Motivate Me 1 2 3

 

Motivate Me: 1,2,3,

This activity provides an opportunity for group members to motivate one another. Also remember when we work to motivate others, we motivate ourselves! There is scientific evidence showing that helping others is good for us - Helping others can improve all of the following:

·        Self esteem

·        Our sense of purpose and belonging

·        Our perspective (Helping others can make us more optimistic and hopeful)

·        Our mood and overall sense of happiness

·        Our level of support (Helping others helps build meaningful bonds and friendships)

·        Our motivation (Helping others can inspire positive change in ourselves!)

Opening Activity – Motivate Me 1,2,3

Everyone in the group is encouraged to participate by doing or sharing something motivational for the rest of the group using one of three choices. Each choice has rules for time involved so the counselor or group leader should have a timer available. Here are the three choices

 

v \\1 Minute Role Play (Partner needed for this one) – Choose another group member or counselor to help you and prepare to act out or talk through a conversation where you help motivate someone through a make believe challenging situation. The role play should be at least one minute long

 

v 2 Minute Motivational Speech – For this selection all that you need to do is pick a motivational title like “You Can Succeed” or “Reaching Your Goals” (for example) and make a motivational speech based on your chosen topic to the rest of the group. The speech should be at least two minutes

 

v 3 Minute Video – Find a motivational video on YouTube or another video sharing site and watch it as a group. If the video is longer than 3 minutes just watch 3 minutes to get a sample of what it is about. Then, the person who selected the video should be prepared to say a few words as to why they picked that video and what it means to them. The group should be invited to discuss the video as well

 As appropriate have group members discuss presentations by asking people to share what they learned or got out of motivational presentations in this group

Qualities needed to help motivate others:

Discuss the following qualities needed to help motivate and inspire others. As each quality is reviewed, share honestly if this is an area of strength or an area that needs work when it comes to your personal growth

 Passion – Our passion is often contagious. For example, if a person feels passionate about exercise that can help inspire others to work-out. Passion for substance use and mental health recovery can also be very inspirational to others who are also attempting recovery

Authenticity – Being able to show others that we believe in what we are saying is essential for motivating others. Typically, few people want to listen to someone who comes across like they are not genuine. Keeping it real is essential

Confidence – Confidence inspires more confidence. Quite often when we sense someone believes in themselves and what they are preaching, that can be very inspirational when it all comes together the right way. Confidence is not to be confused with cockiness or arrogance which can have the wrong effect and turn people off from listening and engaging. Is your heart in what you say and do?

Empathy – This may not seem obvious at first but consider how much easier it is to be listen and be inspired from someone else when we feel like that person understands us and has insight into our struggle. Understanding others is what empathy is all about and empathy builds bridges between ourselves and others

 

Selflessness – When another person sincerely expresses a true desire to give of themselves to help others, that can be extremely motivating. The uique sense that someone really wants to give of their time to help can inspire positive change in others

 

Setting an Example – Finally when someone’s actions match their words and they show by example that they are there to help and inspire others, then that can be very powerful. To the contrary, just talking the talk is not enough to help others because people eventually will sense a hypocrite - especially when actions do not match words. Our example can speak volumes

 

Closing Discussion:

What are your strengths from this list?

Based on all that you have seen, heard, and discussed today: What do you want to work on?

Finally: Obviously you are most likely in this group to first and foremost help yourself, which is appropriate. Your own recovery should absolutely be a priority. However, as you make progress in this group, then your progress may inspire and encourage others. Working together as a group to encourage one another can be an extremely powerful and motivating experience which is part of the reason why groups are effective and helpful

 

• Ø With that said, what is something that you can do to help others in this group? (Anything goes, answers do not need to be “deep” or complicated, sometimes simple answers can be just as helpful)

 

CLICK FOR PRINTABLE VERSION

www.takingtheescalator.com