What Is Authentic Systems and What Can It Do For You?

This video provides you with a brief glimpse into Authentic Systems and how it empowers individuals with the knowledge of who they truly are at the deepest possible level.  Armed with this new knowledge about yourself, you will be able to take back control of your life and create your own customized path to happiness, fulfillment and success.

Is Motivation Really Motivation?

What they have done is confuse enthusiasm for motivation, and all of us get to pay the price for that confusion, especially managers and employees. So what is enthusiasm?

Enthusiasm is defined as eagerness, fervor, zeal, passion, or devotion. It is a temporary emotion. Temporary in the sense that it can only be sustained for a brief period of time, until it is either replaced by another emotion or a sustained feeling. (See the article: The Difference Between Emotions and Feelings.) That is why you can go to any number of so called “motivational seminars” get really “pumped” only to have that enthusiasm and energy fade away after a few days. It’s an emotional high that lasts only a short while until you are right back where you left off and once again in need of another seminar. What you are really experiencing at such seminars is a form of social hysteria, albeit in a positive form. What these events should be called is “Enthusiasm Seminars”.

Employee Motivation.

One of the main areas of our life where motivation becomes a subject of contention and confusion is the workplace. It often starts with the numbers. Profits are down and a company looks internally for the cause. Upper management gets leaned on and squeezes middle management who then pressures lower management who in turn accuse employees of not having enough motivation.The solution is usually a motivational seminar, workshop, or other program to get everyone fired up and back up to peak performance.

Thus, motivation gets treated as if it were a skill one can learn. (See the article: What is Motivation) However, with such training, a downward spiral soon begins that is fraught with confusion, distress, and self sabotage. As explained earlier, programs such as an “Motivational (Enthusiasm) Seminar” have only temporary effects. You can only sustain your enthusiasm for just so long. Inevitably, your enthusiasm wanes. When this happens you’ll typically ask yourself: “What’s wrong with me?” Doubt, and a lack of confidence follows and the stress builds. Does this sound familiar to you?

Understand that there is nothing wrong with you, and there is nothing to fix. You are actually behaving normally. The problems lies with our culture’s inaccurate understanding of motivation.

Motivation is not a learned skill. Natural motivation is very simply: The full expression of your state of “being”. Natural motivation is the energy that compels you to leave your bed each morning. It’s a deep seated, propelling need to express your unique existence to the world.

Therefore, for anyone to teach that motivation is a learned skill of “doing”, demonstrates a lack of understanding of the basic function of motivation. This is the reason why so many people are confused about motivation and why pop-psychology continues to design inherently flawed testing methods, books, seminars, and workshops which sadly point people down the wrong path.

Westernized cultures (Particularly Americans), live in a capitalistic society that cannot afford to define motivation as simply a state of “being”. That is why Motivational Gurus, do not use Mother Teresa as an example of what it means to be motivated even though she is a fine example of natural, authentic motivation. From their prospective, there is simply no profit to be had in using her as an example of what it truly means to be motivated.

The Solution to Employee Motivation in the Workplace.

The answer to employee motivation in the workplace is natural and always effective. Simply put, if you enjoy what you do for work, there is no need to seek out motivation because it is already present. If any professional feels the need to attend a “Motivational Seminar,” they should seriously consider another profession. Imagine for a moment that your surgeon is running late to your pre-surgery consultation, because he, or she has yet to return from a “motivational seminar”. How might you feel? For that matter, what might you do? Would you still go under the knife?

Motivation comes naturally to each of us from a deep level within. No one should have to go out and find their motivation. Your motivation is not somewhere out there, it’s intrinsic, It’s within you. Ask yourself why plumbers, carpenters, electricians, doctors, computer technicians, and in fact most professionals do not have a desperate need to attend motivational seminars in order to get fired up to do their job.

The real secret to all this, is to discover the exact style of motivation you already posses. It is as if, you were given a unique set of prescription glasses through which you see a reality all your own. It is that prescription which dictates how you should live life and what career you should pursue. We call this your Life Theme. Discovering it and learning how it guides you is vital in creating meaningful, sustainable change in your personal and business life.

