Have you ever found yourself waiting to feel motivated before getting started on an important task?

This week, Kristi explores a mindset shift inspired by author Mark Manson called The Do Something Principle. Instead of waiting for inspiration to strike, what if taking even the smallest action is what actually creates motivation?

In this week's Communication Tip, Kristi draws an unexpected lesson from an all-day educational bus tour. Despite spending over eight hours together, the participants never became a true group. That experience becomes a compelling analogy for jury selection and why attorneys should intentionally create opportunities for jurors to connect before deliberations ever begin.

LISTEN HERE...

Key Takeaways

Waiting for motivation often keeps us stuck.

Action creates inspiration—not the other way around.

Small, completed actions build momentum and confidence.

Asking "Can I just...?" helps reduce overwhelm and lower the barrier to starting.

Jurors don't automatically become a cohesive group simply because they're seated together.

Attorneys can intentionally foster trust and collaboration during voir dire through simple group-forming activities.

Helping jurors become a connected group can positively influence the quality of deliberations.

Favorite Moment

"You don't feel motivated. You practice motivation."

Links & Resources

The Do Something Principle: https://markmanson.net/how-to-get-motivated

Big Think interview: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1DJgdVybjY/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Email Kristi: [email protected]

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Until next time... keep fostering your voice.

TRANSCRIPT:

Helloooo!!!! Hello Foster Fam! Welcome to today's episode of the Foster Your Voice podcast.

I don't know if it's because it's summertime, or if it's too hot, or if hormones are at play, or if I'm on the brink of some growth or change, but it has been hard to stay on top of motivation recently. I'm just lacking some of the "get up and go" that I've had before. I feel confident it'll come back around. But in the meantime, I've got work to do. I've got projects to complete. I've got goals to achieve and chores to do, and, you know...life to live.

So, I was glad to have run across a reel from Big Think where the author Mark Manson was sharing about the Do Something Principle. I've put the reel in the shownotes along with a longer article from his website that I read when I was taking a closer look at this principle.

The basic premise is that, when it comes to motivation, most of us are doing it backwards. We wait to feel some sort of emotional inspiration and then we are motivated to take action. No wonder we stall. We're waiting on a feeling to propel us, and, as Mark says, sometimes feelings are kinda negative which further prevents us from taking action. Sometimes our feelings about something cause us to retreat even more, and then we're really screwed.

So, how do we combat this? How do we find a way forward when the feelings aren't necessarily there?

Mark suggests that we flip the model. Instead of emotional inspiration → motivation → action, how about we start with action → inspiration → motivation?

His Do Something Principle is simply that. DO SOMETHING. Anything. No matter how small. By successfully taking even the tiniest action and completing it successfully, the brain celebrates and says "Hey! Look! We did it. Maybe we can do more?" And that's where inspiration is sparked and motivation is fanned into flame.

Of course this isn't a NEW concept. Mark even says that. He just codified it into this teachable principle. But I've heard it expressed in mindset groups and professional development communities with phrases like "Action Creates Clarity" (amy), or "Action breeds creativity (ABC)" (klf). The idea is that it's taking action itself that opens up the blockage, so act even before it makes sense and even before you have everything dialed in.

Another phrase, or, really, it's a prompt, that's along the same lines is "Can I just...?" Meaning, when you're facing a task that just seems too big, or has too many parts, or when you're easily overwhelmed by the prospect of things in their entirety, that's a good time to ask "Can I just...[fill in the blank]?" Going to the gym might be daunting, but Can I just stand up at my desk and stretch above my head and then bend over to touch my toes? Or, even smaller...Can I just stand up and then sit back down?"

What we find is (and by we, I mean scientists and thought life practitioners who do these kinds of studies), we find that when you stand up to do the quick stretch, the brain will sometimes say "Okay, let me do a couple squats while I'm up, and while I'm up, I might as well walk to the kitchen to refill my water." We start to stack tiny things together and eventually build up to the bigger, more daunting task.

We didn't wait for motivation. We took action. So, another phrase that I've enjoyed is "You don't FEEL motivated. You PRACTICE motivation." (corinne or jon)

Don't wait for the feeling. Just DO SOMETHING.

