Motivation is often the biggest struggle for people. You can find countless questions of Quora.com and forums around the subject of getting motivated, indeed much of this website is dedicated to the subject.
Get Results: love the journey
The easiest way to get motivated is to make sure the journey is motivation enough for you.
Most people focus solely on the GOAL, and the journey required to reach the goal is relegated to being a “means to an end”, or a “stepping stone” to the goal.
Get Results: love the journey
But the journey is the part of the process that you’ll be engaged in most. It’s made up of the daily tasks and activities that are going to allow you to realise your goal.
You’ve got to pay much more attention to your journey. A goal that involves taking a journey where you struggle to motivate yourself each day is surely not a goal worth the effort, because it becomes a grind, an effort, a struggle, and life is too short to be engaged in such a lifestyle.
On the other hand a journey that you love, that excites you, that you are enthusiastic to engage in, that you are fully immersed in, is what life is really about.
Sure having a goal to aim for, gives you necessary direction, but the journey itself is what truly matters, because this is what’s going to take up much more of your actual time.
Focusing on the quality of the individual tasks and activities, is what dictates the quality of the end result. Like any great recipe, the finished meal is only as good as the quality of the ingredients and the quality of the methods used to produce it. A great chef, loves the process of creating, mixing different flavours to produce something special.
Get Results: love the journey
So love what you do and motivation is not a problem.
This website is a labour of love. I don’t do it for money, I do it because I love the subject matter, I love learning new stuff, I love writing, I love creating graphics and videos.
I love business, I love marketing, I love health and fitness, I love spirituality. I love to learn, and I love to share.
With over 200 posts, I find it so easy to add new content, designed to help people understand the concepts and principles behind getting great results, and I’ll continue to do so, until I don’t enjoy it any longer.
I don’t do it for the result, for the consequences, I do it because I love doing it, day to day, and hopefully you get something from it as well.
Get Results: gary vaynerchuk quotes the game
Gary Vaynerchuk is a big advocate of loving the game of running and building a business, to the degree that he says he’s even wished he would lose it all so that he can go through the process of building it up from scratch again, he so loves it. His primary drive isn’t to earn millions (even though he’s a multi millionaire now), but this has come as a consequence of his true passion, of building businesses; made up of solving problems, selling solutions, building systems, hiring and firing, generating assets, and creating a brand.
So if you can find something you love to do, and figure out how to make a living out of it, you’ve won. Good luck on your journey, and make sure you enjoy it, otherwise what’s the point?
People who have been told to stop smoking for health reasons, still smoke. Research says this is as high as 70%.
People who hate themselves because they are too fat, go eat more chocolate.
People who have never followed through, suddenly do.
Have you ever wondered why some people don’t take action when others do?
Why do people buy educational products and not get results?
How great would it be if everyone who bought them, actually used them, and did something with the information they provided?
I think people buy products to escape that feeling of lack, they buy for the feeling of hope it gives them, even if only for a short time.
What turns a person on, and what pisses them off is RELATIVE. It’s different for everyone.
People that don’t take action are in a DESIRE situation, they have dreams and ambitions, but not in a MUST situation.
People that do take action fear not following through more than taking action. They fear what they will miss out on, or they have a strong enough reason to follow through.
And they get validation when it works. Once they’ve proven it to themselves, they do more of it, often at a higher level. They leverage their results.
Some create rituals to allow them to get another skill to help them be even more productive/capable of earning more, being more and having more.
Breakthroughs come by feeding your mind, and creating a ritual every day, building momentum.
Surround yourself with more successful people, to help change your perspective. Shift your desires, your standards change by being in situations which show you better.
Alternatively, find something your excited about doing.
What would you do if you had a gun to your head? What would you do if you could not fail?
The holy grail between someone taking action or not is CERTAINTY or BELIEF. If you know it will change your life, you will take action.
Non-believers buy the product event though they don’t believe it will work. The product has to prove itself to them first, before they will believe it. They also lower their expectations. But to be a critic, you don’t have to have guts.
GUTS are needed to BELIEVE, but people don’t want to get their hopes up, for fear of disappointment.
