Motivation tips to new candidates at QuickLets
When you’ve set your mind on a new path in life and decided on a new career, you’ll find yourself juggling joy, a strong sense of trepidation and excitement. You might start getting cold feet but there is no need to relinquish a long-held dream all for fear of failure. At QuickLets, we recognise that no beginning is easy, and we’ve all been there ourselves. That is why we are sharing a few tips that have proved successful in helping new team members to stay motivated.
Don’t overthink – just start
If you would like to start a career in letting or take on any other project in life for that matter, don’t think too much about the ifs and buts; just start. Push aside any jittery feelings you might have and dive right in.
Steep learning curve? Break it down
At the beginning, it’s a steep learning curve as there are a lot of new things to learn and many skills to master. You might feel out of your depth which can be overwhelming. You could find yourself asking how you will manage to do things as well as the more experienced people around you. Remember, everybody has been there at some point, including that individual over there radiating confidence. The best way to go about dealing with this is to break the tasks down into small steps. Write down the name of the task, then the steps you need to take to complete it. Each step is simpler than the entire task itself, and you will find that each single step is more manageable. Once you have accomplished that task, move on to the next task, and do the same. Like that you will have set out a plan with easy-to-follow steps.
Focus on the positive
When you start out something new, doubts and anxiety often shroud any excitement you will have. Resist and instead focus on the positive. It’s become almost a cliché, but its veracity is also the very reason why it is worth repeating. Everyone knows that positivity is energising and helps you motivate yourself. Find your motivation by focussing on the positive aspects of your move; you can always deal with the negative ones later, which inevitably will begin to appear less intimidating.
Be grateful
Gratitude plays an important part in motivation. Shift your focus inward and show gratitude towards yourself. Do this by writing down three things you are grateful for, it could be something as insignificant as the cup of coffee you’ve just had or bigger things, like an opportunity you were given in life. This way you will learn to appreciate yourself and your life, and that is energising.
Make a friend out of your inner voice
You might have realised by now that your harshest critic is your own inner voice. It raises its head and criticises you every time you mess things up. When that happens, coax your inner voice to be kinder with you and guide it to create a gentler conversation with yourself, where instead of criticism you discuss the steps you could take to make things better.
See failure as an opportunity
Successful people see failure as an opportunity to learn a new way of doing things and grow within. If you get something wrong, then, you have been given a double opportunity to feel motivated: by finding other ways how you can turn the failure into a success and by training your voice to be more positive and helping you find those ways.
Make shorter to-do lists
Get in the habit of making to-do lists – they have been proven to help us organise and prioritise things in our head. Write them down on a piece of paper, or perhaps you prefer using an app on your phone. People generally feel better once the to-do list materialises itself in words.
However, long lists can be overwhelming. Extract three items and create a newer, shorter and more attainable list. Then focus on dealing with it. Depending on your style, opt whether to start with the hardest or easiest task. If you’re someone who would rather get a difficult matter over and done with, you might find yourself starting with the hardest one first, finding comfort in the fact that you only have easier things left to do. If, on the other hand, you find it hard to pick up pace, tackle the easy jobs first, leaving the more daunting task for last. This might work for you as you could find encouraging the fact that after you finish the more difficult task there is nothing else left to do in the list, and that hopefully will give you the energy to complete it.
Easy does it
At the beginning, you might set goals for yourself that are just not attainable. It could be because you are very ambitious or maybe because you look up to a successful colleague as a role model and aspire to become like them. However, you could easily get demotivated if the goals are too high. Choose, instead, more attainable goals that excite you nonetheless and which give you the motivation to carry on.
Difficult now or better later?
Another way to find motivation is to imagine your future if you don’t work for it and keep that in focus. If you want to get somewhere, it’s going to need hard work but if you choose to do nothing at all, you’ll be bitter at yourself for the opportunities you have missed. Either way, nothing comes easy in life. Therefore, to get yourself on track, make a list of the good reasons why you wanted to embark on this new venture or project. Choose the best three and keep them in focus as the motivation to get where you want to be.
Tidy up
Although many claim that they thrive in chaos, psychologists confirm time and time again that a tidy space makes the mind feel better. So, tidy up your work and living spaces often to remain on top of things.
Eliminate distractions
Say ‘no’ to whatever distracts you from the task at hand, it could be checking your social media accounts or taking a coffee break earlier than you had planned.
On the other hand, tiredness can be a distraction. So, if you’re too tired to focus, and it is taking you much longer to finish the task than it really ought, taka a break or call it a day. You’ll find that by stopping earlier, you’ll work faster when you get back to it refreshed.
Commit to the job
Whatever it is that you’re working on, whether it is closing a deal, taking up a fitness regime or starting a business venture, it will not come for free. You need to give something in return whether it is time, effort, hard work or emotional discomfort.
Be mindful of what you want to achieve, recognise what it is and appreciate it. Then commit 100% to it.
Praise yourself
We find it easier to give credit to others than to ourselves but it’s important to praise yourself. Recognise how far you’ve come and be aware of the skills you’ve learned to get where you are now. It’s not flattery but it will help your inner voice be more positive.
Be inspired
Motivation can come from outside: seek motivation from others. We all have idle time like, for example, when we are stuck in traffic or doing chores. Take the opportunity to listen to a podcast by a motivational speaker or an audiobook about self-improvement. These could help you regain the energy you need to carry on with renewed vigour.
Also, seek to surround yourself by inspiring people. These can be family members, friends or colleagues. Hang out with people who have a variety of interests and can talk about a host of different subjects. People who are capable of listening usually make good conversationalists. And if they can engage in complex conversations without dismissing the subject, it is even better.
Harness your power and potential
When you have picked a goal you want to achieve, find the power you have within and discover your potential, which is surely bigger than you think.
At QuickLets, our goal is to help our employees harness that power and give them the possibility to grow and work hard towards their ambitions. If you would like to join our team check out our careers page.