3 min read ⌚ 

How to Get It, How to Keep It, and How to Get It Back If You Lose It

You are not born with “Mojo”: you need to earn it. Read on and learn how.

About Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter

Marshall Goldsmith is an author and a bestselling coach.

Mark Reiter is a collaborator on “Mojo” and is Goldsmith’s literary agent.

“Mojo Summary”

Mojo is a sign that you are doing something good. It is that factor X that other people recognize.

Mojo is being “in the zone” and having a “positive spirit toward what we are doing now that starts from the inside and radiates to the outside.”

This definition consists of a few elements which all carry their own meaning.

“Positive spirit”: recognizable “happiness and meaning.”

“Toward what we are doing”: this part connects to the meaning and joy that your activities provide.

“Now”: mojo exists in the present, not in the past or future.

“That starts from the inside”: if you have mojo, you know how to recognize it.

“And radiates to the outside”: you are not the only one that knows if you have mojo though. You emanate you that other people notice as well.

When you have mojo, you feel joy and happiness and your life has a deeper meaning.

People have two kinds of mojo: a personal and a professional one.

Now, you must be asking yourself if some people are just born with it, while others are “cursed” to never experience their mojo.

The answers to your questions are no and no.

You need to work on your mojo and develop it.

People are programmed to live mindlessly, without looking for meaning.

However, this way of functioning prevents people from growing and developing.

Building your mojo on the other side requires for the opposite: for a change and for patience and determination related to a goal.

To know what you are doing and if you are going back to your old patterns, use follow up, by analyzing your daily activities.

The analysis consists of two questions related to meaning and happiness.

You need to ask yourself what the activity delivers in the long term, and how much happiness it provides at the moment.

Once you get used to evaluating your day’s tasks and events for these two variables, you will naturally move toward a point where these activities are more optimized.

Key Lessons from “Mojo”

1.      The Four Parts of Your Mojo
2.      “The Mojo Scorecard”
3.      “Your Mojo Toolkit”

The Four Parts of Your Mojo

• • Identity

• • Achievement

• • Reputation

• Acceptance

“The Mojo Scorecard”

• • “Motivation”

• • “Knowledge”

• • “Ability”

• • “Confidence”

• • “Authenticity”

• • “Happiness”

• • “Reward”

• • “Meaning”

• • “Learning”

• “Gratitude”

“Your Mojo Toolkit”

• • “Establish criteria that matter to you.”

• • “Find out where you are living.”

• • “Be the optimist in the room.”

• • “Take away one thing.”

• • “Rebuild one brick at a time.”

• • “Live your mission in the small moments, too.”

• • “Swim in the blue water.”

• • “When to stay, when to go.”

• • “Hello, good-bye.”

• • “Adopt a metrics system.”

• • “Reduce” the time you waste

• • “Influence up as well as down.”

• • “Name it, frame it, claim it.”

• “Give your friends a lifetime pass.”

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“Mojo” Quotes