Sugar High Motivation. Why use an Ironic title for a New Business?
Joseph Rupp, Sugar High Motivation
I woke up earlier than expected, 4:51 am. March had just arrived. The pandemic lockdown had not quite come to town. Ideas swirled around my head as I shook off the last vestiges of slumber. I was at a crossroads. What comes next? I’m in my early fifties. I had been looking for new opportunities in my field as a regional executive or the next step up and it felt like moving in quicksand. The other adventure occupying my mind involved new ventures — especially one I could get off the ground with little initial investment. And, then a persistent idea entered the hazy morning, coming out of sleep, dream state. I ignored it and considered more conventional ideas.
Public speaking made some sense. I had been doing it unofficially for years with my teams and at meetings and conferences and loved the process — preparing the outline and material, getting ready for the moment replete with butterflies, sweaty palms, starting the opening sentence with a hook, telling a story, commanding the room, hitting a climax. I really enjoyed the in the moment experience, it felt natural. I had received good reviews — for years. One person told me I could make money as a motivational speaker, and I dismissed it. What would I talk about? What original things would I have to say? It was nice to hear, though.
Again, I love the experience. People who often relate to you as a boss or an audience member at an event may say nice things out of courtesy. I needed to make certain I was not creating something in my mind that did not exist. Remember the lockdown has not escalated yet — so starting this up whole cloth did not face the wind resistance of quarantine and perpetual Zoomania. Still, not easy to pull off under normal circumstances.
Weighing different options. On the career front, I wrestled with how to arrange the resume to attract the position I wanted, adjust key words and phrases to emphasize different accomplishments or match the job description of the interested position, send notes to different industries and recruiters and exercising my network. My career strategy centered on pursuing three different industries and highlighting my domain expertise in sales, distribution and operations. Shockingly, tech and automotive companies I targeted did not necessarily find someone with domain expertise in insurance appealing. I naively believed that recruiters would see the outline of accomplishments and the organizational experience and recognize the cross over potential. I was delusional. For you to cross industries, the experts contend, you need someone on the inside championing your cause and a very well-defined strategy that might include doing work for free for a while — not a luxury I felt I had.
There remained insurance. My home, comfort zone, area of expertise and network of contacts. I have to say, and you may also find this incredibly pedestrian and dull: I love insurance. I admit it. Now, many of you may recoil in existential horror. How can anyone love insurance? Of course, I mean the industry and business model, not the product itself (but, what's not to love? Don't start!) You might say, I understand that you might like it or even understand its appeal (a little empathy), but love? That is such a strong word and emotion connected to something so…financial. It's like loving a ledger entry or T-Bills. Perhaps, it’s simply a matter of familiarity breeds, not contempt, but genuine appreciation? I’m not going to expound any longer on this topic at this moment: I love insurance. I must admit, though, I wonder what twelve-year-old me would say about middle aged me? Get a life!
Back to speaking. I had been thinking about two different thematic pathways. The first sprung out of a presentation I sketched out based on research done on performance (a combination of biographies, and performance focused books like Geoff Colvin’s Talent is Overrated), the Beatles and their two-year stint in and out of Hamburg Germany from 1960–62. The Geoff Colvin book is not random. I read it nearly a decade ago and purchased copies for my entire team. I used some of the principles in two projects I eventually created. Great book. I am a sucker for articles, videos, blogs, documentaries about how to create great performance. Beyond the domain expertise in Insurance, I really thought of myself as a leader, strategist and coach — the industry was almost incidental.
Originally, I included material on Johannes Brahms, the 19th Century classical music composer — mostly because I am fascinated by his incredible music, life story and his favorite son status having been born in Hamburg in May 1833. In my mind, the three topics intersected perfectly. But, after I put the pieces together in a slide presentation, and showed it to a friend, it became clear it would be hard to pull off the way I had envisioned. Adios Brahms. For now.
The themes surrounding history, performance, culture, commerce and different world cities spawned the idea for a series of presentations. After I broached the subject to a friend of mine, Dan, he suggested the title for the entire series: Putting Business on the Map. And now I would have a thread of interconnecting and thematic presentations to sketch out. The other cities in addition to Hamburg? Vienna, Zurich, Seattle & New Orleans. The lynchpin of the series is music — Classical, Rock ’n’ Roll, Jazz and Alternative.
Sugar High Motivation. I had also sketched out a presentation idea related to the nature of motivation itself. I started with references to historical figures in Psychology from Freud to Maslow to Seligman — the latter the father of Positive Psychology. I also thought about motivational speakers and the nature of the audience experience when a Les Brown, Tony Robbins or Jim Rohn lifts you up by appealing to your belief in yourself and boundless opportunities. I have watched a slew of talented and powerful motivational coaches who back up their words with quality training systems. However, this train of thought made me think about sugar high as a metaphor — the momentary excitement you feel when you conjure images of powerful, infinite you. Think about the exhilaration you feel when seeing yourself in the eyes of the speaker who tells you about the art of the possible — You! But, when the moment fades and the dopamine rush evaporate, like sugar in water, how do you take that emotional experience and leverage it to achieve powerful goals you have conceived in your mind?
The title of the program works for me not because I planned to help individuals sustain a sugar high, but by teaching a system anyone can consciously follow — a simple, straightforward process — to reach any of your dreams after the sugar high moment is gone. The program is about mastering an enduring process. I also leverage modern research in neuroscience and psychology about the role of emotion in sustaining motivation. And, keep in mind, I had been employing a coaching system at work for years and believed that I could modify the process for individual success!
Back to the beginning. On this morning in early March, as I continued to shake off slumber, while staring vacantly at the ceiling, the idea arrived, and I did not know what it really was. I had never heard of a membership site. But, in my mind I joined the idea of sharing motivational content with those I had worked with in the past, in ways I had provided in the past, but with some new wrinkles for a modest monthly fee — a subscription. Now, I get that subscription models are not new, I had just not considered a site membership model. Frankly, I had just not heard of one before. But the idea had arrived and so would an email invitation from someone with expertise a few weeks later. Coincidence?
Thanks for stopping by. If interested, you can find me for more at www.Sugarhighmotivation.com