Success is about 2 things…
MINDSET – It’s about potential. Practice in your head, so that you believe it, and body will get you through. The belief in their potential is key. You might say “I’m not like Tony Robbins, or Jim Rohn, so you take no action. So what would happen if you were certain you would not fail?
WHAT ACTION YOUR TAKE – will determine the results you get. Each success, builds on the last, via momentum.
So how do you produce certainty when the world is not giving it to you? Get results in your head, before you actually have them in reality. Visualise what your life is going to be like, believe it. Increase your EXPECTATIONS. Condition your mind so that you know you will achieve x.
Studies show MIND affects PERFORMANCE. So VISUALISE, perfect practice makes perfect. Through mentally practicing many times you develop certainty.
We have beliefs we aren’t even aware of. The POTENTIAL is always there, but you must change you feeling of CERTAINTY.
Don’t focused on the action, visualise the results. The action becomes automatic, you’re in flow state.
CONDITION YOUR MIND by making it a RITUAL, create CERTAINTY and BELIEF that you can and will succeed.
So in summary…
DECIDE – enough is enough
VISUALISATION – success
CONDITIONING – develop rituals, and create certainty. keep moving forwards
We would all like to be more successful in one way or another. Success is not just about having a profitable business, or achieving great wealth, but comes in the form of successfully achieving good health, having great relationships and being more fulfilled spiritually.
I’ve listed 10 great secrets for improving your chances of success, there are others and you can find more ideas throughout this website, so check them out at your leisure, there’s lots to read and watch on the site. Also please consider signing up to our newsletter to get content updates and exclusive material, not available on the website.
So let’s get on with it…
Embrace CHANGE and RISK
There are winners and losers in every situation. You can focus on blaming and complaining, or you can look to position yourself to win. Be a predator of chance, rather than a victim of circumstance.
We resist CHANGE because it brings uncertainty and risk, but it also brings opportunity. Changing your mindset, changes your results.
For example during the financial crisis of 2007-2008, which brought down most of the major economies, some financial institutions were quick to identify the problem and take positions to benefit from it, by shorting stocks.
Every crisis opens up opportunities, you just have to be clear minded enough to be able to take advantage, often in the face of fear and imminent disaster.
Change your PERSPECTIVE
Challenge your perceptions, expectations, assumptions and interpretations.
Accepting the possibility of being wrong takes courage, and self-confidence
The aim is to have a more rounded perspective of the world and to be open to alternative ideas, views and methods of doing things.
Stop EXCUSING failure
Procrastination, blaming and complaining are clever psychological tricks aimed at making yourself feel better for not trying, or failing.
For instance procrastination allows you to delay the necessity to take action, you say, “I’ll start my diet tomorrow or at the beginning of next week or I’ll make it a new year resolution”. They are excuses that allow you to remain unchanged.
Blaming and complaining passes responsibility to others so you can feel better and free yourself from guilt, but passing responsibility passes power, the very power you need to make progress.
Fix MISPERCEPTIONS
Be wary of what you choose to believe. Many belief systems are based on little more than assumptions. Assumptions about what we are being told and assumptions about the people who are telling us, assumptions about what is true and what is not.
You might see your Facebook feed taken up by people commenting on social and political issues, and if you’re like me you wonder how many of these opinions are nothing other than unresearched re-parroting of mis-truths.
In his book “Think and grow rich”, Napoleon Hill advises to always ask “How do you know?” when somebody tells you something, and if their answer happens to be anything other than “from first hand experience”, take it with a pinch of salt.
Be COMMITTED
Going all-in, burning bridges, reaching the point of no return. However you want to term it, making sure you are committed means you have to make it work or else…
When you do anything half heartedly, with one foot in and one foot out, things seem to take much more time to reach a successful conclusion, if at all.
Success needs determination and perseverance, particularly when the going gets tough, and commitment means you’re more likely to push on rather than give up and throw in the towel. Road blocks and obstructions will inevitably halt your progress, to test your resolve. If you are to get past them you have to be resolute, or don’t even bother starting.
Set GOALS
Make your goals dynamic rather than static. What I mean by this is, don’t focus on being a millionaire, instead make goals more action oriented such as… helping a million people get out of poverty by using [your solution]. This helps you link your GOAL back to where you are starting out from.
