Timing is everything. This book has come in handy in many ways. Have you ever started to read a book and slowed down to do what was asked of you in the book? MOJO How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back If You Lose It by Marshall Goldsmith (affiliate link) is one of those books for me. Let’s set a bit of the background as to why. For those that are frequent readers of stevebellnow.com you know that I retired back in January. After spending 28.5 years with my employer, I felt that it was time for me to do something different. Reading MOJO really hit home for me. I really could relate to ever section, chapter, case studies and exercise within the book.
Your mojo is described that inner spirit or drive we have to do what we do best starting from the inside and expressing that outward. I think this is because I actually really love the concept of mojo and internal motivation that drives us to excel. For me, I really did pause and answer the questions about me. Goldsmith’s keys in the book are identity, achievement, reputation and acceptance. Starting with identity, there is a very tough question to answer, “Who do you think you are?” For me, pausing there definitely was a sole searching adventure. I had plenty to think about (past, present and future). When it comes to achievement, you are asking, “what have you done lately?” Really focusing in those things that made you most excited internally. The third element is reputation. It is that all important question of “what do others think you are?” All to easy to really give yourself what you “think” people think of you. What is really in their heads? The last element is acceptance. It really centers on what change you change and what is beyond your control. Questions that you must be completely honest with yourself. Took me sometime to ground myself, but afterwards I was moving full steam ahead.
There is an excellent section on maintaining your mojo and being consistent with yourself and others to ensure nothing prevents your mojo and he explores 10 reason you can quickly lose your mojo which are particularly useful to avoid. Goldsmith covers through repeated example a concept of “change it” or “change you” which is really saying that you must decide to change something about your situation to move towards more mojo or you have to change yourself to have different motivators or expectations. And finally in the book, mojo is explored by using a technique of framing it and naming it. If you recognize bad habits that kill mojo and give them a name to remind you of that, you can use that name yourself or teach others to use that name to help point that behavior out when it occurs and snap you out of a situation killing mojo. The section on the tools is particularly helpful for you to really step through the process. Like I said earlier, I paused a great deal during my reading of the book to work on my mojo as it goes with the book. I probably just need to reread the book for enjoyment.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading the book. I felt it was something that I needed for myself at this particular time in my life. I need to get my mojo back… I know of a few of my ex-coworkers that could use this book as well. I already have purchased another book for someone that is about to retire as well. This was a help to me, maybe it can be a help to him.
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