Whippets, nice looking doggies but, damn-it, they are so stubborn. Now those of you who have read my last Blog know that Julie and myself have a new addition to our family, Blue Belle our puppy. But as is the case with most drop dead gorgeous women I find on the internet, just because they are pretty, it doesn’t mean they are easy to live with. As it turns out, whippet pups are no exception.
Every time, and I mean every time you ask, tell or order it to do something, she laughs in your face and carries on eating the TV remote, the sofa or your brand new Nike trainers you bought because your getting fat and need to loose weight. She even has the cheek to look at you, then walk up to said valuable object and then start chewing.
Strangely, if it was just the chewing, I could deal with it. Google said puppies grow out of that. But she just wont listen to anything. No ‘walking at heal’, no ‘leaving’ no ‘sitting’ no ‘rolling over’ and the only version of ‘paw’ you’ll ever see, is her version of the ‘two finger salute’ when you ask her to do any of the above!
So, what do you do? its simple, read every book, article and Blog posting you can find on the subject.
Interestingly, as it turns out, a good woman’s stubborn nature is not the only thing that dogs have in common with people. Almost all the articles I read stated that - I needed to find the right motivation for bell. I needed to find out what makes her tick, what she really wants. In blue belle’s case, it was simple. Food. She will wash the dishes, vacuum the floor, and do the weeks shopping if you motivate her with treats.
You would not believe the difference it has made to our doggie. Training her is so much easier, in fact it’s a joy! I was so impressed with the difference it has made to her, I started analyzing what motivated me and if I could improve my performance and the performance of my staff based on the same principles.
However people are a little more complicated that that. You see the trouble is, there are a number of different ways of motivating yourself and others. I have split these up below-
1. Fear motivation
This is the first and by far the most common of all motivation techniques. Do this or else… there is a reason why fear motivation is the most common. It works! The downside is that it doesn’t work for long. Back when I was working by myself window cleaning, I always worked harder when I knew I had a bill to pay. I would put in two or three really hard days and would find the money to pay the bill.
Unfortunately, fear motivation doesn’t last because eventually the pain of the ‘or else…’ becomes less than the pain required to avoid it. In other words, if all I was working for was to pay bills, I would soon find myself totally unmotivated. It will eventually have the opposite effect.
2. Incentive motivation
Commonly referred to as the carrot and stick method this. You see something that you would like and so you go for it. Awesome motivation for you, your staff and doggies. Unfortunately, this type of motivation also suffers with an issue or two. Firstly, we have to have the right type of carrot. Usually (but not always!) this is money and the trouble with that is that the more you have the more you could do with. You soon start to see that the struggle goes on and on and you are always chasing your tail. Excuse the pun.
Another problem with the carrot and stick method is that eventually the person you want to motivate, even if it is yourself will get to eat the carrot, in other words you will have to find new motivation frequently. If you don’t, you will again find that the pain of chasing the carrot is worse than the pain of not having the carrot. This form of motivation doesn’t work for me because I don’t like carrots.
Finally;3. Growth motivation
So here it is then, the ultimate form of motivation. Personal growth. Humans have a built in need to better themselves. Think about it. Why do we really want the new house, new car and a successful business? Isn’t it really about proving to others and ourselves that we have worth? Material possessions are just the outward reflection of our success and in themselves are meaningless. They do not make us happy. What makes us truly happy is that having these things means we have accomplished something. We have grown and matured as people.
If this point needed further evidence, every parent I have spoken to has had this goal; To provide the things for their children that they never had. The desire to improve is hard wired into us and everything we do follows this. The very best news is that by following a program of self development, all the other material things come naturally as we hit goal after goal.
At Concept 2O™ we believe, that we provide the best business tools to start your successful business adventure. But we also believe that that a community of people that think as you do is an invaluable asset as you start to personally grow, people who like yourself, want to grow their business and become successful at the ongoing process of self development.
For further information contact Julie or myself on 01495 240 640
Best Regards
Carl Phillips
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