In my weekly update the other day, I wrote about how anger is one of my strongest motivators. It didn't seem like others were getting enough done as quickly as I would have liked, so I got fed up and did a bunch of work myself. I am glad to have it done (at least rough versions of everything), but I don't know why it had to resort to me getting mad to get anything done.
Another powerful way to motivate me is to tell me that someone is better than me, but only if I think they aren't. For example, if you were to tell me that I couldn't play guitar as well as the lead guitar player from Senior Discount, I wouldn't pick up a guitar and attempt to prove you wrong; I would agree with you and go back to eating my Snickers Ice Cream Bar. If, however, you told me that I couldn't run a mile in less time than him, I would scoff, then prove you wrong at the next opportunity. Prove you wrong by a lot, ideally.
Even when I know I am being shamelessly manipulated in this fashion I fall for it. Case in point: while at Walgreens, I had a terrible manager. One day, she asked me to tie up the cardboard in the baler - a job I despised. I hemmed and hawed about doing it until she looked directly at me and said "That's okay. [The camera guy] can do it better than you anyway." Oh, that just wouldn't work for me. I went back to the stockroom and put my bachelor's degree in Communications to use by baling that cardboard into the best bale that ever baled! The manager laughed at me the entire time and said she couldn't believe how easy it was to get me to work like that, and that she'd be sure to use it in the future. Fortunately, she didn't.
I guess the drawback (for me, anyway) to working in anger is that if something doesn't go right, I get even more angry - this leads to me punting papers across my office or swiping the inbox off my desk or punching a puppy in the nose (two of those things actually happened!). But in the short term, an angry me is a busy me, and bringing out my naturally-dormant competitive nature is a surefire way to get me to work hard. Please do not use this knowledge against me.
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5 comments:
I feel sorry for your wife someday!
Wha? Is this the same "Anonymous" from the last post?
What a weird, vaguely mean comment.
Anonymous, I feel sorry for your potential significant other, as they will be destined for passive- aggressive, cowardly insults that you will surely not have the fortitude to say to their face.
Thank you, Chuck and James, for your stances on anonymous commenting.
Part of me is pleased that anonymous believes I will one day find my true love, part of me thinks that joking about punching puppies is the last thing a potential mate would have to worry about. And part of me is frustrated that I can't take this criticism seriously, as I feel the need to consider the source on situations like this.
Basically, I have three parts. That's what I'm saying.
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