You know what it’s like. You set yourself a goal, something you want to achieve. You are excited and ready to take on the world, and then a few months later you can’t even be bothered to spend 10 minutes working towards achieving it. Well welcome to being human! It is so easy to go from excitement to complete apathy but there are things you can do to ensure you stay motivated towards your goal and following are seven great ones!
1. Is Your Reason WHY Large Enough?
When I wanted to lose weight setting a goal to look great in clothes was not big enough, what didn’t help was the fact that I loved who I was and what I looked like, but my health had begun to show signs of being affected by my excess weight and this is the WHY I used to ensure I stayed on track. I started with 6 weeks of no diary, no wheat and red meat only once a week. Do you think I needed a big why to stay committed to such a regime??!! I knew that health is my true wealth. Having been unwell for 6 months and hardly able to walk had taught me that without my health my goals were useless. So maintaining a healthy body that would allow me to enjoy the fulfillment of my goals was the big WHY that kept me on track.
Stop and think about your reason WHY? What reason is big enough to keep you motivated at times when you want to give up and/or give in?
2. Create a visual and emotional image of what you want
Writing your goals down is an essential tool but not always enough to keep focused. Writing your goals down and having a visual image of you completing that goal adds fuel to the motivational fire. Writing goals down, having a visual image of your completed goal AND connecting this image with your emotions is the power of 3 that will ensure your motivation remains high. At any point during the day, or at any time when you are feeling in need of encouragement, you can simply stop, close your eyes, see your goal and evoke all the emotions achieving that goal holds for you. Nothing is more powerful!
3. Questions to ask before, during and after!
It is important to know not only why you are doing something but also WHAT. What achieving this goal will provide for yourself and your family. It is easy to believe that what you want is to make a million, but for many it is the lifestyle and the time freedom that this money has the potential to provide that will be the real motivation.
Spend time asking yourself questions that will help you identify what achieving your goal will provide. Questions such as:
•What will it bring me?
•What will it do for me, my family, and/or friends?
•What kind of lifestyle will I be able to have?
•What sacrifices will I need to make?
•What will be the impact on my current routine?
•What will be the impact on my family?
•What outcome do I want to achieve?
•What contributions will I be able to make
Motivation and staying motivated is easy when you know what the achievement of your goal will provide for you and we only really lose motivation when we lose sight of our goal or end result.
4. Creating a visual representation of what you want
Keep the motivational fires burning by creating a collage with the family of what your end result will look like, or paint a picture, write a poem, sing a song, or whatever creative endeavor excites you enough to complete it.
Whatever you create keep it in a place where you can see it constantly, I remember listening to someone talk about sticking a poster of making their first 100,000 on their ceiling so that as they woke up it was the first thing they saw each morning, and the last image in their mind before falling asleep.
Leave yourself reminders on your fridge door, on your bathroom mirror, in your car. The more places you are able to leave yourself little notes and reminders about what you want to achieve the better. Doing this will help your unconscious mind bring you the results you desire, whilst also supporting you in staying focused and motivated towards achieving your goal.
5.Get Support from people around you
Support from family and friends is important but also consider what other support is available to you. Books, mentoring, work colleagues, life coaching, forums – these are all things that can support you as you work towards achieving your goal. Also think about WHO can support you in staying motivated, can you buddy up with someone, do you have a boss or lecturer who will be happy to help you keep accountable.
One thing I recommend is that you tell as many people as you know about what you want to achieve, this has the effect of keeping you motivated to complete your goal because you have told so many people. However, a word of caution is needed here because it is easy for people to trample your dreams and fail to support you. You must first pick and choose carefully those people you know will want to support you, but also you must gain enough inner personal strength to be able to continue no matter what negative comments may come your way.
6.Develop Inner Personal Strength
Ultimately, the person who will determine whether you stay motivated and achieve your goal will be you. Your thoughts will determine your behavior which determines your results. Developing a strong inner personal strength about your ability to achieve and your ability to motivate yourself when you are in an unproductive state of mind is essential. Being able to see setbacks and failures as opportunities for continued growth and upset and emotional turmoil as opportunities to discover what you want and need, will determine how you view life. One of the best ways to inner personal strength is to read and listen to audios that inspire and motivate you. Continued learning is an essential part of being able to stay motivated.
7. Support from Continued Learning
If you are going to need to learn new skills to ensure you complete your goal then you it is a good idea to identify what learning you will need to undertake as early as possible. If you have planned out how you will achieve your outcome then you will already be aware of any areas where you need to strengthen your skills or out source to others who will be able to fulfill what you need.
There is nothing worse than getting halfway towards the completion of a goal and to be stopped because you are not able to complete something because of lack of knowledge and/or skills. This is a surefire way of dampening your excitement and your motivation.
Make a list of what you can and can’t do and who might be able to help you. Knowing this in advance can help you avoid getting frustrated because things aren’t getting done. If you are serious about developing your personal and professional life then I recommend getting yourself a Mentor or Life Coach, to ensure you stay on track.
You should also look at continued learning as it relates to your own personal development, continuing with your own personal development will ensure you are able to work through set backs quickly and stay motivated.
Staying motivated when you are looking to achieve your goals is essential for ultimate success. I have provided you with seven practical ways to achieve continued motivation and I recommend you use them all. Some of them such as creating a collage will be activities you perform occasionally, but others, such as continuing your personal development will be a continuous learning process. There is not one single thing that will determine your success in staying motivated but a combination of many, finding the combination that is right for you will change from goal to goal and will be an ongoing (fun filled) exploration.
7 Ways To Stay Motivated
Weakness or Strength?
