• This is a situation where people complain of having lost their motivation
Do you feel you have lost your mojo? That is, you lack the inner energy that motivated you from one successful feat to another? Do you feel you are not replicating the successes you had in the past?
Worry not, for you are not alone. Now that we are in the midst of the soccer World Cup, the equivalent term for losing one's mojo is being "out of form". A player or football team that's out of form is not winning matches as it used to.
As we have seen in the world of football, players and teams can get back into form when they learn to focus. You, too, can regain your mojo. First of all, what exactly is mojo?
The Cambridge Dictionary describes mojo as a quality that attracts people to you and makes you successful and full of energy. The Vocabulary Dictionary says good mojo means being popular, persuasive and successful, but warns that mojo is not a permanent thing because it can be lost.
The Urban Dictionary explains how the word mojo is of African-American origin, where it originally referred to a magic charm or a personal talisman. Over the years, usage of the word has expanded to mean the quality or ability to bring good luck.
Having one's mojo is all about self-confidence, the ability to persuade, success at one's tasks and lots of enthusiasm all mixed in with a bit of luck. Losing one's mojo is the opposite: lack of self-confidence, inability to accomplish tasks, lack of enthusiasm, bad luck and loss of persuasive ability.
POSITIVE SPIRIT
In a book on the subject by executive coach Dr Marshall Goldsmith, mojo is summarised as "that positive spirit towards what we are doing now that starts from the inside and radiates to the outside". Mojo is at its peak when we are experiencing both happiness and meaning in what we are doing and communicating this experience to the world around us.
Goldsmith says our professional and personal mojo is impacted by four key factors: identity (who you think you are), achievement (what you have done lately), reputation (who other people think you are) and acceptance (what you can change and what you can let go). In the book titled Mojo: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back If You Lose It, Goldsmith outlines the necessary actions to initiate successes and keep them coming.
Michael T Jordan, another motivational speaker, believes mojo is about sustaining the momentum needed to keep going towards our goals. "We all face obstacles we can't control, whether that's our life circumstances or something else. When you encounter those obstacles, momentum allows you to push through barriers or move in a new direction," Jordan wrote in his book Mojo Momentum. The book was published this year.
"When your definition of success is in sync with your personal values, it allows you to build momentum toward your goals. The more you can incorporate who you truly are into your work, the more passion you will have for it," Jordan says.
Losing one's mojo or inner drive usually occurs as a result of the stresses of living. Sources of stress could be problems at work, at home, an illness in the family, the loss of a loved one or relationship problems, among other stress factors. Stress can also result when an individual lacks knowledge of how to manage stress and adopts unhelpful behaviour, such as heavy drinking.
Prolonged stress can result in burnout. International research organisation the Mayo Clinic describes burnout as a state of physical, emotional or mental exhaustion combined with doubts about one's competence and work value. This is a situation where people complain of having lost their motivation.
The Mayo Clinic lists the symptoms of burnout, which include trouble getting started at work, being irritated, an attitude of impatience and being overly critical, lack of energy, difficulty concentrating and a sense of disillusionment with one's duties. Other signs of trouble include using food, drugs or alcohol to feel better about oneself, a change in sleeping habits and unexplained physical symptoms such as headaches and digestive problems.
A major step in getting back your mojo is by boosting your self-confidence. One way of doing that is through self-acceptance. This helps you feel comfortable about yourself and other people regardless of the situation. When you practise self-acceptance, you acknowledge that mistakes are part of learning. You can be critical about your behaviour and try to change without condemning yourself as you identify ways to solve problems differently.
KNOW YOUR LIMITS
Understand yourself better by taking note of experiences or thoughts that increase or decrease your self-esteem. Identify your strengths, abilities and achievements. Be honest and include everything you're proud of, no matter how small. Think about what they mean to you and why they're important to you. Think about what you'd like to change or improve about yourself, and how you can do that.
One of the biggest sources of stress is not knowing how to be assertive. The Centre for Clinical Interventions describes assertiveness as the ability to express your point of view in a way that is clear and direct, while still respecting others. Communicating assertively can help you to minimise conflict, control anger, have your needs better met, and to build more positive relationships with friends, family and others.
Good communication also means not being shy to ask for help. If you never ask for help, you will not know how people will respond if you do. If you occasionally asked for help, you might find some people quite happy to lend a helping hand without mocking you. In this way, your assumption that people will despise you for seeking help would have been challenged. However, if you remain reluctant in asking for help, you won't get a chance to know your colleagues' responses.
Now that you know how to get back your mojo, why not start taking steps? Procrastination, or postponing action, is the biggest enemy of success. If you still have your mojo, you now know how to keep the fire burning within you.