Notes on Motivation

A friend of mine got laid off last week. No notice. The CEO walked in to her office and said she had been crunching numbers over the weekend and could no longer sustain my friend’s position. The company had decided to close 4 offices and let go of some staff.

My friend was so bummed; this was the first time she had been laid off. She asked me if I had been. “Hell, yeah!” I answered. This in no way indicates the number of times I’ve been laid off but the resounding “yeah” reminds me of how I survived when I put someone else in charge of my professional future.

I’ve got to thank Diane Templin who was my manager about 15 years ago. Although I was one of her top performers, she knew I was starting to check out and decided to cut her losses. She asked me in to her office one rainy December day and told me it was my last day. I froze. I was speechless, but now, years later I am so thankful. Without Diane laying me off, my company TeleSmart would never have been born. What’s that saying about lemons and lemonade?

I’ve been checking in with my friend on a daily basis to ask how she is doing with her job search. One day she is flying high and networking her LinkedIn contacts and another day her tone is exhausted and she sounds defeated.

Yesterday I sent her the following quote:

Do not look back and do not dream about the future. It will neither give you back the past, nor satisfy your other daydreams. Your duty, your reward, your destiny, is in the present moment.

That’s what motivation is about. It’s how you feel now that matters the most. How long does it take you to rebound? Don’t hold emotional grudges, get out there and make something happen. Salespeople are always in the drivers seat.