How to Motivate Others

How do you motivate other people? I am asked this all the time. Most you guys know I wrote the book the Motivation Manifesto, but that was about how do you motivate you? Like, how do you motivate yourself? But I'm always asked by other people. Well, I got a team or I got a teenager or I got my dud of a husband or wife who aren't excited and positive and optimistic. And Brennan, they're not into personal development. They got no motivation to do their job. They got no motivation to live their best life. How do I change them? So first, let me begin with this. Your job is not to change them. Your job is not to fix everybody else's problems in life. Your job is not to handle everyone else's train wrecks in their lives either. And I just say that with all due respect, because often we get so frustrated with people because we feel like we should be able to change them. But often what I tell people is, be careful with that. You know, when I started my career as a writer and a personal development trainer and coach, you know what, 16 years ago, I remember, I was so, like, motivated and driven, and I wanted to help my family and all my friends. I wanted everybody. I wanted to, you know, not fix everybody, but just inspire everybody to be their best. But you can't inspire everybody to be your best. Some people are into personal development. Some people are into motivation. Some people are an achievement, and. And some people aren't. And what I tell people often, and I'll give you some strategies you can use to actually motivate people. But I also want to give you permission right now to understand that you don't have to fix everybody. And not everybody has to be as ambitious, as driven, as optimistic, as into personal development and professional growth as you are. In other words, it's okay that other people have different ambitions for their life. I think that's critical. Understand, I was so frustrated. I'm like, why don't you want to be a millionaire? Or why don't you want to be happy all the time? And some people, that's just not their mode, man. I just want to give you permission to understand you don't have to change everybody. You know, I get so frustrated when I got in personal development. I thought, why don't you want to become great? Why don't you want to become a millionaire? Why don't you want to be happy and joyous? Why don't you want to lead and contribute and serve? And some people are like, man, that's not my thing. And I was like, how can that not be their thing? But listen, just as much as you so desperately desire for other people to let you be you, for other people to let you do your own thing and take your journey the way that you want to take it and the way that you need to, you also must allow that of others. And that is so hard to tell people because I know maybe you're watching this video because you're a leader and you've got team and you need them to perform and based on how you're compensated, or you've got a teenager and you need that teenager to turn on or they're going to fail out of school. And I know it's important to put in the work. So I'm going to give you four ideas for how to motivate people right here in this video. But right off the bat, I am letting you off the hook too. You are not responsible for other people's energy. You are not responsible for their ambition. You are not responsible for them changing the. Let life be their guide. Let life show them what's up. Let them discover their own path just as much as you've discovered your path. But I also know that if you're in my community, and we just call my community hpx, right, the high performance experience, we all want to experience that next level of life that's more vibrant and connected and excellence driven, right? And if you're in this community of hpx, you're like, Brendan, no, let me shape these humans. So let me give you some ideas for that. First rule of thumb in motivating other people. Always know this phrase. I often teach this as the five most important words in all of leadership. And that is people support what they create. People support what they create. What this means is if you want to motivate someone to do something, they must be actively involved in shaping and creating the vision or the idea or the strategy or the planning for the thing. You can't just walk into a team and say, hey, everybody, do this. Be motivated. They're like, wait, what is this? What is this new idea? If they're not involved, then they're like often critical. And guess what people do when they're critical? Nothing. Guess what people look like when they're critical, unmotivated. And what's happening is sometimes they're just full of doubt or uncertainty or they don't get it because they didn't get to participate. If you want people to be motivated, you must invite them to participate. With no participation, no motivation, Right? It's just like when you come to them with an idea, they're kind of like resistant. Sometimes they're like, wait, wait, what's this all about, man? But if you ask them a bunch of questions and they come up with the idea, you ever see them turn on like, oh, oh, I got this idea. And they get so excited about it? Yes. When they have the idea, they get motivated for it. So your job is to ask questions, not to be the person to tell them to be motivator, not try to be the motivator, but instead ask questions about their passions, their desires, their needs, their hopes, their problems. Connect with them empathetically and with curiosity. So ask them questions. What's real for you? What are you trying to do? What would you like to do? Oh, you like to do that. What would be your next