Recently I was giving a training on personal leadership when I came across a story of a 10 year old boy. I do not know if this is a true story but I think it is a story that I want to share with you. Everyone has strength and weakness. Just when you are thinking that something may be your weakness, think twice. Sometimes your weakness may turn out to be your greatest strength.
The story of one 10 year old boy who decided to study Judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.
The boy began his lessons with an old Japanese Judo Master. As the boy was doing well in his lessons, he could not understand why after three months of training and his master had taught him only one move.
"Sensei," the boy finally asked. "Shouldn't I be learning more moves?"
"This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know." the sensei replied.
Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.
Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals.
This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened.
"No." the sensei insisted. "Let him continue."
Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him down. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion.
On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind.
"Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?"
"You won for two reasons," the sensei answered. "First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of Judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grap your left arm."
The boy's biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.
A Heart Touching Story
Spend some time to read this! Really touching!!
I was walking around in a Big Bazaar store making shopping, when I saw a Cashier talking to a boy couldn't have been more
Than 5 or 6 years old. The Cashier said, 'I'm sorry, but you don't have enough money to buy this doll. Then the little boy turned to me and asked: ''aunty, are you sure I don't have enough money?''
I counted his cash and replied: ''You know that you don't have enough money to buy the doll, my dear.'' The little boy was
Still holding the doll in his hand. Finally, I walked toward him and I asked him who he wished to give this doll to. 'It's the
Doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much. I wanted to Gift her for her BIRTHDAY. I have to give the doll to my mommy so that she can give it to my sister when she goes there.'
His eyes were so sad while saying this. 'My Sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mommy is going to see God very soon too, so I thought that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister.'' My heart nearly stopped. The little boy looked up at me and said: 'I told daddy to tell mommy not to go yet. I need her to wait until I come back from the mall.' Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where he was laughing.. He then told me 'I want mommy to take my picture with her so my sister won't forget me.' 'I love my mommy and I wish she doesn't have to leave me, but daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister...' Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly.
I quickly reached for my wallet and said to the boy. 'Suppose we check again, Just in case you do have enough money for the doll?'' 'OK' he said, 'I hope I do have enough..' I added some of my money to his with out him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll and even some spare money. The little boy said: 'Thank you God for giving me enough money!' Then he looked at me and added, 'I asked last night before I went to sleep for God to make sure I had enough money to buy this doll, so that mommy could give It to my sister. He heard me!'' 'I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mommy, but I didn't dare to ask God for too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and a white rose. My mommy loves white roses.'
I finished my shopping in a totally different state from when I started. I couldn't get the little boy out of my mind. Then I remembered a local news paper article two days ago, which mentioned a drunk man in a truck, who hit a car occupied by a young woman and a little girl. The little girl died right away, and the mother was left in a critical state. The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-sustaining machine, because the young woman would not be able to recover from the coma. Was this the family of the little boy?
Two days after this encounter with the little boy, I read in the news paper that the young woman had passed away.. I couldn't stop myself as I bought a bunch of white roses and I went to the funeral home where the body of the young woman was exposed for people to see and make last wishes before her burial. She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of the little boy and the doll placed over her chest. I left the place, teary-eyed, feeling that my life had been changed for ever. The love that the little boy had for his mother and his sister is still, to this day, hard to imagine. And in a fraction of a second, a drunk driver had taken all this away from him.
The Tender Caress
Michael and I did not know when the waiter put the plates on our table. At the time we were sitting in a small restaurant, hidden from the busy Third Street, in New York City. Event the smell of fresh serving blintze did not interfered our conversation. Infect, we let the blintze soaked in the sour cream. We just enjoy the conversation too much that we forgot to eat.
Our conversation was so delighted though we did not speak about important things. We laughing and speaking about the movie which we have just watched the night before and arguing about the meaning in our literature seminar. He told me about the maturity step to adulthood when he only responded if someone called him "Michael" and pretend not to hear if they called him "Mikey". Was that at the age 12 or 14? He did not remember but he recalled his mother cried and said that he became a man too fast. When we tasted the blueberry blintzes, I told him that my brother and I used to pick wild blueberry when visiting our cousins in the farm. I remembered I always finished ate my share before we went home and my aunt always warning I must be had a stomachache. But of course, it never happened.
While our fun conversation continued, my eyes went across the room and stop on the corner. A couple of old folks sit in there. The woman wearing the flower dress with faded color, the same with the pillow where she laid her pallid handbag. The man's top head shined just like the boiled egg which he ate very slowly. The woman chewed her oatmeal very slowly too, seemed with very much effort.
But what made my mind thought about them was the silence around them. It seemed like the melancholy emptiness filled their corner. When our conversation became the whisper, from the confession to judges, the silence of the couple disturbed me. How sadden, I thought, if there was nothing at all to talk about. Was there any pages in each other's life they had not read? How if it happened to us?
Michael and I paid our food and went on. When we passed the corner where the couple sat, my wallet fallen. When I stooped to get it, I saw, under the table, they were tenderly holding each other's hand. They were eating in silence while holding each other's hand! I stood upright.
I was very touched to see the simple yet the very meaningful action reflecting the close relationship of the couple. I felt special allowing to watch it.
The tender caress the old man's hand to his wife's wrinkle and tired fingers, filled, not only what I though was an empty corner, but it filled my heart too.
Their silence was not the uncomfortable emptiness like the one we used to have after the jokes we had on our first date. It was not that. Their silence was the pleasant and relaxing one, it was the expression of the tender love and it did not always need the words to express it.
They might spent the hours like these in the morning. Maybe this morning was no different from yesterday, but they enjoyed it with peace. They receiving their partner for what they are.
When I and Michael out of the restaurant, I thought, maybe it was nothing bad at all if some day we have something like that. Maybe, it will become the expression of the tender and complete love.