Is it difficult for you to motivate yourself and stay on track? Are you looking for encouragement and an outside driving force? You are in the right place where you will find your motivation engine J.
You may have huge amount of knowledge about a certain subject, in which you would like to succeed. You may have a dream goal you are aiming to reach. It may seem you have everything in your pocket. However, one small (or maybe actually a pretty big detail) is missing – M-O-T-I-V-A-T-I-O-N.
It is like an ignition system in a car. The car can be perfectly made and have great potential. But without a spark, it stays in place, it doesn’t move in the desired direction.
There are some examples you can choose from for getting that motivation spark inside yourself to shine.
Determine which type of motivation work for you
There are two mane types of motivation:
Motivation TOWARDS something (e.g. beautiful body, more money, new house, hiking Kilimanjaro)
Motivation FROM something (e.g. illness, low income, loneliness).
Close your eyes and imagine the first type in detail, imagine how you feel after fulfilling that dream, then try the same with the second type. Imagine what happen if you didn’t reach your goal. How would you feel then?
Choose the type which works better for you with your particular goals.
Collage
Make a motivating collage and put it somewhere you can regularly see it. Collage can be created using either the first or second type of motivation we discussed above. While most people create a ‘dream’ collage’ it is equally effective to create a ‘nightmare’ collage if that motivates you more.
Contract
Make and sign a contract. Have a friend or someone else you trust sign it as well.
Main points in a contract:
Your name
Goal (e.g. exercise in a gym 3 times a week, go to networking event every week, eat healthy snack every lunch on weekdays)
Timeframe (e.g. 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months)
Proof for every action (e.g. 6 pictures from a gym, 4 receipts from an event)
Time for proof (e.g. every evening, every Saturday till 5 pm)
Penalty – what you will do if you jump off (e.g. give your favourite guitar to your friends for two months). It should be something you actively dislike doing.
Find someone else you are accountable to for doing a better job of staying on track
It may be a friend with the same interest, social group, personal trainer, dietitian and so on. There are many people facing the exact same challenge as you. If you know that somebody cares about you and waits to discuss your progress, it gives you energy for action.
Success Diary
Write down all your steps (yeah, and even very small steps) in Success diary. Sometimes it takes time to see results of all your effort and hard work. Some people become frustrated and stop. Success diary gives you motivation when you feel that change doesn’t happen.
Is it YOUR desire?
All of us are influenced by society, especially in our childhood. Your desires are affected by individual traits and by people around you. It is time to do some cleaning in your inner world if you have a dream but do not have the energy to realize it. It is time to find your “dummy player.” He is very tricky so be watchful. Fortunately, you have a way to catch him by the tail – the exact desire or dream. Think about it. Is it really yours? Or it is a “dummy player” – a pattern, a directive, a need from society, parents, relatives, friend, teacher and so on?
Find the difference here.
Example 1. You dreamt to be a doctor since you were 6 years old. You always played a role of a doctor with your friends, imaging you were in a hospital. When you grew up you decided study medical science and be a doctor. It was tough but your dream gave you an energy.
Example 2. You liked to watch birds and read many books on the subject since childhood. When it was time to choose your profession, at first you were looking for something connected with nature. However, you always heard from your family how impressive and important a doctor career can be. Your parents were so sure that it is crucial for you to have a doctoral degree. So you decided to become a doctor. During your study, you had many difficult times. You didn’t enjoy anatomy and so on. You just didn’t have an energy, you were lazy.
Motivation is an energy which we get for realizing OUR needs and goals. We can’t produce energy for feeding “dummy player”. But we can send him to the bench. So first, is this YOUR desire? And second, when you are set on your goal pick whether you want to move TO or AWAY and pick any of the strategies about spark that motivation spark. Catch you on the other side 🙂
-Elena.
P.S. Here is an example of my success collage, did you make one yet? Let’s go! Post yours in the comments.
