What Motivates You? Me? Us?

The answer may surprise you.

I agree with Daniel Pink who says in this video that we desire:

  1. Autonomy.

  2. Mastery.

  3. Purpose.

But Pink does not tell us WHY higher incentives actually lead to worse performance.

My speculation: Those seeking to acquire the higher incentives for cognitive performance suffered from “paralysis by analysis,” which means, they “over-thunk-it.”

When the stakes are high, fear causes us to second-guess our instincts, our “gut,” our “little voices,” our highest and best impulses.

We hear about athletes “being in the zone” when they have a great game. They are in the zone because:

  1. They have prepared.

  2. They are surrounded by great teammates.

  3. They’ve had great coaching.

  4. They want to win more than they are afraid to fail.

You can apply these exact benefits to your own sales and business success.

SOLUTION: Quit being scared by acting confidently.

It sounds easy and it is. Feelings do not lead to action. Actions lead to feelings.

“Wes, are you repeating the old adage ‘Fake it ’til you make it’?”

Yes.

Adages and cliches and rules-of-thumb come into existence BECAUSE THEY ARE TRUE!

If you need more help growing your sales, check out the following resources scattered around this site and a few others I operate, such as:

Good Selling,

Wes Schaeffer Infusionsoft Sales & Sales Training Signature

P.S. I know “over-thunk” is not a word. I’ll teach you why I used it in one of the Market Like a Man lessons.

P.P..S. Taking action is addressed in Spiraling Upward.