November 12, 2024 • 7 mins
What drives you when the going gets tough? In this episode of "Power Your Research," I reflect on tackling moments of doubt through the lens of intrinsic motivation.
Follow Dr. Sheena Howards' socials:
@drsheenahoward | Power Your Research
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And in talking to him , you know, I get to ask him you
know what keeps you motivated?
Why are you still?
You could just sit down, chill,kick your feet up with a Mai Tai
on a beach somewhere every day,but he doesn't do that because
the reason why he's doing it hasnothing to do with money,
because he's actually spendingmoney doing all of these things,
and so the thing that he saidto me is like he still has more
(00:21):
lives he wants to impact.
He still has things that hewants to impact.
He still has things that hewants to do, and it's not about
the money, it's about the legacythat he wants to leave.
(00:42):
I don't want my work to bestuck behind an academic paywall
.
I want to leave a legacy.
I want to reach my potentialand I want to change lives.
This podcast, power yourResearch, is my attempt to help
the smartest people in the worlddo that very thing.
My hope is that you use thelessons I share to make more
money than what your higher edjob can ever pay you.
(01:05):
I've done it, my clients havedone it, and so can you.
My hope is that you'll applywhat you learn here and one day
join the Power your Researchprogram where you can work with
me one-on-one.
I want to talk a little bitabout staying motivated.
(01:26):
I was on a call with a friendthe other day and we were both
talking about those moments thatI think that we all have, where
we're like what is the purposeof me working so hard?
You know, like does any of thiseven matter?
Why am I grinding it out andpushing myself to do all of
these things?
And for the most part, I amjust an intrinsically motivated
(01:49):
person.
It doesn't take me much to getup and do the work that I need
to do.
But, like everyone else, I havethese moments where I'm like
what is the point?
Like why am I running twobusinesses and I'm a full time
(02:12):
professor and I'm trying toraise this kid and all of this,
and the times that I feel likethat I fall back on three things
.
That helps to keep me motivated, and I want to share those
three things with you because Ithink that it will help someone
out there.
The first is I remind myself ofthe parts of the things that I
do that I would do regardless ofthe money, right?
So showing up here to giveinformation is something if I
had millions of dollars and Ididn't need any money at all.
I still want to talk to peopleand give them advice and help
(02:34):
them get to the level that I hadreached.
I would want to do that and it'sinteresting because I get to
have a lot of conversations withDMC from Run DMC and he's a hip
hop legend.
He has all the money.
He doesn't have to be out heredoing all of these panels and
starting new ventures, like hiscookies and his graphic novel
(02:54):
line and documentaries that hedoes, and talking to youth and
foster kids.
He doesn't have to do all that.
And in talking to him I get.
I get to ask him you know whatkeeps you motivated?
Why are you still?
You could just sit down, chill,kick your feet up with a Mai
Tai on a beach somewhere everyday, but he doesn't do that
because the reason why he'sdoing it has nothing to do with
(03:14):
money, because he's actuallyspending money doing all of
these things.
And so the thing that he saidto me is like he still has more
lives he wants to impact, hestill has things that he wants
to impact, he still has thingsthat he wants to do, and it's
not about the money, it's aboutthe legacy that he wants to
leave.
It's about the lives that heknows he can still impact.
And so what parts of the thingthat you are doing would you do
(03:44):
no-transcript Again for me?
I show up, I give information.
I would do this even if I hadall the money in the world,
because I want to help people.
I am a teacher at heart.
I can't know something and notteach other people how to do it,
because I wanna see otherpeople be successful and win,
right?
I don't wanna hoard information.
(04:06):
So that's the first thing.
I'd say hey everyone, realquick.
I don't run any ads on thispodcast, so I have to rely on
word of mouth.
If this podcast has helped youin any way, please share it with
a friend and follow me, drSheena Howard, on LinkedIn,
where I give more free contenton building your brand as an
academic.
If you tell me you came to myLinkedIn from the podcast, I'll
(04:30):
make sure I accept your request.
