from, “I wonder what’s possible?” to “I guess it’s not possible!”

Confident leaders realize that motivation is needed on a daily basis. Last week’s newsletter addressed how your team can be a source of daily motivation. As I continue to look deeper, I’m finding more sources of motivation.

One of my personal motivational lifelines during quarantine was my pandemic playlist. I played it often as a source of motivation that I could not readily find anywhere else. Remember, everyone was struggling with their own challenges and we couldn’t necessarily look to others to buoy us because they were being weighed down too.

I would listen to Hamilton’s “My Shot” (Not throwin’ away my shot…) and I would instantly begin to think about my situation differently. I found myself becoming more action-oriented and motivated. It turns out there is a science behind this experience. Music engages the brain in areas related to paying attention and making predictions, among other benefits.

Both the melody and the lyrics of the songs would influence my thinking. The music moved me forward even when I didn’t feel like it. We’ve long since known of music’s emotional impact. Realizing its impact on our thinking via its motivating powers is shall we say motivating.

Thoughts Lead to Actions

THOUGHTS LEAD TO ACTIONS (175)

 How do we intentionally harness the power of music to motivate us and our team – to help us think differently about our circumstances and our situation?

1.   Find the songs that motivate you:

·      Rediscover your childhood favorites, songs you heard in your house growing up.

·      Remember those high school and college anthems you danced to all night long.

·      Reconnect to that early adulthood genre you may have long since left behind.

·      Be interested in your kids’ music. Shared melodies are the best.

2.   Make a pandemic playlist. Our winter intern, Bryn, curated a list of amazing songs to choose from. This Spotify selection spans many decades and genres of music. I guarantee you will find at least one song that motivates you.

3.   Bring music into the workplace. Give your team the gift of music with a Wonderboom speaker for their home office or a set of airpods for listening to their own music in the office. I’m adding a Sonos system to our company’s new Strategy Think Tank we are building. 

As leaders, the goal is to stay motivated beyond the newness of any effort, especially those you have started at the beginning of this year. Getting your motivation from various sources will ensure you have the daily supply needed to move past any doubt you encounter.

What’s Your Opinion?

What is the song that motivates you? robin.pou@robinpou.com

Don’t let doubt count you out. Have a confident week!

Robin Pou, Chief Advisor and Strategist

If this was helpful, feel free to share it with another leader who needs to defeat doubt and complete their confidence.

Let’s Connect

Follow me on Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter.

What is “The Confident Leader”?

During the Covid-19 Pandemic, I began a video series called “Panic or Plan?” It was designed to equip leaders to navigate the doubt they experienced and to rise in the confidence they needed to lead during turbulent times. It took off. I then started this newsletter to equip leaders in the same fashion each week for the doubt that crashes across the bow of their leaderSHIP.