Cushard Consequential: What Makes Me Run in the Rain in December?
What Makes Me Run in the Rain in December?
It is cloudy, drizzly and quite warm for a December day (63 degrees at noon). When you look outside, though, it looks cold and dreary. It is just the type of day during which you want to sink into your favorite chair with a book and a football game, played in the snow. I did not want to go for my run. So it was decided…I put on my running shoes and went. Sometimes I am most motivated when I least want to run. I start thinking about all the days real athletes don’t want to get out there. I think about what sets elite athletes (or any successful person, for that matter) apart…getting out there on the days they just want to sleep in and have a late pancake breakfast.
I was motivated by wanting to emulate what successful people do; motivated to stick to my fitness plan; and motivated by doing something that most other people would not do….run on a Sunday in December in the rain.
During my run I thought about what motivates people and how to tap into that motivation to get people to perform. Motivation is complicated and individual once you get past Maslow’s hierarchy, and perhaps a leader cannot know everything that motivates everyone. But think about it, if you can get to know your people well enough to know what gets them excited, you might just be able to get them to go for a run in a rain on a Sunday in December.
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