I have worked in the financial space for about thirteen years-lucky thirteen, I know. It was an unexpected career path. You can find more information about how it all happened in E-Impact 61 and my book, “Personal Finance in a Public World”.

It’s interesting to me that I was called to a career working with families and their money. Growing up, I was not all that interested in money and investing but I was interested in growth and improvement. I find myself yearning to help people improve their lives more than anything in my professional life.

Part of the reason that my business partner and I decided to leave our previous employer and found Initiate Impact was that we felt we could work more on overall well-being of the people with whom we partner. We are NOT doctors or healthcare professionals. I must stress this because there are many levels of taking care of oneself.

Although we don’t have medical training, we do care deeply about how people are doing, not just how much money is in their account.

Sales!

I hate selling things, whether it’s a fundraiser or a real business venture. It’s important though. We are all salespeople in some way, especially as impactmakers. E-Impact 48 gives a deep breakdown of this.

For the purpose of this entry, it’s important to understand most companies have sales people that need to be motivated. Leaders are willing to spend large amounts of time and money make it certain.

In my years exploring sales trainings and motivational programs, I noticed that there were two types of salespeople; the self-motivated, and the “game” motivated.

Self-Motivation

You can motivate yourself - sort of.

I think that self-motivation is a confusing concept. It’s the simplest form of motivation when it just happens. It’s easy to understand and generally a very strong force.

Think of the things in life that you love; the things that bring you the most pleasure. They’re easy to chase. There’s no extra effort or “games” needed. Enjoy it.

Unfortunately, the human brain is complicated. Motivation can come from many places. In reality, lack of motivation is really just motivation to do something else.

If you want to get in better shape, that should theoretically be enough to motivate you to work out. You know this is not the case. There are numerous other things to distract you from exercise (especially in today’s world).

You have motivation to check your work e-mail, watch something on your phone, call a friend, and of course, the most counterproductive to your fitness motivation, eating!

What do you do when you are in one of these situations, or even worse, have no motivation to do something at all (I acknowledge that it could be argued you shouldn’t do it then)?

You have to isolate your motivations and consider how it’s more efficient to concentrate on one thing at a time. Whatever you do, don’t think about it too much or in a worst case scenario, do nothing. Take action!

You can check your e-mail or make a nice meal after you work out. In fact, the meal might be that much more satisfying and you’ll be able to dedicate specific time to responding to messages. Your endorphins will be pumping and you might even come up with a better response to that critical message from your team.

This second type of self-motivation is what differentiates high achievers from average achievers. They can prioritize.

Outside Motivation

Dissimilar from the two types of self-motivation, the forms of motivation from outside sources aren’t better or worse than each other (unless morality is an issue). They are however, critical to most people’s success as defined by their employers.

I mentioned that companies spend a lot of time and money on motivating their people. The reason is that they are not self-motivated. I realized pretty early in my professional life that most employees are not self-motivated for the mission of their company. They cannot be criticized.

It’s not realistic to think that every person in the world will be working towards a cause they care deeply about and are making a living doing it.

Hold up, Bob! What about the impactmaker movement!?

I am a highly motivated realist. It is that troubling truth that actually fuels our efforts. It provides motivation, if you will.

Remember, that impactmaking is not about the huge world renown organizations.

You may not change the world, but you can change the world for one.

The outside motivation that good sales leaders and management types create for their team is what makes the economy run.

Salespeople will often have contests against each other where the winners receive certain gifts, trips, and bonuses. This gives them something for which to strive while helping the company increase its revenue. This is especially important for those people that are not motivated by the mission of the company. They need something else to push them.

In any given company there is a mix of people who need various types of motivation. A successful one will be able to provide the types of motivation it’s people need (or hire the ones that fit with what they offer).

What’s Your Offer

You’re motivated now. What’s next?

I believe the ultimate scenario for an impactmaker is when their motivation and offer are aligned. This is true in a professional setting and in volunteer situations.

One of the sales training concepts that sticks out to me is providing value. There are plenty of companies that will sell you insurance or invest your money but what is the added value for working with them?

Trainers would frequently talk about how important it was to differentiate oneself from the competition. In the financial realm, if you compete on fees, investments returns, and ratings, you are bound to run into problems. Those are things you generally can’t control as an employee. You have to provide a service beyond what is expected.

The competition moves beyond just your fellow salespeople. This is where desire for the work is important. If you’re selling something that you believe in and enjoy working with, you’re going to be that much better at providing additional value.

Offer a solution and you can find customers in need. Offer value and you will find partners.

Making it Count

Let’s apply selling value to the impact space.

There are plenty of causes out there that we can support. There are also plenty of ideas that I have heard over the past year of speaking with other impactmakers. The good news is that we are not in competition with each other, or at least we shouldn’t be.

There is enough financial wealth and man power in the world to do a lot of good. In some ways, charities are competing for dollars and organizations on social media are competing for impressions.

I am comfortable competing with for-profit businesses that do not have a positive impact focus, but if there is another good cause, than who am I to say that my focus is more important? It might be more important to me but I’m not the only person who cares about positive impact. Why would I write this blog if I was?

By encouraging people to support what means the most to them, we will foster a giving environment where more people are lead (self-motivated) to support meaningful causes. We will maximize impact.

In order to make it count, we need to connect ourselves and others with the things that they are most passionate about - where they are motivated to do the best work.

What to do?

This entry is not about specific direction as much as I like actionable take aways. Each situation is different. But, I am here to tell you that the value and great steps to take come from the desire and motivation to do well.

Your value is not anchored in your intelligence, your knowledge, your resources, your connections, or even your experience. It’s in your motivation.

Once you have identified something as meaningful to you and in need of change, you have set yourself up for success. You will then be able to align your motivation and value.

I lied. Here’s some actionable steps after all (although not specific to any cause):

Research the issue - talk to the people in need or representatives, talk to people who’ve already put forth effort in the space

Brainstorm solutions on your own - no biases, no distractions

Brainstorm solutions with the people from #1 - there are no bad ideas, everyone has a chance to share

Choose a primary solution - one thing at a time, you’ll likely want to tackle multiple things due to the motivation to make a difference

Determine steps needed to execute - have a general plan

Recruit assistance as needed - you can’t go it alone, and maybe someone from the outside can provide value

Identify roles of all stakeholders, volunteers, employees, etc - everyone should know their exact role, and hopefully have the proper motivation

Take action - my favorite of course

If It Were Simple…

I know there is a lot more than eight things to do. Making the world a better place is an on going process. It may seem daunting but I think it’s actually one of the blessings that we have on Earth. Impactmakers and achievers alike always have something to keep them working hard. Perfection doesn’t exist in this case.

If your motivation is ever slipping, remember how great it is to improve at something. A small win is a powerful thing. I always come back to the July 21, 2020 E-Impact Blog entry. I put out a tweet and Instagram reel about the concept this week because I felt that a lot of people were thinking big but missing the little things.

Big plans are inspiring but small progress takes motivation.

Trust your passion. Care for others. Embrace community and look for small wins.

Your value is in your motivation.

Where’s Your Value?

Teachers Give Theoretical Knowledge, Coaches Give Practical

Creativity is Connectedness