Motivation is Attainable Through Sheer Will: Decide What You Want and Make it Happen
Motivation: The internal and external factors that stimulate or compel a person to be committed to an interest or activity.
Motivation is what moves one to wake up before dawn to go running, fire up the computer or pick up the phone and make deals happen. Motivation is the difference between action and inaction; the crucial element to setting and attaining goals.
Research has shown that we are able to influence our own personal levels of motivation, as well as self-control. In other words, you’ve got no one to blame but yourself regardless of whether the outcome is failure or success.
The Bottom Line:
Decide what you want, dominate the discomfort through sheer will power and start living the life you want to live. Here are a few guiding principles to help you stay on track and make that happen.
Be absolute about your desired outcome. Don’t just say “I need to make more money”, say how much more money; don’t say, “I need to stop doing this for a living and start doing something else”, say instead, “I am going to stop doing this and do (fill in the blank)”. When you draw up a conclusive picture of your goals, and those goals are measurable, you have a quantitative and qualitative outcome to work toward.
Set your priorities on a daily basis. When you wake up in the morning and write down your priorities for the day- things you want to accomplish that will get you closer to reaching your goals- or set them down the night before, it helps to stay focused on the big picture. Often we get caught up in the daily tasks and forget about taking steps on a daily basis to get closer to what we want. Even if it is just one thing per day, that is something. Do something every day to reach your big picture.
Get a coach or mentor. I have said it a thousands times and I’ll say it again; the importance of a mentor or coach cannot be stressed enough. Can’t afford to hire a coach or mentor today? That’s ok- you can work toward that. For now, find a partner who is striving to reach similar goals and form a buddy alliance to help keep each other accountable and on track.
Identify your challenges; determine to walk right through them rather than avoid them. When you face the difficulties in life, the rest is cake. Hate making those phone calls? Do them first and get them out of the way. Whatever it is, just rip the Band-Aid off. It will get easier the more you do it.
Focus on the things you can control or influence; let go of those that you are powerless over. When we fixate on the things we cannot change, it is disempowering and energetically draining. Celebrate the “NOs” in life; there is probably a good reason for them. It’s amazing how when you let go you have room to receive bigger and better things.
Mark your progress. It is encouraging and empowering to see how far you’ve come each day, each month and each year. When you can see results, you will be motivated to keep going. So many stop a “minute before the miracle” simply because they cannot see over the horizon; when you are charting your advancement you can see what’s beyond the hill because you are aware of what you’ve already achieved.
If you lose course, get back on track immediately. Don’t waste your time in self recrimination; simply recognize the altered path and take measure to get turned in the right direction and moving down that path again with renewed intention and enthusiasm. Congratulate yourself as you move along with renewed energy.
