MOJO - How to get it / How to keep it; How to get it back if you lose it

MOJO

How to get it / How to keep it

How to get it back if you lose it

Marshall Goldsmith

With

Mark Reiter

Viva books Pvt Ltd 2010

Rs 225   pages 205

‘How’s your Mojo?’ is a question that could stop you in your tracks. ‘What’s Mojo?’ you ask, and you’ll die happier if you do not wait for the reply. The present author says that Mojo is the moment when we do something that’s powerful, purposeful and positive, and the rest of the world recognises it. Originally it referred to a folk belief in the supernatural powers of a voodoo charm; it has evolved to a sense of positive spirit and direction; also a more elusive sense of personal advancement. Sports people call this being ‘in the zone’. 

And it’s not an ailment peculiar to Marshall Goldsmith. In 2008, Gary Bertwistle had come out of with a Who Stole My Mojo? How to Get It Back and Live, Work and Play Better and attempted to define this elusive term as magic, voodoo, charm, or energy, vitality, zest, drive, zip, zing, spirit, verve, pizzazz, punch, passion, oomph, power, get up and go, vigour and feistiness; the extra spark that is the difference between having a good day and great day, between getting good results and outstanding results. The person with Mojo takes responsibility, runs the extra mile, loves doing it, appreciates opportunities and is inspirational; the opposite (which Marshall refers to as Nojo), tends to play the victim, is satisfied with the bare minimum, is generally uninterested and indifferent. If you’re yet alive, you’ve got Mojo!

How do you show your Mojo? Love what you do and show it – and, says Goldsmith, it is seen when the positive feelings towards what we’re doing comes from inside us and are evident for others to see. The author had in 2007 brought out an impressive book entitled: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There and seems to have lapsed into the mystical … it’s only his earlier reputation that whets your appetite for further reading.

And, here’s the recipe – four vital ingredients. Identity (Who do you think you are? Specifically, not what other people think of you); Achievement (What have you done lately that has meaning and impact?); Reputation (Who do other people think you are?); Acceptance (What can you change, and what is beyond your control?). It is by understanding the impact and the interaction of identity, achievement, reputation and acceptance, that we can begin to alter our own Mojo.

Assuming that the reader is not yet confounded, the author mentions that there are two forms of

Mojo in our lives: professional Mojo – which is a measure of the skills and attitudes we bring to any activity; and personal Mojo – which is measured by the benefits that a particular activity brings back to us. Further, five qualities are identified in the professional variety namely, motivation, knowledge, ability, confidence, and authenticity, and five in the personal variety namely, happiness, reward, meaning, learning, and gratitude.

There’s more Joe! We have also the Mojo paradox – our default response in life is negative. Once you appreciate the paradox, says Marshall, you become aware of its effect on every aspect of your life, particularly in things that really matter – such as the level of happiness and meaning in your life – and you become more thoughtful about turning things around.

The rest of the book analyses each of the building blocks (identity, achievement, reputation and acceptance) for better understanding and use for building up Mojo. For instance, identity is analysed in its different forms such as ‘remembered identity’ (where self and past collide), ‘reflected identity’ (where the past and other people’s opinions meet), ‘programmed identity’ (the result of other people sending messages about who you are or will become in the future), and ‘created identity’ (where self and future meet; neither controlled by our past nor by other people – the beating heart of Mojo). This is followed by a reference to our tendencies of over-committing, bashing-the-boss, wishful-thinking, refusing-to-change-because-of-‘sunk-costs’ – which lead to loss of Mojo. The author then offers fourteen tools for building up and maintaining our Mojo related to the four building blocks. For instance, in relation to identity, the tools include the establishment of criteria that matter to you, finding out where you ‘live’ (just surviving, short-term/long-term satisfaction, short-term/long-term benefit), optimism in the face of adversity, subtraction of one activity that could add happiness.

This is a self-help book – if ever there was one. The problem with self-help books is that when the book is read and closed, the ‘help’ ends. Several authors offer web-pages for continued contact and for ensuring sustained change. Marshall advises that it would be more effective if we confided our self-improvement programme to another person. Our ego should not come in the way. But in sharing this confidence are we not going to lose our Mojo? The million-dollar question.