It’s January 6th as I’m typing this and the talk at the office today centered around how many of my co-workers had already broken their New Year’s resolutions. I personally don’t make resolutions (click here to read why) but I do understand the frustration of setting a goal only to run out of steam before it is realized.
Motivation is a key element when it comes to reaching any goal and yet, despite its critical importance, motivation can be so difficult to understand and even harder to maintain.
People who have learned to master motivation are able to consistently accomplish significant feats such as running marathons, writing books, losing weight, building businesses, getting out of debt etc. In fact, with the right motivation, anyone can accomplish just about anything–but what exactly is motivation and how do we hang on to it when the going gets tough?
For starters, it is important to understand that motivation isn’t the same as setting goals or having self discipline (both of these are important but they aren’t motivation). Motivation is the reason for doing these things. Motivation is what causes one to act towards a specific goal such as losing weight or writing a book. It is what propels us toward our goals and keeps us going when we encounter obstacles. Motivation is what will eventually cause us to achieve our goals.
There are many kinds of motivation including positive and negative, internal and external. Your boss threatening to fire you if you don’t complete a project is negative motivation whereas the promise of a raise if you meet your goal is positive motivation. External motivation comes from physical, monetary or material rewards while internal motivation comes from inner feelings of accomplishment.
While negative motivation can be effective in the short term, the best way to stay motivated over the long haul is to have a positive and exciting reason for accomplishing your goal. Highly successful people have learned the secret of starting out with the proper kind of motivation and then building upon that foundation to sustain momentum when things become challenging.
If you want 2016 to be the year that you finally break through and experience your most FabYOUlous life, implement these 10 strategies of highly motivated people to help you maintain your motivation until your most important goals are realized.
10 Top Secrets of Fab-YOU-lously Motivated People
1.) They really, really want it. This is the most essential factor when it comes to maintaining a high level of motivation. Highly motivated people understand the importance of passion as it applies to goal attainment. They are excited about accomplishing their goals–almost to the point of obsession.
2.) They start small. Sometimes a large goal or long-term goal can be too overwhelming. Highly motivated achievers understand that motivation can be lost if a goal seems too far away or too large to conquer so they start with something small and easy. Rather than setting the intention of writing a book, they set a goal to write one page a day. These small accomplishments add a feeling of achievement which helps to build momentum and keep motivation strong. To learn how to make this strategy work for you, click here.
3.) They work on one goal at a time. Working on too many big goals at a time can sap your energy and dilute your focus. Highly motivated individuals understand that it is more effective to narrow their focus to one important goal rather than scatter their attention among many goals. It is easier to maintain motivation around one important goal that you are passionate about than to attempt too many goals at once.
4.) They print out their goal. Having printed reminders posted in locations that you will see every day will help to keep you excited and focused on your goal. It will also keep your goal at the top of your mind so that when an opportunity to move forward on your goal arises, you will be prepared to seize it.
5.) They commit to their goal publicly. Highly motivated individuals understand that sometimes a little accountability can go a long way in helping to keep a goal on track. Try sharing your most important goal with your family and friends and then make yourself accountable to them by providing regular progress updates. This strategy can be very effective for maintaining motivation but it is vitally important that you only share your goals with people who will be supportive and offer encouragement. Your goals and dreams are too precious to waste on people who will tear them down or criticize your efforts.
6.) They build anticipation around their goal. Motivation is amplified when anticipation is built by setting a starting date for your goal and treating that date as if it were a true kick-off celebration. Write out a plan for reaching the goal so that you are clear on the steps that need to be taken and then launch your work on your set start date with follow up dates every two weeks to check your progress and make any necessary adjustments.
7.) They set priorities and keep their eyes on the prize. People who consistently reach their goals understand the importance of keeping the main things the main things. They don’t allow themselves to be distracted by activities that don’t positively contribute to their overall vision for their life. They conserve their physical, emotional and material resources for those goals that truly are most important. Motivation is difficult to maintain if attention is scattered across too many competing areas.
8.) They are proactive rather than reactive. Highly motivated individuals don’t just drift with the changing tide, they take the wheel and proactively navigate towards their goals. Click here for more valuable information on how to make proactivity a habit in your life.
9.) They remain positive about themselves and their success. Sure–highly motivated people experience setbacks and disappointments just like everyone else. The difference is, they don’t allow these obstacles to derail them in their pursuit of their goals. They maintain their motivation by focusing on the positive progress that they’ve made, the compelling reason for setting the goal in the first place and the reward that they will experience once the goal is met. Additionally, they remain confident in their personal ability to overcome any setbacks and learn from any mistakes made along the way.
10.) They anticipate pitfalls but maintain an attitude of expectancy. By creating a plan, highly motivated people are better able to anticipate any stumbling blocks that may arise on the way to their goal; therefore they are better equipped to troubleshoot solutions. They don’t see failure as a permanent situation but merely something to overcome. They understand that people tend to get what they expect out of life, so they expect to get great things.
By adapting these attributes of highly motivated people into your own life, you too can learn to master your motivation levels and leverage that motivation to help you accomplish your most FabYOUlous goals.
“Never, never, never, never give up”
~Winston Churchill~
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