Start by focusing on helping one person then get better and more effective at doing it. The aim from there is to leverage your results to help more and more people. Ask “How can I help one person?” and progress from there.
Once you start on this defined path, progress is easy to measure and you are in a groove from the word go.
Narrow your FOCUS
Have you ever used a magnifying glass to concentrate the sun’s rays and burn grass, insects or even a friend’s hand for a bit of, so called fun? Then you’ll appreciate the power of focused energy.
In the same way the sun’s energy is intensified into a small beam of heat, when you concentrate your energy onto a single thing, the power of that energy, of effort, in this case, is greatly intensified to much greater effect than would be the case if you were covering a wide number of different things.
When you spread yourself thin, your energy dissipates to a large extent. You are bound to get a drop in consequences and outcomes. Focus will maximise the return on energy invested, otherwise known as energy return on investment.
Put in the HARD WORK
If you believe you can be an overnight success, make a website and earn thousands of pounds in passive income, you’re deluded.
There are many sharks hoping to sell you the next money making system for just $49. Forget it, the only person you’re going to make rich is the person selling you the system.
Success takes work, don’t be persuaded otherwise. Knuckle down and do something you love, and “GRAFT AT YOUR CRAFT“. Get into a virtuous cycle of continual improvement based on action and feedback, and learn as you practice.
LEVERAGE resources
The ability to leverage resources is the key to riches. Leverage requires employing a system to grow from one to many.
Think of opening a shop, and then two, three and more. You find a method that can deliver value to customers in one area. When you have it cracked you open in a new area and repeat.. If you drive a taxi for a living, you get a second car, pay someone to drive it for you, pocket any profit, repeat and rinse.
You can personally only work so many hours, there is a ceiling to your earning power. Businesses leverage the power of the many, for a common cause, and the owner makes a killing in the process.
Manage STRESS
The ability to manage thoughts and emotions is often the difference between achieving greatness or failing.
Think of the football player stepping up to take a penalty in a big match, with the world on the edge of their seats watching, half the people wishing for a miss, and the other half completely emotionally invested in a successful outcome. A place in history or abject failure, the consequences couldn’t be more stark.
If you’re not a football fan you might not appreciate this scenario fully, so instead think of a situation where success and failure hang on the outcome of one thing, one action, and try to imagine the pressure that builds, the self-doubt that surge’s through your mind and the impact on physiology. The stomach churns, the legs go weak, the mouth is as dry as a bone, the flight or fight mechanism kicks in.
Managing your thoughts is key to managing your emotions. Gain some perspective: if it’s not truly life and death, don’t build it up to be. Don’t believe your whole future happiness depends on this one break, because it doesn’t. Stop manifesting pressure that doesn’t need to be there. Improve your EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE because it will improve your performance.
BE HONEST with yourself
The ability to look in the mirror and admit your shortcomings, your weakness and know what you would prefer to be doing is all important when crafting a life you love, but it’s not easy.
You have to let go of the image of yourself you HOPE TO BE or would like to see yourself being, and embrace the reality. If you suffer from low self esteem, this can be painful, but it is for the best, because it will allow you to move forward in a more realistic way.
There is no point in fooling yourself and wasting precious time. Bite the bullet, be honest with yourself and start moving down the right path, armed with a strong sense of self awareness.
The building blocks to success can be accessed through the following links, covering MOTIVATION, PRODUCTIVITY and KNOWLEDGE.
Get Results: why do people not take action when others do
Without the motivation to get off your ass and take action, nothing is possible. Taking action is where all progress happens. It is where you will “learn” as well as “do”.
All action and inaction is driven by motivation, which is made up of two opposing forces. One that wants us to be more, to have more, to be better. The other wants to keep us safe, psychologically and physically. They fight over everything we set out to do, and each battle can have only one winner. We need to give ourselves more of a reason to act than not, if we are to chase down our goals. We must NEED or WANT enough, so that staying safe is not enough.
After forcing the initial effort needed, habit comes to help us carry it on. Once you learn to master this initiation phase, the world is your playground.
Learn from TAKING ACTION
The feedback you get from doing is where all your education lies. Don’t be scared of testing boundaries, see what works and what doesn’t. Go about your actions with purpose and in a systematic manner so you can keep track of successes and failures.
