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No matter what it is that you're trying to do in life -- achieve a goal, balance your work with your fun, cultivate meaningful relationships, or change the world -- in order to get it done, you must stay motivated. And, no matter who you are, you've probably had some low points when it comes to motivation. Today's guest post by Justin from The Uncommon Life will provide you with 5 techniques that will keep you on track when it comes to motivation -- no matter what your life's goal is.
If we can't find a way to motivate ourselves to achieve our goals, then our goals will be nothing more than unrealized dreams. I've found through my own quest towards finding a way to stay motivated, that most people may understand what motivation means as a word, but we have a hard time consistently applying it to our lives. You see, it’s all good when you read a great book or go to a seminar where the speaker fires you up with inspiring stories that have you feel like you are ready to take on the world. The problem is that a person can only stay motivated for a couple of days or weeks at best before their motivation flickers faintly like a flame dying in the wind. The only way to stay motivated as you aspire to reach your goals is through a systematic way to refuel you tank when you feel like you might be running out of gas. These are the 5 efficient ways that I use to stay motivated on my journey.
1. Reconnect with Your Compelling Reason
There is nothing wrong with writing down and wanting to achieve big goals. However, the action of writing them down, in and of themselves, does not insure that you will achieve them. This is a concept that I struggled with for quite some time because I’ve never had a problem with setting big goals or setting up time frames for the things that I want to achieve in life. The major setback that I’ve had with goals was actually achieving them. Not because I didn’t have the desire, but rather I could not get myself to take the right actions for a consistent period of time.
It wasn’t until I really begin to examine the core compelling reasons for why I wanted these goals, did things really start to click for me. What I’ve learned is the unmistakable difference between goal setting vs goal getting, lies within your own personal mission. It is your compelling reason that motivates you to act in spite of fear, doubt and disbelief.
Most people fail to reach their goals because they think the thought of reaching them will inspire them to stay motivated. But in reality it’s not the goal that keeps you motivated for the long term, it’s more about how you feel about the impact of reaching those goals and being able to reconnect with that reason daily.
To do this is a 3 step process.
- Write down your goal
- Identify your compelling reason of why you want it
- Reconnect with your compelling reason daily and frequently (Yes, I mean more than once a day)
For instance:
- Goal: Fire My boss.
- Compelling Reason: Being able to earn a living on my terms will allow me the freedom to never have to ask permission to take off, travel or increase my salary.
- Reconnect with your compelling reason daily and often by putting it in a place where you will frequently see it. Put your compelling reasons on your fridge, on your wall, in your car-- just about any place that you spend at lot of time is where you should keep you compelling reason.
2. Create A Killer Vision Board
As human beings we are naturally visual creatures. The more we can communicate to our subconscious minds, the quicker we will develop the behaviors necessary to become the person who attracts success. Although I know some people have a stronger experience when they receive information auditorially (Listening, Speaking) or kinesthetically (Touching, Doing), a quarter of our brain processes through the sensory systems of our eyes.
When used in conjunction with our compelling reason and creating a “Killer Vision Board” to express a visual outcome of our desires, the compounded effect it has on our motivation will have us super charged. Here are some examples of what to put on your board:
- If you want to be a famous author and speaker, create or find an image that person standing on stage giving an awesome speech to an audience.
- If you want to build a successful business, find an image of a pipe line of money flowing to your bank account.
- If you want to become super healthy, then find a picture of a healthy blend of fruits and vegetables.
When you take the time to create a killer vision board, it’s an awesome opportunity for you to infuse your creativity and imagination to make the experience as meaningful to you as possible. The more you can make these imagines unique to you the greater influence it will have on your subconscious mind. For instance, for me my dream car is a black Porches GT2 Turbo. Instead of having just a bland picture of a car, I had a good friend of mine create a picture of the exact car I want, with me inside of it parked right next to my dream house. Every time I look at it, I can’t help but instantly crack a smile on my face.
3. Find A Mentor
I believe one of best ways to get motivated and stay motivated is by having a mentor. You see when you have a mentor it’s their jobs to have a bigger vision for you than you have for yourself. A good mentor will keep you motivated because they will always be pushing you outside of your comfort zone. Here a is cool way to find a mentor:
- Search online for a subject in which you want to improve on. Let’s say you want to be a relationship coach.
- Sign up for an email account separate from your current one so you avoid the massive emails to your personal account.
- Look for some blogs/websites that are relevant to your personal development.