The second thing is know yourpurpose and mission.
What's your purpose and missionfor doing this work right?
And this is going to bepersonal to you.
This is why I spend so muchtime in my content and in the
Power your Research program.
The first thing I have peopledo is follow this exercise,
write out your purpose statement, put it on the wall and make
this the essence of why you dothe things that you do.
(04:51):
So, the days that you don'tfeel like showing up, you know
why you're doing it, and thatreason cannot solely be for
money, because just gettingmoney is not going to help you
pull through the days that youdo not feel motivated.
The reason has to be deeper,bigger, more important, based on
your values, and that's goingto be personal to you.
The third way to stay motivatedon those days where you're
questioning everything is toreward yourself.
(05:14):
Today, before I started anywork, I went and got a foot
massage for 40 minutes.
A lot of times when I have bigthings to accomplish, I'll say
I'll work on this for five hoursstraight, and if I do that and
accomplish the things that Iwant to accomplish in this five
hour block, I'm going to rewardmyself with something, and I, I
(05:35):
it's very important to me toreward myself, to reward myself
with something healthy.
You know, a foot massage, afull body massage, um juice that
I like you know something thatI wouldn't typically have, but
that that is actually good forme.
So I used to reward myself withthings like ice cream or a
Snickers bar, but as I get older, I'm understanding that
(05:55):
rewarding myself with somethingthat's going to actually be good
for me is better.
I'll reward myself with a onehour walk to just walk and think
with my thoughts.
I'll reward myself with a dayoff.
I do this today.
Tomorrow I'm just going to takethe day off and just be free,
and so I think that we all havethese days where we're
questioning why we're even doingit, and those are the three
(06:16):
things that work for me everytime.
And also, just give yourselfgrace and don't be so hard on
yourself, like you don't got toaccomplish everything in one day
or even one year.
Sometimes we want things tohappen in a year that really are
supposed to take like 10 yearsto happen, and so just give
yourself some grace in thatregard.
I hope this helps someone outthere.
If you have any questions orcomments, leave them.
I always circle back to answeryour questions.
(06:39):
You.
And in talking to him , you know, I get to ask him you
know what keeps you motivated?
Why are you still?
You could just sit down, chill,kick your feet up with a Mai Tai
on a beach somewhere every day,but he doesn't do that because
the reason why he's doing it hasnothing to do with money,
because he's actually spendingmoney doing all of these things,
and so the thing that he saidto me is like he still has more
(00:21):
lives he wants to impact.
He still has things that hewants to impact.
He still has things that hewants to do, and it's not about
the money, it's about the legacythat he wants to leave.
(00:42):
I don't want my work to bestuck behind an academic paywall
.
I want to leave a legacy.
I want to reach my potentialand I want to change lives.
This podcast, power yourResearch, is my attempt to help
the smartest people in the worlddo that very thing.
My hope is that you use thelessons I share to make more
money than what your higher edjob can ever pay you.
(01:05):
I've done it, my clients havedone it, and so can you.
My hope is that you'll applywhat you learn here and one day
join the Power your Researchprogram where you can work with
me one-on-one.
I want to talk a little bitabout staying motivated.
(01:26):
I was on a call with a friendthe other day and we were both
talking about those moments thatI think that we all have, where
we're like what is the purposeof me working so hard?
You know, like does any of thiseven matter?
Why am I grinding it out andpushing myself to do all of
these things?
And for the most part, I amjust an intrinsically motivated
(01:49):
person.
It doesn't take me much to getup and do the work that I need
to do.
But, like everyone else, I havethese moments where I'm like
what is the point?
Like why am I running twobusinesses and I'm a full time
(02:12):
professor and I'm trying toraise this kid and all of this,
and the times that I feel likethat I fall back on three things
.
That helps to keep me motivated, and I want to share those
three things with you because Ithink that it will help someone
out there.
The first is I remind myself ofthe parts of the things that I
do that I would do regardless ofthe money, right?