—BREAK—

A couple of weeks ago, I did something that was a bit outside of my comfort zone. I mentioned in my newsletter recently that I've been doing a number of "field trips" this summer. These are programs & offerings from the Clark County Historical Museum, and the Fort Vancouver Historic Trust, and Urban Forestry, and Columbia Springs Fish Hatchery, and the Water Resource Center.

It's probably obvious at this point...I'm a bit of a nerd. I just really like learning. And, through the local library and other public works organizations, there are some really incredible free to inexpensive tours, and site visits, and nature walks, etc.

And they're not offered year round. Here in the Portland/Vancouver area, it's rainy a lot of they year, so when we have these great summer months, that's when all the fun programming happens. So, I try to take advantage of it every year.

So the thing I did a couple weeks ago was take an 8.5 hour bus tour up to the Bull Run Watershed and back. This was hosted by the Portland Water Bureau and I had to apply to attend and then hope that I was selected. So, I was excited when i was chosen as one of this year's participants. With limited seats, it felt kinda special.

If you're listening, and you're NOT from Portland, the Bull Run Watershed is 102 square miles, of temperate rainforest full of centuries-old trees, streams, lakes and rivers (filled mostly with the 130" of rainfall in the forest each year and not snowmelt from Mt. Hood). And that watershed is what provides water to most of the county.

So, as part of the all day tour we were going to...

1. Visit the city's groundwater source

2. Take a trail walk through old-growth forest

3. Have lunch at Bull Run Lake, with clear, picturesque views of Mount Hood

4. Tour the 1929 concrete dam and reservoir (they built Hoover Dam in this same design, only bigger)

5. Drive across the earth and rock fill dam, built in 1962

The weather was PERFECT and the day was lovely.

But...what struck me a couple of times during the day is that no one talked to each other. We spent 8.5 hours together, on a bus for a lot of it, but we also had the trail hike and lunch around picnic tables, and conversation was SPARSE.

Isn't that strange?

We were a tour of individuals experiencing something that only a select few get to do each year, going into restricted lands and learning together for 8.5 hours and yet I don't know a single person's name, or anything about any of the 30 participants. We remained individuals that whole time and never became a group.

It just made me think of a similar situation in jury selection. Here are all these people, from different walks of life, coming together in one space, and yet, so often they remain as individuals who won't know how to work together when the critical deliberation time comes.

So, how does a group get formed? And WHO is responsible for forming the group?

I'll answer the 2nd question first...YOU. You have an opportunity—and I would argue a responsibility—to help form the group. You can help the individuals in front of you create some casual bonds so they can begin to communicate with each other, have some safety to speak up, and trust each other and work together to decide a verdict for your client.

You do this with group forming activities. Have them look around, or look at each other during voir dire. Have them talk to each other and create conversational moment between them.

Even though, on the bus tour, we DID go around and briefly introduce ourselves, that wasn't sufficient. Somewhere during the hours of lecture (which was interesting by the way, and vocally she kept our attention), somewhere in there, she could have had us turn-and-talk. Discuss something with our seat partner, or turn to the people in the seat behind and figure out something as a 4-some. Or even divide the bus down the aisle and have the right side and left side have a little competition.

These are the three big ways to help form a group:

1. Make eye contact

2. Talk to each other

3. Do things together

Somewhere along the tour, when we were out of the bus, there could have been small group activities — something we could DO together. "Get in teams of 4 and take 10 minutes during this lunch break to find, I dont' know...some sort of plant life, tree identification, scavenger hunt type thing." Have some small prize. It would have made a WORLD of difference in moving us from individuals who consumed information to a group that worked together and experienced the event as a community.

Now, I know you can't have handouts and prizes for potential jurors. Can you imagine?! haha! BUT, you CAN have them raise their hands to a question they will all answer yes to. "How many of you have driven a car, or been in a car?" EVERYONE will raise their hand. That's group action.

Look for the funny moments, even self-deprecating moments, and let them laugh together. Again...that's a group bonding action.

What are some other simple and practical things you can do to help form a jury group? I'd love to hear from you and build a bank of ideas that are tried and tested. Send me an email [email protected] and let me know what you've done to form the group.

And until next time...keep fostering your voice.