- Find 10 blogs/websites that resonate most with you.
- Sign up to their newsletter, RSS feed and social media links.
- Start really reading and getting acquainted with their content.
- Once you find the one that resonates most with you, reach out and find out if they are willing to mentor you.
- Expect to pay a fee for their knowledge and service. If you found the right mentor, the reward will far outweigh the cost.
The best way to effectively utilize your mentor’s time is understanding and being able to articulate the outcome you are looking to achieve before you meet with them. Then together you will create an action plan for what you want to accomplish. Then you should find a way to meet with them once a week. This way they can hold you accountable to you goals. As each day moves closer to your next meeting you will become increasingly more motivated to take action, for the fear of wasting their time. We are much more inclined to work harder to not disappoint someone else rather than if we’re to disappoint ourselves.
4. Write Down Your Accomplishments
As humans we’ve subconsciously become very good at overlooking our accomplishments and over-exaggerating our shortfalls. This is a common thought that keeps many people from believing in themselves. It’s difficult to be motivated in life without being able to acknowledge how much we have accomplished today. A person who learns to focus their energy on the good thing they’ve already done in life will be much more inspired, than someone who focuses on the things they lack.
The very first thing that I do when I wake up in the morning is to take out my journal and go to the section where I have a list of my accomplishments. I will spend 5 minutes focused on my list from the past, 5 minutes focused on my list in the present and 5 minutes focused on my list in the future. When I start out my day like this I find myself to be more motivated and self-confident because I am acting from a place of certainty rather than a place of doubt. Here is an exercise you can do to jump start your day. Create a journal and write on the top of three different pages: past, present and future.
Make a list of 10 things you’ve accomplished in the past. For example:
- Graduated from high school
- Ran a half marathon
- Paid for your schooling
Make a list of 10 things you accomplished in the present. For example:
- Bought your first house home
- Started your own business
- Have well mannered kids
Make a list of 10 things that you will accomplish in the future. For example:
- Retire debt free
- Learn a new language
- Travel 4 times a year
I’ve done this plenty of times, so I understand that sometimes we can find ourselves drawing blank in our mind, when reflecting on things we’ve done. Don’t let that discourage you. They don’t have to be major rock star accomplishments like winning first place in America Idol. However, they can be a blend of small, medium and large victories. The point of this exercise is to take your mind off of your shortfalls and focus on things you’ve already done well. So no matter what challenge you face, you will already know that you have what it takes to handle it.
If you become hard pressed to identify the things that you have accomplished, keep your journal readily available so when you have an accomplishing thought that pops into your head, you will be able to capture it. Once you reach 10 for each, don’t stop, keep building your list. The more accomplishments you record, the more motivated you will become.
5. Take A Moment to Recharge
When working on projects sometimes you will feel your motivation fading in and out. This is your body's way of telling you it’s time to take a break. There will be times when I would push myself way into the wee hours of the night just to finish writing a blog or article, only to wake up in the morning to witness the disaster I left behind. As a result I would spend double the time combing through and correcting all the mistakes I never would have made, if I would have only allowed myself to get a good night’s sleep. Now instead of trying to push myself harder for no reason, I just break off my work into tasty little chunks. Here is an example of how I do it:
- First I’ll spend a focused block of energy just to outline what I’m going to write about.
- Then I’ll take a break.
- After that I will run through my first draft.
- Then I’ll take another break.
- Next I’ll come back to work on the second draft.
- Then I’ll take one more break
- Following that I’ll come back and seal the deal on the final copy.
This way of approaching my writing has given me the opportunity to take the pressure off of trying to finish everything in one shot. Now I can just focus on finishing one small task at a time. I actually get things done more rapidly because each time I go back, I am totally relaxed and ready to finish the next step. When you are working on a project, work as if you are in a row boat heading for the other side of the lake, the left paddle is your ability to work and the right paddle is your ability to rest. If you try to move the boat with just the left paddle, you’ll find yourself moving around in circles. In order to get your boat moving forward you need a healthy balance of work and rest, in order to quickly get you to where you need to go in a sufficient amount of time.
This article was written by Justin, who writes about self improvement at the Theuncommonlife.net. There you can pick up a copy of his free e-book: Find Your Purpose in 20 Minutes or Less. His goals are to inspire others to unleash their burning desires and to live life on their terms. If you liked this article, you may also enjoy one of his top articles on motivation: What is Motivation and Where Do Find It?
