by Laurent Kelly
Introduction
It’s safe to say that motivation is one of the most important parts of achieving success, regardless of what it is you’re working towards. Practically all successful people have achieved their aims through hard work, and putting in that hard work means being motivated. But for many people, getting motivated is a difficult task, and failure to do so can become an obstacle to success. Here are some tips that will hopefully make the process of getting motivated a lot easier.
Start small
This should be the first step for anyone looking to get motivated, but it’s a step that most people overlook, to their cost. It’s not possible to become motivated overnight, and expecting too much at the beginning usually leads to a loss in motivation, rather than a gain. Think about it like this: say you wanted to lose two stone, and you work out a weight-loss plan. Imagine what would happen if your plan involved losing the two stone in only one week – you’d probably give up after a few days.
Instead, when starting out, take small steps; break a larger plan down into smaller, easier-to-achieve parts and, as you continue towards your goal, gradually increase the scale.
Write it down
Setting out your goal on paper can be enormously beneficial. Merely talking about it to others isn’t enough; written down, it becomes a lot more concrete. But you don’t have to just write down your aims; it’s also helpful to write in a personal way about your goal. Write about why you want to achieve a certain objective, and also write about how you’re feeling after a day of working towards it. Because if at any point your motivation drops, you’ll be able to look back over what you’ve written and realise that, chances are, you felt a lot happier after a day of hard work, knowing that you contributed towards achieving your goal.
Picture it
Seeing visual representations of your goal can be enormously helpful. There are a lot of things you can do with this method, depending on what you want to achieve. You could print out pictures of people who have reached similar goals, and put them up around your house: seeing these pictures regularly will remind you that hard work pays off.
But it doesn’t just have to be print-outs. If you spend a lot of time on computers, collect pictures online and set them as your desktop background or screensaver. Nor do the pictures necessarily have to be of people. If your goal is financial, find pictures of things you’d hope to one day own. Another good idea is to print out large-lettered instructions and keep them in places where you’re likely to see them on a daily basis.
Reward yourself
Don’t forget to reward yourself. If you’ve broken up your overall plan into smaller goals, make sure you reward yourself every time you achieve one of these sub-goals. Or, if your goal isn’t structured like this, make sure you set up checkpoints along the way, and treat yourself when a checkpoint is passed. It’s important not to overwork yourself; there must be a pleasurable element, and with steady self-rewards, you’ll always have something to look forward to. Just make sure that the rewards don’t have a negative impact on all the hard work that preceded them.
Conclusion
Now it’s up to you. The above tips don’t guarantee success on their own, but, if you’re willing to put in the hard work, they will surely help you on your way towards achieving your goal. Good luck!
