What motivates you? What gets you fired up? What gets your 'juices' flowing? What vision of the future excites you? Being inspired momentarily is easy for many people, but staying motivated long-term can be challenging for some of us. You go through a process of being really motivated in the beginning to being completely unmotivated, which makes it easy for anyone to quit. What happens when you go from being so excited you can't wait to get up in the morning, to being so tired you can't wait to go to bed at night. Somewhere between the starting point and the quitting point, the very thing that was driving you was lost.
Many of us set goals, but only some of us stay motivated long enough to keep going until we reach them. Where does the difference lie? The difference lies in the motivation. The motivation is driven by the ability to stay focused on your dreams and how you will feel when you have successfully achieved the vision you have of your future. How do some people hold onto their motivation, while others find it easier to let it go? Those that hang onto their motivation have found something that drives them and they stay connected to it. What is it? It's the feeling of their goal. When you can put yourself in the moment of your goal achievement and feel what it feels like to be there - you have just experienced one of THE most powerful motivation tools. When you can connect to the feeling, and it's something you really want - then you can hang on to what you have to do in order to achieve it.
Think about how a parent might be driven to do something for their child. Maybe they go back to school so they can get a better paying job so they can provide a better life for them. Why? Because they want their child to feel good when they have the things they want and need. When the child feels good, the parent feels really good too.
The motivation to achieve our goals is driven by one of the deepest emotions - happiness. It is an important commonality among all goal seekers. Whether we want money, freedom, independence or health - it all comes down to the fact that we crave happiness. If we want to achieve a specific goal for someone else the same rule applies. We want to achieve a goal because it provides something for someone else - and again, whether it is money, freedom or some other aspect - it all comes down to the emotion of feeling happy. We want things for other people, because we want them to feel happy. And when they feel happiness, we feel happiness. In some cases, it may be vice versa; we crave to be happy for ourselves first - and that's perfectly OK!
You have dreams and goals, but when was the last time you felt them? Have you ever felt them? You might have the motivation to make more money, but there is any underlying reason below the surface. What is it? Get below the surface and connect with the feeling of what you want and why you want them. The underlying reason will help give you the motivation you need to keep going until you have achieved them.
Here are some exercises to help you connect with the feeling of your dreams and goals.
Start with your Life Intention Statement.
What are your goals? What do they mean to you? For your family? Friends? The rest of the world? If you could do anything in this lifetime what you most like to do? Maybe it's something you've always wanted to do, but didn't think it was possible for you? This is really an open exercise - there are no limits - think about things only you really want. You can phrase them as goals, intentions, life purpose - whatever you would like to call them.
Write all your goals down on paper and detail when you would like to achieve each one (specifically the month, day, and year).
When it's all said and done...
When this life is all said and done, what do you want people to say about you? How do you want to be remembered? Write down some statements you would like people to say about you. And does your Life Intention Statement big enough to accomplish what you want people to say about you? If it doesn't - you need to be thinking even bigger!
Tools for Staying Motivated
Visualization
The biggest key to staying motivated is to connect with the feeling of having already achieved your goal. Put yourself in the moment of living it. Feel the happiness, relief, joy, excitement - whatever good feeling you get from it and just hold on to for a moment. You can do this anywhere (except when you're driving!). All you do is close your eyes and just visualize it; the sounds, the smells, the touch.
For each goal, write down the emotions you imagine experiencing when you have achieved them. In moments when you need motivation, just review the emotions you noted with each goal. Reconnecting with the emotional side of your goals is a powerful way to stay motivated.
Written Goals
Writing your goals down and then reviewing them on a daily basis has a lot of impact. It actually works to focus your subconscious on the task at hand which reduces the amount of "wandering" the mind does when it doesn't have a goal to focus on. This will also aid with manifesting your goals quicker, because the more focused your mind is the more focused your actions will be - whether you consciously realize it or not. Put time on your calendar each day to review what you really want. It only takes a few minutes.
Set up Goal Milestones
It can seem like a lifetime between the time you set your goal and the day you finally achieve it, but it really isn't that long. To help make the gap between the starting point and the achievement point seem shorter, set up milestones where you reward yourself along the way. The reward can really be anything you wish it to be, as long as it's something that makes you feel good.
But be careful that your reward does not compromise your goal. As an example, if your goal is to eliminate $10,000 in debt and you do really well for 3 months and decide to reward yourself with a $3,000 shopping spree; that is not supporting your goals. However, if having a new pair of shoes or a new outfit is the one thing that would make you feel good - then spend $100, not $3,000. Maybe you've improved your eating habits to lose weight. You've been doing great, so you reward yourself with half a pizza and lots of beer. Again, the reward is vital, but it must support your goals. Get the point? It's OK to reward yourself, just don't compromise your goal and counter act the positive changes you've been making.
Whether you want to achieve your goals for you or someone else, you are full of potential and have the power to achieve anything. You can live your dreams and goals, if you just grab hold of them. The motivation will come from connecting with the feeling of why you wanted them in the first place. Stay focused on how achieving your goals will make you feel and you will stay motivated.
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