Overcome fear of failure
If you fear failure, then you have to be prepared to undergo something of a mind shift. Redefine what failure means to you. Failure can only occur if you throw in the towel, if you are using it to navigate the path to your goal, it just becomes part of the process.
Think of it like finding your way out of a maze. Having a reliable map is great, but not always possible, so in the absence of such a map you might have go down a few dead ends and participating in a little trial and error is as effective as anything else, in such situations.
The three groups of people
Now some people are happy to take action, they have found a purpose that they are enthusiastic to pursue. They wake up excited at what lies ahead of them. Motivation is not an issue for these people. Sure, they might be somewhat fearful of the unknown but they find not taking action much more scary. Their fear of inaction outweighs their fear of action, hands down.
The next group of people, find they have their backs to the wall, they have to take action because of necessity. They might be facing financial or social pressures that are threatening to ruin them, or they might have reached the end of their tether, and just can’t take their present situation any longer. If they stay put, they are finished, emotionally, financial or in some other way. Again taking action is far less risky then not, at this point.
The third group of people are the least likely to be motivated to take action. They might have a burning desire to do something, a dream they want to fulfil, but their fear of change, of the unknown, of the possible risk that might, could possibly be waiting for them further down the road, is too great to take a chance. They might not be 100% content with their present situation, they might even be unhappy with it, but it feels safer or more comfortable to maintain the status quo.
So how do you find enough motivation to initiate action. Well first understand that like pushing a car from a standing start, the hardest bit is starting. Once you build up some momentum, a little thing called inertia takes over. Inertia is where the very act of movement helps propel you forward, requiring less and less effort from you. Inertia comes through the habits and rituals that you do daily. They might be small in nature but doing them daily, means you are using less conscious effort, just to take the action, you just do it, cause it’s what you always do.
It gets easier
So knowing that the first day of a new you is going to be the hardest, but give it a couple of weeks, you will have a new routine that kind of, takes care of itself, without you having to force yourself. If you still have to force yourself at that point, maybe it’s not for you. It’s important to have some self awareness of what you like and don’t like and why, check out my piece on self awareness for more information.
Move from indifference to WANT or NEED
Well going back to our groups of people, those that WANT enough to take action, those that NEED to take action, and the third group, these I call INDIFFERENT to taking action. The INDIFFERENT group as highlighted previously, are the least likely to act, because their fear of taking action is stronger than their fear of not taking action. So, if you’re in this group and are wondering how you find enough motivation to move you towards your goal, you have to push your mindset into either the WANT or NEED groups.
One of the best ways to increasing your WANTING, is by setting yourself goals.
Without a goal to aim for, you will lack direction, and it becomes difficult to effectively gauge if you are doing the right thing at any given moment. With a goal, you can develop a plan of action for achieving your goal and feel that you have a sense of purpose in the pursuit of it.
One of the masters of goal setting Zig Ziglar, outlined a seven step process for effective goal setting:
Identify exactly what you want and write them down
Spell out why you want to reach goals
List obstacles to overcome to get there
Identify the people, the groups and the organisation you need to work with in order to get there
Identify what you need to know to reach your goal
Develop a plan of action to reach your goal
Put a date on when you expect to get there
On the other hand, manoeuvring yourself into a NEED state is for sure, a more high risk option, and not one that I would personally recommend. It includes things like leaving a regular day job that you might hate, to build your dream business, so that you have to make it work, or sink. I would prefer to work in the evenings to test the idea and build it to a point where it becomes less of a risk, but taking this all-or-nothing approach remains an option that some choose to take.
Over to you
You should try to find a purpose that pulls you towards it, rather than you having to push yourself to do it. Alternatively you have to cut your options so that you “HAVE to” take action, and give yourself no other choice.
One thing is for certain, if you stay in a state of INDIFFERENCE, you’re unlikely to take the necessary actions to leave your present situation. “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got.”
Now I’ve given you some pointers, the details of how you go about it, are unique to you and your circumstances. Good luck. Please sign up to our mailing list if you want more tailor-made content, and share this article with your friends and family if you found it useful.
For more about motivational influences, check out our Motivation guide.
If you would like to read more articles focused on INITIATING MOMENTUM, click here.
