Music Motivates? Well it works for me......

Introduction

Whilst the topic of music may not be strictly linked to the corporate world or have a direct synergy with my experience in the contact centre environment, it is, however, fair to say that music plays a huge part in our day to day lives. Be that from an individual perspective or from a social perspective. Many of us will have grown up being exposed to the music tastes of our parents, good, bad or indifferent, and through the years developed our own preferences and taste. I’m sure there will be those of us that remember watching Top of the Pops, if I remember correctly, on a Thursday evening on BBC1 back in the 90's. If I reflect on how big a part music plays in my life today, it’s pretty significant. On a personal level, when out and about alone, I'll typically have my headphones in and my Spotify play list going, as well as when I’m at the gym. When at home, it’s definitely not uncommon to have one of the music channels playing on the TV either. On a social level, no night out is complete without heading to some bars that play good music, not to mention all the shows and concerts we all go to.

So, I feel I have now adequately established that music plays a big part in all our life’s, but where am I going with this? When I consider why I listen to music when alone, it’s because it makes me feel not so alone and secondly, makes me feel "happy". If I consider why I listen to music whilst at the gym, it’s because it distracts me from the actual physical exercise and the repetitive activity that I’m doing and simply makes it more enjoyable. Why does music play a huge part in social interactions, because it helps create an atmosphere and quite simply, it's fun and entertaining! Listening to music releases endorphins in the brain, which gives us a heightened feeling of excitement. In addition to feeling euphoric, endorphins quell anxiety, ease pain and stabilize the immune system. With high endorphin levels, we have fewer negative effects of stress. Music is able to increase stimulation, as there’s a connection between auditory neurons and motor neurons. That’s why music often makes us more mobile and motivates our body to move.

In summary, music promotes physical activity and mental activity; therefore, music fuels productivity and motivation.

In recognition of the above, and realising the benefit of music to mental stimulation, how many of us have tried to source an appropriate song to use at a training event or at a team “away day”? I know I have. For me, it’s not just an upbeat tempo or catchy melody that I look for, it’s meaningful lyrics. It’s very easy to simply get lost in a tune, melody or beat of a song, but how many of us actually hear and feel the lyrics? We have all come across the concept that communication is largely body language, after which comes tone, and finally words, relating this concept back to music, dance would have the biggest impact, after which potentially the melody, therefore the last thing to have an impact on us would be the lyrics.

Given that we all recognise the power in self-belief, I know I have personally re shared many posts and quotes about this very topic, when you listen to certain songs, and really listen to the lyrics, some songs are filled with positive affirmations that can’t help but impact your state of mind. It is one thing to read a positive affirmation in your head, something else to say it out loud, but to sing it is a different level of embedding. To this end, really hearing and feeling the lyrics can only have a positive impact on one’s self confidence.

In the spirit of tapping into the benefits of using music to inspire and motivate teams, I have often used music as an ice breaker in training sessions but “forced”, if you like, the group to listen to the lyrics by breaking delegates into smaller teams, playing a song and asking them to capture as many of the lyrics as possible. Then, for each team to present back what lyrics they captured, which ones mean the most to them and why.

For those that may find this useful, this is “George’s motivational play list” and why……. I’m confident that you will have identified some of these yourselves already:

1. Eye Of The Tiger, Survivor

I’m sure we all recognise this song from the Rocky movie, which has its own very inspiring story line and plot, however this song alone is also very powerful. Aside from the very masculine and testosterone fueled beat and tempo, the lyrics include the following lines:

“Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past

You must fight just to keep them alive"

"Rising up straight to the top

Had the guts, got the glory

Went the distance, now I'm not going to stop

Just a man and his will to survive”

There’s something about the fact that when you’re growing up, you think anything is possible and have all these dreams of what you want to be and what you want to do in life. Its almost like a level of unconscious incompetence, not knowing what something involves nor being able to do it. It's a much simpler way of being! As we get older, for whatever reason, and maybe as we start to learn what might be involved in these things that we aspired towards, we begin the journey of becoming consciously incompetent and start putting up barriers and restrictions to achieving them rather than addressing and overcoming them, then finally give up. What these lyrics say to me is not to give up on those dreams and fight to keep them alive. If you have the “guts” to persevere you’ll get the “glory”. It's probably those that continue to believe and not let the barriers stop them, that actually turn their early childhood dreams into a reality.