So showing up here to giveinformation is something if I
had millions of dollars and Ididn't need any money at all.
I still want to talk to peopleand give them advice and help
(02:34):
them get to the level that I hadreached.
I would want to do that and it'sinteresting because I get to
have a lot of conversations withDMC from Run DMC and he's a hip
hop legend.
He has all the money.
He doesn't have to be out heredoing all of these panels and
starting new ventures, like hiscookies and his graphic novel
(02:54):
line and documentaries that hedoes, and talking to youth and
foster kids.
He doesn't have to do all that.
And in talking to him I get.
I get to ask him you know whatkeeps you motivated?
Why are you still?
You could just sit down, chill,kick your feet up with a Mai
Tai on a beach somewhere everyday, but he doesn't do that
because the reason why he'sdoing it has nothing to do with
(03:14):
money, because he's actuallyspending money doing all of
these things.
And so the thing that he saidto me is like he still has more
lives he wants to impact, hestill has things that he wants
to impact, he still has thingsthat he wants to do, and it's
not about the money, it's aboutthe legacy that he wants to
leave.
It's about the lives that heknows he can still impact.
And so what parts of the thingthat you are doing would you do
(03:44):
no-transcript Again for me?
I show up, I give information.
I would do this even if I hadall the money in the world,
because I want to help people.
I am a teacher at heart.
I can't know something and notteach other people how to do it,
because I wanna see otherpeople be successful and win,
right?
I don't wanna hoard information.
(04:06):
So that's the first thing.
I'd say hey everyone, realquick.
I don't run any ads on thispodcast, so I have to rely on
word of mouth.
If this podcast has helped youin any way, please share it with
a friend and follow me, drSheena Howard, on LinkedIn,
where I give more free contenton building your brand as an
academic.
If you tell me you came to myLinkedIn from the podcast, I'll
(04:30):
make sure I accept your request.
The second thing is know yourpurpose and mission.
What's your purpose and missionfor doing this work right?
And this is going to bepersonal to you.
This is why I spend so muchtime in my content and in the
Power your Research program.
The first thing I have peopledo is follow this exercise,
write out your purpose statement, put it on the wall and make
this the essence of why you dothe things that you do.
(04:51):
So, the days that you don'tfeel like showing up, you know
why you're doing it, and thatreason cannot solely be for
money, because just gettingmoney is not going to help you
pull through the days that youdo not feel motivated.
The reason has to be deeper,bigger, more important, based on
your values, and that's goingto be personal to you.
The third way to stay motivatedon those days where you're
questioning everything is toreward yourself.
(05:14):
Today, before I started anywork, I went and got a foot
massage for 40 minutes.
A lot of times when I have bigthings to accomplish, I'll say
I'll work on this for five hoursstraight, and if I do that and
accomplish the things that Iwant to accomplish in this five
hour block, I'm going to rewardmyself with something, and I, I
(05:35):
it's very important to me toreward myself, to reward myself
with something healthy.
You know, a foot massage, afull body massage, um juice that
I like you know something thatI wouldn't typically have, but
that that is actually good forme.
So I used to reward myself withthings like ice cream or a
Snickers bar, but as I get older, I'm understanding that
(05:55):
rewarding myself with somethingthat's going to actually be good
for me is better.
I'll reward myself with a onehour walk to just walk and think
with my thoughts.
I'll reward myself with a dayoff.
I do this today.
Tomorrow I'm just going to takethe day off and just be free,
and so I think that we all havethese days where we're
questioning why we're even doingit, and those are the three
(06:16):
things that work for me everytime.
And also, just give yourselfgrace and don't be so hard on
yourself, like you don't got toaccomplish everything in one day
or even one year.
Sometimes we want things tohappen in a year that really are
supposed to take like 10 yearsto happen, and so just give
yourself some grace in thatregard.
I hope this helps someone outthere.
If you have any questions orcomments, leave them.
I always circle back to answeryour questions.
(06:39):
You.
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