steps? What might be something you can do? Ask more questions. Let them generate more ideas. As they generate more ideas, they feel like they're participating and those ideas become theirs. And when someone has an idea that's theirs, they want to protect it and they want to nurture it and they want to make it happen because they got skin in the game versus you. Just saying be motivated to do this thing. Ask them to get involved. Participation. Now, I know you're going to say, but, brendon, they don't want to participate. It's because you haven't cued them correctly. You haven't asked them enough questions that were genuine questions, authentic questions that were questions for them, not for you. Because there's a difference between and asking for participation, asking for engagement and seeking to manipulate. And that's why most people fail in motivating other people. Their intentions is to get this person to this specific outcome. And that's what I consider them to be motivated. No, that's called you're trying to manipulate them to follow your path, your course and be you. And we've all had people in our lives. You probably had a parent or caregiver know someone who did. Had an overly controlling parent. You don't want to overly control anybody. What you want to do is create greater freedom and belief with them by having them being an active dialogue about their own goals, their own dreams. And when they're in an active dialogue with you, creating, generating ideas, brainstorming, that's going to create the energy that can later translate into real motivation. I hope that helps. Remember, people support what they create. Once you get that, everything shifts. Number two, if they've shared something or they have a vision or they have a goal but they seem really unmotivated. Often it's because they lack competency for getting there. What does that mean? It means they don't have the map, they don't know what to do. They have the hope, they have the idea, they have an ambition, but they literally don't know what to do on Monday. And when you lack competency, you often lack motivation. In fact, we know from my studies in high performance and in psychology that when you lack competency, you lack confidence. Well, if I don't feel confident towards something, obviously I'm less likely to be motivated to go for it. Right? So you have to understand this important nature of competency and confidence. We call it the competence confidence loop. Right. The more someone has competency, and in this word I'm using today, competency, it means a collection of knowledge, skills, abilities and talents that allows you to have the know how to do something. Well, if you don't have the know how to do something, you won't try. And if you don't try, you don't get the hit of confidence. But if you have the competency, the knowledge, skill, ability and empowerment to do something, guess what happens. Oh, I take the step. Oh, I got some reward, I got some progress, I got some momentum here. I feel more confident, I'm more motivated to try again. So your job, if you really want to lead people or motivate people, is to ask them whether or not they have what they need to be able to do it. Do you know what you need to do? Should we brainstorm a plan? Do you need to get a skill? Do you need to get a mentor? Do you need to read some books on that? Do you need to take some courses on that? Because if they don't, if they lack the know how, why would you expect them to know to do follow? So it's important to empower people with competency. I'm always thinking about that. If I know what somebody wants, I'm like, what do you need for that? New tool, new training, new video, new insight, what your job is not to just motivate them with rah rah words, but real empowerment. Give them the tools, the education and the resources or, or access to those things. And once they have that, if you are a leader in like an organization, then think about this. You also have to empower them with what is essentially decision making, authority and trust. Meaning if they kind of know how, you need to step back. Mom, dad, leader of an organization, step back and let them mess it up and try to. One reason people get demotivated is because as they're starting and they're in that hot mess mode of not knowing how it's going, the person trying to motivate them is judging them. Because guess what? Judgment does. It shuts people down. So you've got to let people experiment, try be a hot mess, not get ahead. And as they're trying, you're celebrating the effort, not just awaiting the outcome. People need to be cheered on even when they're failing. People need to be cheered on even when they're stuck. And if you aren't actively providing them the tools, resources, education, decision making, authority, trust or cheering on, well, no wonder they're not motivated. They feel disempowered. And when someone is disempowered, they're never going to have the goals, the dreams and the drive, the that you want them to have or that they're even capable of. It's so important. And if you can't give it to them, cue it to them. Ask them what books could you read? Ask them what courses could you take? Send them videos, send them podcasts. If you're in my world, if you're in our HPX community, you guys know I am always giving resources on my podcast, always giving resources on YouTube, on Facebook, on Instagram lives. It's always like, train, train, train. Take what was useful for you, leave what's not. But here's everything I got to help you with this. Like, if people say, Brendan, you're motivating, it's because I'm always giving them resources and tools. I'm hopefully motivating them