2. I Believe, Yolanda Adams

For anyone that has seen the film “Honey” starring Jessica Alba, in a nutshell, she sets up a dance studio against all the odds, including others telling her that she won't be able to make it happen. She believed in herself enough to keep going and delivered. As cheesy as that sounds, this song completely captures self belief through multiple positive affirmations. Almost every line is a positive affirmation in itself, a great song to listen to when needing a “pick up”. Let’s be honest, life is filled with various different challenges and sometimes it is possible for our confidence to waiver as a result, and it definitely helps to be reminded to believe in yourself. Whilst I could highlight every line in this song as being meaningful, here are a few that resonate:

"They said you wouldn't make is so far

And ever since they said it, it's been hard

But never mind the nights you had to cry

'Cause you have never let it go inside

You worked real hard

And you know exactly what you want and need

So believe and you can never give up

You can reach your goals

Just talk to your soul and say

I believe I can (I can)"

3. Fight Song, Rachel Platten

This song has a lot of personal meaning to me. I’ve been quite open and transparent in a number of these articles from a personal perspective, I certainly don’t mind sharing that this is the song I played consistently on repeat after the demise of a relationship. It was like free therapy! If you ever feel the need to re-fuel that spark and regain some fight, this song really helps give you that kick start, well, it certainly worked for me. There's something about this song, as well as the powerful language around picking yourself up, that indicates that just like how "1 match, can make an explosion", one person can make a difference.

"Like a small boat on the ocean

Sending big waves into motion

Like how a single word

Can make a heart open

I might only have one match

But I can make an explosion

And all those things I didn't say

Wrecking balls inside my brain

I will scream them loud tonight

Can you hear my voice?

This time this is my fight song

Take back my life song

Prove I'm alright song

My power's turned on

Starting right now I'll be strong

I'll play my fight song

And I don't really care

If nobody else believes

'Cause I've still got

A lot of fight left in me"

4. Keep The Faith, Michael Jackson

Another one with quite a few positive affirmations contained within, but one line that I find really impacting in this song is “the power's in believing”….

"But the power's in believing, so give yourself a chance

'Cause You Can

Climb the highest mountain

Swim the deepest sea

All you need is the will to want it and a little self-esteem

So keep the faith

Don't let nobody turn you 'round

You gotta know when it's good to go to get your dreams up off the ground

So keep the faith, baby, yeah

Because it's just a matter of time

Before your confidence will win out

Believe in yourself no matter what it's gon' take

You can be a winner but you got to keep the faith"

5. One Moment In Time, Whitney Houston

I recollect actually using this song as part of delivering a Team Manager training session to a new group of managers, newly promoted from front line colleagues as part of a strategy to grow internal talent. Again, whilst there are many lines in this song that are inspiring, there were 3 key lines for me that I was keen for the group to identify with:

"To taste the sweet, I face the pain

I rise and fall, yet through it all this much remains"

"Where I’m more than I thought I could be”

Having just been promoted to manage and lead teams, it was important for the new managers to recognise that it won’t be easy and there will be “pain” or challenges that they will face, and in some cases, those challenges may not go as well as they would like, but what’s important is to raise again and keep going and believe in themselves.

 6. Try Everything, Shakira

If you have seen the animated movie “Zootropalis”, you’ll know this one. Obviously the target age group for this movie is typically children, and as you can imagine, I was forced to watch it by my 7 year old niece and don’t actually enjoy it myself (insert Pinocchio emoji here), but having said that, there are some profound messages that you can't help but identify with throughout the film, including:

• Diversity, all animals working together despite differences in species, size, colour etc
• Prejudging ability based on physical appearance
• Not everyone that appears to be your friend is your friend
• Not giving up, believing in yourself, believing in your dreams to make them a reality

In the very last few minutes of the film, Judy Hopps, the main character in the film, gives what I consider to be a very heart warming speech:

“I implore you, try, try to make the world a better place. Look inside yourself and recognise that change starts with you, starts with me, it starts with all of us”

This song by Shakira encapsulates everything about how it is OK to make mistakes as we learn and try new things, but to keep trying. Another song that I found useful when delivering training to a new group of managers. The whole song is quite uplifting, but these lyrics really do resonate in particular:

"I messed up tonight

I lost another fight

Lost to myself, but I'll just start again

I keep falling down

I keep on hitting the ground

But I always get up now to see what's next"

7. Proud, Heather Small

I’ll be very surprised if this song isn’t already on your motivational playlists, given that I’ve heard it being played at a number of different corporate “away days” personally, as well as Heather Small performing this very fittingly at the Pride of Britain Awards 2012. For me, this song does exactly what it says on the tin, challenges us to really think about “what have we done to make us feel proud”. Listening to and taking in the following lines, really does motivate to do something that nobody else is doing, to do something different, I mean, who wants to be ordinary?

"I step out of the ordinary

I can feel my soul ascending

I'm on my way, can't stop me now

And you can do the same, yeah"

8. Shooting For The Moon, Amy Holland

Now this may be a song that is less known and infrequently used in the context of inspiring and motivating, but for those in my age group, if I mention “Teen Wolf” with Michael J. Fox, you’ll remember this as the song played during the end credits. Whilst I do really like the melody, again, another one promoting self belief even when no one else does believe in you.

"Who could believe one day

You'd learn to walk on air

Everyone said "no way, you haven't got a prayer"

Click your heels

That's how up and happy it feels"

9. Bring It Back, S Club 7

I’ve never used this song as part of any management development session, as yet, however, there is still time! This is one, that on the face of it, when focusing on the band themselves, the melody etc, it is one of the most cheesy songs one can come across and secondly when watching the official video, the target age group is probably below 10. However, when I focus on the lyrics, there is something surprisingly profound and meaningful about them that the song writers literally nailed, in my humble opinion.

“When the world is on your shoulders, just smile and let it go

If people try to put you down, just walk on by, don't turn around"

"In life, it ain't easy

But your time's coming around

So don't you stop trying

Don't stop, never give up

Hold your head high and reach the top

Let the world see what you have got

Bring it all back to you (Bring it all back now)"

"When the world seems to get too tough

Bring it all back to you (Bring it all back now)"

Whilst the key theme tends to be “not to give up”, given the lyrics in the chorus, the key message that I take from this song is the fact that life isn’t easy and that when things get tough, to reflect, take control and for YOU to do something different. Blaming the world, blaming a situation or other people will not help, “bring it all back to you” and decide what you are going to do about it.

10. Hero, Mariah Carey

A very intense song in every way. Another one that I personally used during the demise of a relationship. I’m sure everyone can attest to feeling like they are losing a sense of hope at some point in their lives, and this is another song that reminds you to “bring it all back to you”. If you look deep enough, you’ll find a hero inside of you that can survive.

"And then a hero comes along

With the strength to carry on

And you cast your fears aside

And you know you can survive

So when you feel like hope is gone

Look inside you and be strong

And you'll finally see the truth

That a hero lies in you"

11. The Climb

A song that was originally sung by Miley Cyrus, I believe, but then covered by Joe McElderry in 2009, the year he "climbed" to the top of all X Factor contestants and won. I’m confident that there are quite a few of us that have had this “voice inside our heads” telling us we can’t do something, well, that’s the voice we need to ignore and shut down. And like the lyrics go on to say, you've got to keep going. Even though sometimes it feels like an up hill battle, and sometimes you might lose, that’s OK.

"I can almost see it

That dream I'm dreaming

But, there's a voice inside my head saying

You'll never reach it

Every step I'm taking

Every move I make feels

Lost with no direction

My faith is shaking

But I, I gotta keep trying

Gotta keep my head held high"

12. When You Believe, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey

The late Whitney Houston produced some great hits, and this one with Mariah written for the DreamWorks animation “The Prince of Egypt” is no different. A song all about the power of belief, and what can be achieved if we just believed.

"There can be miracles when you believe

Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill

Who knows what miracles you can achieve?

When you believe, somehow you will"