It is through discovering who employees are at their very core that management will be able to generate natural and effective motivation in the workplace. Managers who discover their own Life Theme as well as that of their employees, are capable of building dynamic, highly productive and profitable teams where everyone has a greater sense of fulfillment and sustained cooperation. Management will also know which projects should be delegated to which individuals in order to attain the highest level of productivity. Each person will be able to maximize their Authentic Expression with each project, completely by-passing the typical, costly debating and negotiating process. No longer will ego-battles slow down production and cause inner-office struggle.

Knowing your Life Theme and what specifically motivates you naturally, as well as knowing the same about those who work with you on a day to day basis is not only the best solution for employee motivation in the workplace, we feel it is the future of business.

Click here if you are ready to bring about more peace, contentment and balance into your life.

Click here if you are ready to take back control and gain mastery over your life.

Would you be surprised if I told you that most of what you have read about the nature of motivation is inaccurate and in some instances just plain wrong? Would you believe that the most popular definitions of motivation are “one sided” and are blind to the big picture. Can you understand why such errors in understanding can be the cause of a lot of peoples dissatisfaction and frustration in their lives?

Popular Definitions of Motivation

Commonly motivation has been defined as:

1. “the psychological process that gives behavior purpose and direction” (Kreitner, 1995)
2. “a predisposition to behave in a purposive manner to achieve specific, unmet needs” (Buford, Bedeian, & Lindner, 1995)
3. “an internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need” (Higgins, 1994);
4. “the will to achieve” (Bedeian, 1993)
5. “the inner force that drives individuals to accomplish personal and organizational goals” (Bedeian, 1993)

Based upon the above definitions as well as all material written to expound on these definitions we would be lead to believe that all motivations stem from the existence of unsatisfied or unmet needs or to simply achieve our goals.

But how would you explain the motivation behind such things as going for a walk in the park, daydreaming or many other so called trivial activities that we engage in on a daily basis? For that matter, how would you describe the motivation behind the statement: “I just need to be me”? Use of the word “need” does not necessarily imply that there is indeed something unmet or unsatisfied.

This explains the overall difficulty that exists with trying to define what motivation truly is. Part of the reason is that it is not easy to language something that is abstract or intangible, and therein lies the problem.

The Best Definition of Motivation

The best definition of motivation we have found so far comes from the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer:

“Motivation distinguishes the sufficient reason of Becoming, of Knowledge, of Being and of Action.”

In other words, these effects “of Becoming”, “of Knowledge”, “of Being” and “of Action” are established by having adequate reasons determined by motivation.

We didn’t say it would be easy, but at least based upon that definition we can now begin to lay a foundation to work from and provide a truly accurate definition of motivation.

The Two Sides of Motivation

First off, not all motivations are created equal. It is their source, the place or domain from where they are generated that dictate their nature.

Your individuality is separated into two broad functions or domains. One side known as your “Synthetic Identity” is designed to interact with the physical, tangible world while the other, your “Authentic Identity” domain, is designed to engage the intangible, abstract world.

Together these two domains function synergistically to make up who you really are. They also determine the nature of your motivations.

Typically, motivations that are generated by your “Synthetic Identity” side relate to physical events and circumstances (of becoming, of knowledge, of action) for example:

• when you move to protect yourself or a loved one from physical harm (action)
• when you want or need to become knowledgeable about something (knowledge)
• when you want to improve yourself or break a bad habit (becoming).

Motivation generated by your “Authentic Identity” on the other hand are abstract in nature (of being) and spring forth from a single solitary need: To express your unique identity to the world.

In essence it is declaring: “I am, I exist, I am unique and I matter“. In fact, we spend most of our lives expressing various states of “Being” all driven and motivated by this Authentic side. (For more detailed information about the Authentic and Synthetic sides of the human identity see: Birth of the Real You)

Becoming aware and excepting this distinction of our two sides, allows you to shift your attention and focus to the appropriate side in order to initiate and establish real and sustained change in your life.

Click here if you are ready to bring about more peace, contentment and balance into your life.

Click here if you are ready to take back control and gain mastery over your life.