How to stay motivated

It isn’t always easy to stay motivated. No matter what you’re doing trying to accomplish. Those that are trying to get fit, motivation can be even harder. Whatever it is that you are trying to get motivated to do, there are a few tips that can help. You can stay motivated to accomplish almost any goal.

Visualize and imagine your goals: When you have the ability to see your goals and imagine what the end result will be, you are more likely to stay motivated. You may feel more motivated by a picture of what you are working towards or need a daily visual reminder of that dream vacation you are saving money for. By keeping a visual picture in your mind and imagining yourself at your end result, you can stay motivated to accomplish any goal.

Reward and treat yourself: Staying motivated can be easier if you take the time to reward and treat yourself when you reach small milestones along the way. If you are trying a new fitness plan, try to reward yourself with a new pair of gym shoes or maybe new workout equipment. Knowing that there is something good along the way to your goal will help keep you excited about achieving your goal and you will stay motivated.

Watch a movie or listen to motivating music: You can get excited and motivated to reach your goals by watching a motivating movie or listening to music that will get you pumped about your goals. Look for movies that will help you see others work hard to reach their own goals. You will come out of the movie feeling ready to get busy and accomplish your goals. Music can also help you stay motivated. If you want to walk more, invest in a good portable music system and listen to upbeat music to keep you moving.

Set small goals and take a break: Whether you are working towards saving money for a new house or trying to eat healthy to lose a few pounds, set small goals for yourself and take a break every once in awhile. By setting small goals, you will not feel too overwhelmed at one time. You can work on each step that will equal to big results in the end. Also, if you do get overwhelmed, take a break. Achieving your goals will not happen overnight. If you feel frustrated, take a day off and rethink your plans.

Find a partner and do it for yourself: You can accomplish anything if you do it because you believe in yourself. If you work on a goal because you believe you can do it, it will be easy for you to stay motivated. While working on your goals, if you do need an extra push, find a partner who can keep you on track. You may have a friend who wants to lose weight or get in shape, too. Work with that person to motivate each other when your own motivation starts to sag.

Prove them wrong and impress others: Everyone is motivated for different reasons, but one way to stay motivated is to remember all the times someone told you that you couldn’t do it. Prove the negative people around you wrong and accomplish your goals to show them you can. While you should never try to live your life for the approval of others, your motivation may improve when you try to impress others. Feel good about what you can do, and others will notice the hard work.

Do it because it is fun and you want to do it: You may want to achieve a goal that you find very difficult. It may help to stay motivated by finding something fun about what you are doing. Achieve your goals because you want to do it and not because others want you to. When you find intrinsic motivation, it will be easier to focus on your goals.

Take advice and help others: Talk to others who have worked hard to accomplish the goals you are working towards. Listen to what they have to say and take their advice. For people who have already been there, they can offer valuable advice and this should help you stay motivated. Also, help others while you are accomplishing your goals. If you know someone else is depending on you, it will be easier for you to stay on track.

Change your routine and do it for your health: This can apply to those who are trying a new fitness routine. Schedule time for workouts and start cooking healthier meals at home. Achieve your goals because it will make you healthier. Anything you can do to make your goals easier to accomplish will help you stay motivated.

Compare and critique: When you compare your goals to others and find what worked or did not work for them, you can stay motivated because you will find what will help you. Look at others around you and see the mistakes they may have made and try to keep yourself in line by not making the same mistakes.

Succeed in Life, take action

Did you ever read a signboard which is usually seen on a corridor or a hallway, that says something like “If you have nothing to do, don’t do it here?” The subtle message here is to avoid loitering.

If you analyze this expression, it does make sense. But if you look at it in a deeper dimension, there is a strong message being delivered here - a message that has relevance to success in life. It is like a wakeup call to the reality of life.

Your conscience is the one telling you to stop wasting your time, to do something with your life, and to do your best to achieve a goal. You have to listen to your conscience’s call because if you don’t, it is nobody’s loss but your own.

You must find out if there are any hindrances that are holding you back from moving forward in life. Is it financial condition? Is it social status, age, color, race, religion, educational background, gender, or a handicap? If you look at history, none of those mentioned above were considered hindrances. The explanation is simple. If you think you’re a failure, then you probably are. If you think you’re a success (even if you’re not yet successful), then the universe will work hard towards bringing you to fulfillment.

So the first thing you have to do is to flip the word “failure.” Look at it on the other side, and spell it out as “success.” Letter “f” becomes “s,” letter “a” becomes “u”, and so on.

Next thing on the list, you have to use your navigational instinct. Know what you want, where you’re headed, and how to get there. Find out what you are aiming for. Don’t run around headless.

If you can’t decide on what you want, here are two simple guides. Guide one is to find out what you love or like to do - something you enjoy doing. This is following your heart’s desire. When you love what you do, you’ll stick to it, no matter what. Your level of perseverance is higher and you won’t give up easily. This will keep you going and you won’t stop at anything until you achieve it. This will ensure success.

