3 Ways To Never Lose Sight Of Why You Rock

Written by Dave Navarro on April 20, 2007

No matter how much you rock, you will always have times when you feel like absolute crap. You will feel like things are getting out of control, that you’re falling behind, falling short and that you are losing the drive to make it work (because on some level, you are doubting your ability to do so).

We all have days (weeks?) like this, and one of my top coaching clients this morning was no exception. I say “top” client because this person kicks ass. Six figure revenues. High consulting fees. An in-demand presentation speaker. Yet, like you and like me, still only human. A few particularly aggravating set backs and a week-long case of “where the hell did my motivation go?” was taking it’s toll.

I’ve known this all too well, and I’ve had to come up with some tactics to turn the tide when this happens. Here’s a few that I recommended to my client, and that I think can do the trick for you as well.

Tactic #1: Make A List Of Why You Rock
It’s a funny part of human psychology that we quickly forget the good and obsess over the bad. We remember failures from a decade ago and lose sight of recent successes. Well, no more of that crap. From now on it’s different.

You need to grab a pen and paper (or keyboard/whatever) and make a quick list of reasons that you, dear reader, rock (and rock hard). You need to make a list of your strengths, your skills, your competitive advantages, your greatest wins, everything you have going for you.

For bonus points include great things that people have said about you (and that isn’t limited to some big writeup - you could just as easily cut and paste “Thanks, you really saved my ass,” from a recent email. The point is that you remind yourself of why you make a worthwhile impact and that you write it down.

The reason it’s so important you write it down is because when you feel like crap, you won’t be able to recall all those items. You’ll be throwing a lavish pity party and inviting all of your favorite excuses to hang out and make themselves comfortable. This list is your way to pummel yourself with reasons that you should get out of your funk and do it now.

Start this list in the next sixty seconds. I’m serious. Grab something to write with and write down one reason you rock. Or email it to yourself. Or write it on your hand for now. Just take action instead of just thinking about it.

Tactic #2: Anchor That Rocking Feeling
Ok, now that you have that list of reasons you rock (or you’ve finished writing on your “Palm” pilot), you need to set up an anchor so you can feel rocking-powerful any time you want. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s the 30 second explanation:

When you have a feeling and something specific/repeatable happens, that emotion becomes linked to the experience. If you get trash-talked every time you see a specific person, eventually the sight or the thought of them will be a downer. If someone is always building you up, eventually, you’ll feel good just thinking about them/seeing them.

Basic psychology. Pavlov’s dogs. Now let’s leverage that SOB.

Look at your list/single item and close your eyes for a moment. Think about how good it felt to accomplish that thing, or how good it feels to know you have that specific skill/quality/advantage/whatever. Create some emotion here (which, if you can’t, tells you that you need to refine your reason). Think of how good it made you feel to get that compliment, or earn that reward. Stand up straight and tall as you recall how rocking you really are/were in the moment.

Now, while you’re immersed in that feeling, do something unique. Bang your fists together. Do a judo chop. Yes, that sounds silly but it helps to do something “powerful”-oriented. Personally, I make a fist and do a quick double-tap in the center of my chest. You can do anything you want, just be consistent and make it something unique, that you wouldn’t otherwise do.

If you actually do this, if you get into the habit of reminding yourself why you rock and then doing an anchoring step, then here’s what’s going to happen. The next time you feel like crap, you’re going to do whatever move you came up with, and you are going to feel a sudden flow of “I rock!”-ness that will help to lift you out of your funk.

It may take a while to build up a really strong anchor, but once you do, it’s golden. Make it a point to spend at least 60 seconds every day reinforcing that anchor by remembering why you rock, doing that move, and really staying immersed in that experience.

Tactic #3 - Have a Rocking Soundtrack
One place where you make anchors all the time is with music. You have certain music that you’ve already anchor-linked to emotions. Music that relaxes you. Music that makes you sad. Music that makes you want to go out and kick the world’s ass. That last kind is what you’re after.

Invest a minute and think of songs that help get you juiced up and ready to rock and have them at the ready to help kick you back into gear. My personal favorites: Track 3 and 10 on the Gladiator soundtrack. And Billy Joel’s “You’re Only Human (Second Wind)” is a great one to snap you out of that felling-sorry-for-yourself crap that drains you.

So try all three things out, leave some comment love below and let’s see where it gets you. If you haven’t started with Tactic #1, do it right now. Invest 60 seconds and increase your Rocking Quotient (RQ). Do it now. You’ll thank yourself for it.