How To Motivate Yourself -- Motivation 101

Have you ever listened to a motivating speaker, felt motivated to make a change in one or more aspects of your life as a result, but then failed to take action upon leaving the conference room or auditorium? 

Unfortunately, this scenario is all too common.

Read: Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us 

Consider this; every year on January 1st millions of people outline a list of goals they intend to achieve for the New Year. Yet, all too few accomplish their goals. Why is this?

You cannot achieve your goals and dreams unless you get started. Newton's Law of Motion certainly rings true when it comes to motivation; bodies at rest tend to stay at rest. Getting started is often the largest hurdle for most people to overcome. However, once you begin a project, initiate an idea or take action steps, most people stay the course and accomplish their goal.

How do the most successful people get motivated, and remain motivated? The answer is simple -- commitment. Well, at least that's part of the answer.

The other parts of the answer involve going after the right goals or targets, having a realistic game plan, maintaining a connection to the established goals, and simply having fun during the process.


 Does your Goal Pass the Acid Test?

When you consider your goals and dreams, how badly do you want to achieve them? Are you willing to do just about anything to accomplish them? This is the real acid test. Or, are they merely things that you would just like to accomplish? Herein lies the difference between goals and dreams.

If items on your to-do list, would like to have list, or goals and dreams list don't really matter enough to you at the end of the day, you aren't going to be really motivated to press on come hell or high water and accomplish what you need to. So, review your list of goals to see if they pass the acid test. Shorten your list to only those items that pass. Then, commit yourself to working through the process.


 Visualization



There's a reason professional athletes spend a great deal of time before a game, match or event visualizing. They are focusing on not only accomplishing their goal of winning, but on how they will feel as a result. 

Spend time considering what your goals look like? How will you feel the moment that you accomplish them? Who will you celebrate with? And what are the actual benefits or rewards that will accompany this success? 

Visualization allows you to feel connected to your goals. And it can build the confidence needed to take that first step.


 Defining a Realistic Game Plan


Now that you have identified what your 'actual' goals might be and have visualized what it will be like to achieve them, it's time to determine the steps you need and intend to take. Outline specific action steps and completion dates. This is where so many fail. When defining your plan of action, you must consider what you will accomplish and by what date; otherwise, your goal is simply a dream. 

When defining deliverable dates, be realistic. Set milestones that you can actually accomplish. Setting unrealistic goals is a recipe for disaster. In addition to the ultimate completion date, be sure to insert short term milestones to work as check-points.

For example, if one of your goals is to lose 15 pounds this year, you will first want to break this goal down into bite sized chunks (1 lb. at a time). Establish quarterly weigh in points. After each weigh-in, track your progress against your larger goal. Post your progress in an area that you will see daily for additional motivation; your bedroom, bathroom mirror or refrigerator. If you are on track, reward yourself. If you aren't on track, take corrective action.


 Have Fun with Rewards


If one or more of your goals are long-term, it can be challenging to stay focused over the entire time period. Shorter milestone check-points will provide you with realistic targets where you can check-in to see how you are faring against goal. When you are on track, reward yourself.

Rewards don't have to be monumental in order to be effective. They must simply represent something of value or personal enjoyment. Treats if you are on a diet, the purchase of a much coveted item, a massage or a night out are simple examples of potential rewards. Your rewards need to be personal and meaningful to you personally in order to motivate you.


 Be Flexible



If you get off track during your journey, allow yourself the flexibility to modify your plan. Sometimes you need to adjust the goal. Don't beat yourself up -- learn from the experience, make the necessary adjustments, and get back on track.


 Ask for Help


One of the most motivating things can be encouragement from someone you respect, trust, or love. Share your goals with a mentor, family member or friend and ask them to assist you along your journey. Check in with them and give them permission to hold you accountable.

External motivation is often readily available; speakers, a book or a favorite song or tune. Motivating yourself requires focus, dedication and commitment. If you have identified the right goals, formulated a realistic plan and utilize tools along the way, your chances of achieving your goals will be powerfully increased.

5 Ways To Boost Your Self Esteem

While for many, self-esteem issues are a transitional part of growing into an adult and finding a place in the world, scientific research studies show that people with continued low self-esteem are also more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, poor physical health, and even a lower income later on in life. 

Those with long lasting issues of low self-esteem know only too well that it is not something you grow out of, but something that sits in the subconscious mind and continues to effect every part of life for years. How then can we enhance self esteem. 

Here are five ways that you can do just that. 

1. Model Confident People  

Noticing what confident people do, how they speak, the ways they behave, can provide vital clues to finding self-esteem inside yourself. Who is the most confident person you can think of? When you have them firmly in your mind, ask yourself these questions: how do they hold their shoulders? How do they stand? How do they walk? What clothes do they wear? How do they behave when with other people? What sort of things do you imagine they say about themselves? And if they were in your situation, what would they do? 

This questioning goes far beyond "fake it till you make it" - it links us into the answers already inside us. Once you have a list of what that confident person would do, go ahead and model this behaviour. Try it on for a few hours, a day, even a few days. Notice how everything you do, and the events around you, begin to change on their own.  