Guide two is to find a need and fill it. This principle is attributed to a great instrumentalist and has been the guiding principle of many other industrialists ever since. Look around. Be an observant. Check out what kind of product or service your community needs to enhance life improvement and development. It may take some effort and time to find out what it is or what they are, but it will be worth it. Sometimes when you’re looking for something, it is difficult to find it. Other times when you’re not looking but you’re just maintaining an open mind, ideas can come flowing into your mind effortlessly and spontaneously. Call it timing. There is always a right time for everything.

Once you know what you want to do, you will know where you’re heading. Between the “what” and the “where” is the “how” to get there. And this is the most important part of a successful life. It’s action time.

Try dividing a story or movie feature into three parts (what the story is about, how the story goes, and the ending of the story). The lengthiest part is how the story goes. This is where the action is. The outcome of the story is determined by the action that takes place. All three parts of the story are important. However, the middle portion is more significant than the other two.

Three Simple Ways To Motivate Yourself

Whenever you feel unmotivated, changing your mindset can seem as stretched as store yourself out of a sticky pit of mud. Not only do you feel unmotivated, you feel unmotivated about trying to GET motivated!

Luckily, the mind is very susceptible to persuasion – if you use the right stimulators.

Here are three simple ways to motivate yourself:

Remind yourself why your goal is important.

Sometimes it’s easy to lose your motivation if the end result doesn’t seem as important as it did when you first set the goal. Most of us are fired up with enthusiasm when we first set our goals, but over time that fire begins to die down.

In order to rekindle the flames, revisit your goal in full detail! If you kept notes about what you wanted to achieve, re-read them now. If not, simply take a trip down memory lane. What will your goal do for you? Why was it once important to you? Is it still important to you? Important enough to override the temptation to avoid working on it?

If this activity isn’t sufficient to get you moving again, perhaps it’s time to set some NEW goals that will get your blood pumping again.

Give yourself a push.

Very often, it’s the start that is the most difficult part! Even when you don’t feel like working on something, pushing yourself to get started can often shake off the last vestiges of resistance and put you on the right track again.

I like to play a little trick on myself: when I really don’t feel like working on something, I’ll tell myself that I have to put in at least 15 minutes of time on it. I promise myself that if, after 15 minutes have passed I still don’t want to keep working on it, I can stop. This almost always works for me. Once I get involved in what I’m doing I have no trouble keeping up the momentum.

Whatever you have to do to “trick” yourself into getting started, do it. Once you’re rolling along, you probably won’t want to stop.

Set a compromise.

If all else fails, try bargaining with yourself. Promise yourself that you can spend the rest of the evening watching whatever you want on television if you first work on your goals for an hour or two. Or promise to buy yourself a new outfit if you stick to your workout plan each day this week.

There are two important things to keep in mind with this technique. First, keep your promises realistic. Don’t promise yourself the moon just to try to motivate yourself, because somewhere deep inside you’ll know you are lying to yourself. Second, be sure to honor the promises you make to yourself! If you get into the habit of making promises you don’t keep, your mind will become ever more resistant to compromise.

No matter which method of motivation works best for you, the 3 suggestions above have one thing in common: a decision to take action. You can play all the mind games you want, but if you’re not willing to move out of inertia and get moving, a motivated mind-set won’t help a bit.

Achieve Your Goals Faster By Surrendering To Obstacles

There are few things more maddening than running into obstacles and blockages while you’re working toward your goals! You’ll be moving along nicely, feeling great about the progress you’re making, when all of a sudden – boom; you’re stuck. You’ve encountered an obstacle that you have no idea how to get around.

What you do next will often determine whether you achieve your goals or give up on them forever. Your first impulse will probably be to try to figure out a way to work through the obstacle or sidestep around it – or even force it to move out of your way.

But what if that doesn’t work? Does that mean your goals are toast? No!

Today you’re going to learn another powerful technique for dealing with obstacles: surrender.

You may think that surrendering to obstacles means that you’ll be giving up on your goals, but keep in mind that surrender is not the same thing as defeat.

When you surrender to obstacles, it means that you refuse to waste your energy fighting them. It means that instead of resisting and struggling, you’re going to step back and see the obstacle in a new light.

Here’s how to do it:

1) Step back and gain some emotional distance. When most of us encounter obstacles, we tend to take them personally and draw conclusions about what they mean. We throw our hands up and declare that our goals are finished, we’re finished, and we’ve failed. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Instead of drawing conclusions about the obstacle you’re facing, step back and observe it. Why has it appeared in your life? What lessons can you learn from it? Is it possibly an opportunity to stretch yourself more than you’ve been willing to in the past?

2) Open to your creative inspiration. Just asking those questions can get your creative inspiration flowing like crazy! When you detach from any need to push through the obstacle, you suddenly see that there are many other options available to you. During this time, be sure to jot down any insights and possibilities that may occur to you.

3) Give it time. Even if you see some great possibilities for working through or around the obstacle, don’t take action on them right away. Give it a few days. Keep your distance, and you’ll probably notice that your fear and frustration will begin to dwindle. Before long you’ll feel stronger and more capable about moving forward again, at which time you can put some of your new ideas into motion.

When you enter into this process of surrender, don’t be surprised if the obstacle dissolves spontaneously on its own! It happens frequently, simply because you’ve stopped trying to force things to happen and are instead willing to just go with the flow – which creates space for movement and progress to occur again.