by empowering them. That's my goal versus just being the rah rah guy who swears or cusses to get a little edge on you. Instead I'm like, no, let's give you the real tools. And by doing that, I think it's made my career and this community in HPX very different. Third big idea for them. You've got to make sure that they've got some kind of like clear goals and rewards. And this is the hardest thing for people. It's like, you know, if someone's lacking motivation, you can't just go up to them and say you should have goals. They're gonna be like, shut up, I'm watching Netflix right now. You know, it's like, it's hard. You've got to learn to pull that from them and learn to empower that. So it's like if they don't have goals, it'd be like, well, if you had what you wanted in life and you were who you wanted to be, what would that look like? And then you got to kind of help step them backwards through it. Like, okay, you know, I'd love to live in this town with this kind of house, with this type of person and this type of thing. Okay, let's work backwards. What would you have to do to earn that? What would you have to do to become that? Like, what's some goals you could set? Like if you could start marching towards that, what's something you could do in the next 30 days to begin? And this is important. Don't think you're going to motivate people with super long term goals, you know, who are driven by really long term goals or higher level goals. Like often what we'll call mission or purpose. People who are already achievement driven, but people who are stuck and people who are unmotivated, man, they just need to make that first step or that first two. Start with a monthly goal. Stop thinking like, let's change your life. Let's talk about five. What's your five year vision? They're like five years. Five years. I don't know what I'm eating tonight, dude. They're overwhelmed. Overwhelm often leads to demotivated people. And often they're demotivated because they're trying to take on too much and they're not getting and celebrating or being compensated for the small steps for the initial steps. And that's what's important for you to realize. You want to motivate people, help them recognize, realize, discover those small steps and set some rewards. Oh, okay, you're going to do that this month? Okay, let's pretend it's the 30th of a month and you actually did it. How would you celebrate? I'd take my girlfriend out for a big dinner. Cool. Oh, you know, I'd take a day off. Okay, cool. Oh, you know, I'd go to that favorite place I like to go. Cool. Like cheer that on. And then when you see them, listen, when you see them, you're not trying to just tell them to go do something. Instead you say, so are you going to get to go that date with your girlfriend or getting to go that favorite place? When you egg them on, you're actually encouraging them to achieve the thing they told you they wanted. Not just asking them, work harder. Instead, have them see that short term celebration, that short term win. And in your dialogue with them, start talking about the win more than you're talking about the work because you're often telling them Work, work, work. Be motivated. Instead, they want to talk about getting the thing, and that will motivate them. And that's not true for everybody. But for a demotivated person, they're more likely to be excited to talk about what they want than talking about the grind. I hope that makes sense. And then the last big idea. Remember, you're the role model they need to see. Mom, dad, you leading and living with real motivation, with drive. And how do you do that? It's not about just seeing you work hard. What they need. If you want them to become more motivated, they need to be in dialogue about motivational things. So your job is to share more often and more consistently with this person you're trying to motivate, your whys, your distinctions along the way. What I mean by that is you've got to share in a continual conversation, hey, you know, I'm working towards this, and I just learned that if I did it this way, it would get this outcome. And I thought, why didn't I know that before? So now I'm more excited to do it. You got to share that a lot. Like, very consistently, you must share your journey and your lessons on that journey more with them. And if you want them to be motivated. But often you're embarrassed to do that because you don't want to feel like you're bragging or you're worried about sharing those things because you think it will disempower them. They see you having so much and succeeding and moving ahead, and you don't want to bring it up to them because you think, oh, well, you know, they'll feel awkward or weird or insufficient around me first. Let go of your ego about that. That's nonsense. Like, it's a beautiful thing that you get to share your journey with another person. If they ever say, I don't want you to share your journey and your feelings and your lessons learned in life with me ever again, then be like, okay, cool. But until they say that, you share it. And I want you to hear this because I know a lot of you, you have this assumption in your mind that you can't share your successes with other people because the way you were raised, you thought, well, that's bragging. No, that is empowering the next generation. Like, why is it we have so many generation of young people struggling to be motivated right now? Because the people who already succeeded don't share. They don't mentor, they don't role model, they don't coach, they don't help. So they're left alone. Trying to figure it out on their own. We have entire generations that never passed on their great standards, their