2. Advertise Yourself 

When you have to convince someone else about your strengths, it can have a fantastic effect on your self-esteem. Sitting down and really thinking about all your skills, gifts and talents is a wonderful reminder of all the good things about being you. Try writing an advertisement selling yourself as the perfect partner, house mate, friend, etc, with a full description of why anyone would be lucky to have you around. Don't be afraid to blow your own trumpet. This isn't an exercise in modesty, but in self-esteem. 

3. Work On Your Resume 

Resumes are all about convincing someone to hire your time and your expertise. Giving your resume a regular update can also give your self-esteem a great boost. Alternatively, update your Facebook profile. Strange as it sounds, there is now research from Cornell University in New York to prove that people who view their Facebook profiles more regularly have better self-esteem. You get to go back and view your clever status updates, your significant dates and events, and photos of good times.  

4. Say Positive Things About Yourself  

Saying positive things about yourself, to yourself or others, is important. What we say about ourselves reveals a lot about our level of self-esteem. When we rehearse only what we do wrong, or don't like about ourselves, our brain builds neural pathways for these conversations, till eventually negative self-talk is practically automatic. 

If you are not used to talking about yourself in a positive way, you will simply have to learn how. Keep practicing, choose a few nice things to say or think about yourself and use them as a mantra every day. It can be something you are proud of about yourself, or positive things you remember others saying about you in the past. 

The more you repeat this, the easier the behaviour will become as your nervous system will build more neural connections to this positive self-talk, and less to the negative self-talk.  

5. Is It You, Or Is It Them? 

The people who surround us, at home, at school, at work, or in social settings, can have a huge impact on our self-esteem. Either they will support us, making us feel better about ourselves, or their negativity will bring us down emotionally. This may not be intentional. Some people just seem to notice what's wrong more than on what's right. 

If you find there are people in your life who make you feel bad about yourself, you need to make a decision. Can you counteract the effect they are having with you? Or do you need to do some prunning? 

Do you really need to be around people who make you feel bad about yourself? Choose to associate with positive people that make you feel alive, happy, and optimistic about life.  

Deciding to spend less time with people isn't about making anyone else 'wrong' or 'bad' -- it has to do with making clear decisions about how you want to feel, and asserting your right to feel good instead of bad.

Use these strategies on a regular basis and you really will boost your self-esteem -- and increase your self-confidence.

Ways To Achieve Success

Everyone wants to achieve success, but sometimes it does not come so easily. Read this article to learn how to be more successful in everything you do. Success can be elusive. People can often see it, feel it yet just when they think they are about to achieve it, it passes them by. 

Disappointment can cause people to lose perspective. They wonder what they might have done wrong. Most people strongly believe that they can achieve what they set out to accomplish, however your vision cannot become a reality by merely dreaming. 

You might have followed all the success rules, read countless books about how to be successful and have visualized yourself as a highly successful individual. It is good to have a clear vision of your ultimate purpose. Even the Holy book says that people perish without a vision. However, you must realize that visualization of your goals and desires is simply not enough. 

Visualize Your Goals

What do you dream to accomplish one day? What are your aspirations for the future? Do you have written goals and comprehensive steps on how to attain each goal? If you could achieve anything in life that you wanted and go wherever you wished to go, what would that be and where would you go? Now take some time and write down your answers to these questions. Be sure to be specific with your answers as that would help you visualize these things as real. 



This exercise is very important so do not cheat. Get a piece of paper or a notebook and write down your answers. You can regard this as your fantasy book to success.


Next, ask yourself: What do I have to do so as to live life the way I want to?


What actions do I need to take so as to accomplish my goals and objectives?

As you ask yourself these questions, focus on goals you can accomplish in the near future, rather than focusing only on distant goals. However do not expect to achieve instant success. There is no magical formula that can make you successful overnight.


There is no simple road to success. You achieve success through goal setting, good motivation and inspiration, hard work and diligently carrying out your plans. You must also believe that you can accomplish your dreams.

The great American Industrialist Henry Ford stated, "If you believe you can, then you really will, and if you believe you cannot, you cannot."

If you truly believe that you can accomplish your life goals, now is the time for you to plan how you will make your success dreams a reality. Do not let the fear of failure to be the barrier that prevents you from achieving success. With faith, you can achieve anything. But sometimes, you may have to take little steps at a time.

However, this requires a lot of planning. You cannot get what you want by wishing for it. Even if you have a clear vision of what you want to achieve, you must have a good plan in order to succeed. 

Goal Setting 

Goal setting is extremely important. You may not like the idea of setting goals, however, to achieve success, you have to write down your goals and set dates in which you would like to accomplish each of them.

Do you visualize yourself as a leader? Well, if you want to lead your own company, dreaming about it will not make it happen. It is important that you write your goals down so they become real. 

To own my own company in the future, I must do what? This is a good way to start. Now picture yourself leading your own firm someday. How do feel about that? 

This is what you want to achieve, your vision, your dream. Now ask yourself, to accomplish my goal, what actions do I need to take today. To own your own business, you will need to write a business plan, acquire business knowledge, obtain financing, decide where your business will be located, register your business name etc. Break down your goals into daily goals, weekly goals and monthly goals. This tactic enables you to accomplish your goal with ease. 

You can certainly achieve all that you desire. 

All you have to do is break down your objectives into manageable chunks and start taking care of things, one day at a time.