Hey Faithful Readers!

I am back in the U.S. and enjoyed my long Memorial Day weekend. Since I recently returned back to work and felt the lack of motivation to do so after my relaxing break, I thought I would discuss a little about motivation. I was asked not to long ago to develop a presentation about how to stay motivated in the workplace. While we all work for money and to survive in the current world, we hopefully also work for of enjoyment of what we do. I am a Human Resources Specialist and I have to say that making the phone call to an individual and offering them their dream job is an amazing feeling. But there are several things I do not enjoy such as the paperwork involved in reviewed and posting a vacancy announcement. For me, to stay motivated, I continually think of my future and getting to the next enjoyable thing. I know that if I struggle through the paperwork of an announcement, it will result in a selection and thus I can make an offer and enjoy every minute of it. I also know that to get promoted I have to accomplish specific things including things I dislike doing. Lastly, when I have a day full of un-enjoyable activities, I make sure I spoil myself when I get home or during lunch. That may mean a huge Chipotle Burrito at lunch (the calories are killer) or going to a movie when I get home. By providing a reward for the non-enjoyable tasks, it results in being more productive in accomplishing those tasks. It is all a trick of the mind in how to motivate oneself and everyone is different.

Now why this seems unrelated to HIV, it really isn’t. There is nothing more un-motivating than being diagnosed with HIV. It is how we overcome this slump and find motivation that allows us to live healthy and happy lives. For me that motivation is Hope’s Voice, it provides me an outlet to advocate for an epidemic affecting more individuals every day. I would have to say that the possibility of saving someone’s life after a recent diagnosis or preventing someone from contracting the virus is the ultimate motivation for me. Definitely beats making a job offer any day!

‘Til next time,

Kevin