great learnings, their great drives, their great purposes. So we have a whole new generation. Reinventing the wheel. Reinventing the wheel is demotivating because we all want to start at speed. And the way to start at speed is having people around us share it. I am only here doing this for you because other people would. I would go to a conference, other people would stand on stage and go, I started just like you. But here's what I learned and here's what I did. And I'd get motivated, saying, oh, they did it too. You need to be that role model for other people. And I really think that's important that you are always sharing your journey. Stop hiding your journey. Stop hiding your love for personal development. Stop hiding your motivations. Stop hiding all those distinctions that you can pass on to somebody. And I want you to share it until they say stop. And that's my rule in life. And I'll tell you what's funny. I would say 50 people in my life, I've thought they don't want to hear about, about my journey and my successes and my struggles and what keeps me going and what I'm learning. And I used to say that to my, to a lot of friends. I thought they don't want to hear this. And then you know what? Years would go by and they go, brennan, I don't feel like I know you anymore. You never share what's going on. And I thought, oh, maybe if I share what was going on, they'd have a different spark in their life. Your sharing can be their spark, my friend. All right. I hope you enjoyed this one. If you did, would you do me a favor? Share. Share it. Share it with some friends who are having a tough time. Share it with your team. Share it with those that you lead and you love and that you serve. Because I think a lot of people, first, they need to be let off the hook. It's not your responsibility to change everybody. But I also think that these four ideas might generate some ideas and maybe some new belief and new commitment to serve the people around them as well. So please share this hpxlife again. HPAC stands for the high performance experience. I'd love for you to help build this community of people worldwide who really want to go to the next level, who want not just success there, but all of the well being and the depth and the vibrancy and yes, the motivation that comes along the way. My friend, today you can go out and choose to inspire other people or ignore them. I say go inspire them. But do it with empathy, do it with participation and do it with a belief that you sharing your journey can be just as motivating to those around you as you ever wanted them to be. Motivated just by luck. You are a force in this world, my friend. So share your journey, stay motivated and lead those around you. And again, thank you for being part of hbx. All right. Hey guys, it's Brendan. And I hope you enjoyed my video today. If you did, would you do me? Two simple things. Number one, share with somebody else and number two, click subscribe down below. That will help so much and then you'll get notices every time I post a new video. Also, if you're somebody who's always like looking at my work and you're wondering like, how does he do it all? We have two new tools that can really help you reach what we call that high performance experience. As you know, I call you guys Team hpx, which HPX stands for High Performance Experience. It's that idea and that philosophy of living that says I want to live the highest version of myself. I want a life that's vibrant and connected and excellence driven. Like you want to reach that next level of high performance and success in your life. That's why I call you guys Team hpx. And we have two new tools for Team HPX that everyone is freaking out about. So I'll help you check it out. The first one is our new High Performance Planner. This is what I fill out every day to keep my mindset good and positive, to live live a happy life, to really prepare myself for the day. So it helps me not only just set my goals, but make sure my priorities are clear. Keep a clean schedule, review and rate and measure myself at the end of each day on the high performance habits that we know make you more successful. This is available on Amazon or most bookstores anywhere. It's called the High Performance Planner. Pick up a copy of it. It's what I fill out every morning. And our new HPX Optimize. Many of you have wondered how I keep the mental clarity and mental motivation and creative edge. This is our new supplement. It's called HPX Optimize. You can also find it on Amazon. This is the thing that gives me that, like that, that energy and that focus each day to be my best, which as many of you all know, was really important to me. And I developed this because I had a brain injury in 2011 and it threw me off my a game and my mind wasn't right and I just didn't have the ability to focus anymore. And this is not a product to cure, you know, brain injuries. This is a product for any person out there who says, I want a little more focus in the day, I want a little more creative edge. I want my mind to be just more alert and aware. And this is what the product does without caffeine, without gmo, without soy, without all the nonsense. Look it up on Amazon. It's called HPX Optimize. These are the two new tools for HPX Committee. I hope you engage. I'll be able to look them up on Amazon and there's some links in the post down below where you can get them at the best rate. So please engage again. Please subscribe, please share, stay part of Team hpx and please, as you know, every single day you have a choice. You can go be average or ordinary or you can choose to be extraordinary. So my friends go be extraordinary.