How to Motivate Yourself

Steps
1. 1 Think through a set of goals that sound like what you want, and try to be specific. The key to most motivation remains setting goals, but you can't just pick any goals. Ads by Google

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Learn about the science behind brainwaves and entrainment. www.BrainwaveCollege.com 2. 2 Make it general. Let's say you want a Corvette specifically, are you really saying you want a new car, or maybe just a car you can stop worrying about? Getting yourself to a reliable car is a goal that is easier to achieve and accomplishes the need you had from the get go. This is not copping out--no one needs a Corvette. 3. 3 Do this with all of the goals you have, do not simply pick ones that sound good like most people pick New Year's resolutions. If the goals you set for yourself make your life easier or more rewarding, they are probably the type you need to focus on. 4. 4 Cut pictures out of the car that you want, or the TV, stereo, golf clubs, whatever you are aiming for, and put them up somewhere you can see them every day. On the fridge door, or on the wall next to the computer. When you look say "That's my car" or "That's my TV". Visualizing these items as yours will help keep you motivated. 5. 5 Anyone who has had serious issues with motivation knows that someone telling you to "stay motivated" is a bit daft, since you weren't in a motivated state to begin with, and as such, is hard to stay in. However anyone can get themselves motivated.

6. 6 Make your goals in the very beginning small. If you write out a long list of things that are really valuable for you to do, and then you mess one up, you're going back to starting at zero and you will likely feel pretty badly. Instead make a list for each day, and at first, only put down maybe 3 or 4 things, a set of activities that might take you 2 or 3 hours. 7. 7 If you can do that, then a week later start adding things in about an hour at a time and build up. It's like doing pushups in the Army, the first day you get there and feel terrible because you can't keep up with the physical training, but you build up to it. Goals and mental attitudes are the same way. You have to make it a series of small steps. Don't set yourself up for failure by reaching too high at first. You can always reach higher the next week. There's no limit here, so pace yourself. 8. 8 Rely upon yourself for the motivation and the drive. Other people do not have and will never have the same vested interest in your success. Motivation and success is a function of habit. You must break your bad habit of procrastination, and replace it with one of good planning. The most successful people in the world aren't always the brightest, or the best looking, but no matter what other talents or gifts they have been blessed with, they have underpinning their self esteem a series of victories over tasks both large and small. This is how you learn anything in school, gain confidence dating, and everything else in life. 9. 9 Don't just think that you're the best, prove it to yourself. Your opinion matters the most in your own motivation, but you know when you're pulling your own leg as to your accomplishments. It's far easier to just start dealing with your responsibilities and knowing, with an incredibly strong epistemic justification (by which I mean, you KNOW this) that you can handle what comes up because you have before, than trying to know you can tackle it because you're all warm and fuzzy inside. Warm and fuzzy accomplishes very little, but neither does beating yourself up. 10. 10 Reward yourself when you complete a part of your task, your mind will recognise this and you will want to do whatever you did to give yourself a treat more. 11. 11

Get back up if you fall. Start again. Start where you are comfortable. Getting back up to try again, no matter how small that task, goal, activity, errand, or whim; If you can complete it, you are already back on your way. Get up, don't look back. Cheers!

How to Motivate Yourself for Success

Just Take Action Its the Cornerstone of Success

by admin on March 2, 2010 To get anything done and to be successful at anything you need to take action. In fact you need to take massive action. One of the most common ways of thinking for many people is to have an idea to do something and then think about it too much, eventually talking themselves out of it.

They will probably have an idea, do some research, get a bit excited, do some more research, discover that what they want to do is quite difficult. Maybe think about it some more and then decide to do it another day or not do it at all because it looks quite difficult. People who are successful dont think like this. They will have an idea, theyll do some research, some due diligence, and then they will take action. Quite often theyll take massive action. Whats massive action? Massive action is just going for it. Taking some action towards your goal or idea is better than no action and taking massive action is better than a little bit of action.

Massive action is committing to your goal, promising yourself that youll achieve something, taking responsibility for your success and doing everything you possibly can to get there. One you commit to reaching your goals you will find yourself so motivated that you wont believe you didnt think like that before. When you have no other option but to be successful you will find that there is actually no other option and by default you will be successful. How can I get motivated to take massive action? You have to set your goal and have a clear goal in mind. That goal has to be something you really want to achieve though. There is absolutely no point setting out on a journey to achieve something if you dont really want it yourself. Some people arent motivated because they are trying to do things that other people want for them, or other people think will be good for them, or that theyve grown up believing will be good for them. Take a step back and think if you really want to do what youve set out to do. If not, then reassess your goals and find one that you really want. Find a goal that gives you a burning desire. You will find that you will then be naturally motivated.. Commit Once you have that goal you really want in your mind then you have to commit. This is often an overlooked step but a vitally important one. If you 100% commit to achieving your goal you will more than likely get there. You almost need to burn all your bridges and dont look back. Your intention is to achieve what you want to, no excuses. Taking action is very motivating. Its like the start of a snowball. As it moves down the hill it picks up pace and more snow. One you take action and massive action you will see your motivation increasing. { 0 comments }

To Get More Motivated, Get More Focused

by admin on March 2, 2010

One of the tricks to getting and staying motivated is to develop and maintain focus. Not everyone knows what they want and until you decide and define what you want, you wont

be motivated to do anything. You have to know what you want You have to know what you want but you dont necessarily have to know exactly how youre going to get there. If you start getting caught up in the hows rather than the actual doing you wont be motivated. Youll see all the problems in front of you and youll feel like theres no point beginning because you cant see a way around all the potential problems that are out there. If you think about this rationally this is crazy thinking. If everyone thought like that about everything no-one would ever get anything done. Focus on the result you want If you focus on the first hurdle that might not even be there anyway youre going to fall and maybe not get back up again. If you focus on your goal, yes, you might still fall at the first hurdle but youll get back up again and keep going because you are so focused on achieving your goal that nothing will get in your way. There is not one successful business person or successful person in any field who hasnt failed or fallen at a hurdle. The reason why they are successful is because they knew what they wanted and the carried on going until they got there.

The successful peoples motivation was having that goal that they wanted so badly, and going for it. Desire to achieve your goal If you have strong desire to achieve your goal then motivation isnt a problem. Strong desire comes from focusing on a goal that you really, truly want. If you do that you will be motivated to do anything, nothing will be able to stand in your way. Its not possible to have an all encompassing burning desire to do lots of different things all at the same time. An all encompassing desire and focus is exactly what it says it is, all encompassing. With this kind of focus and desire you will be motivated beyond belief. One of the keys to being motivated is to not get caught up in the day to day problems and distractions that come with trying to achieve anything worthwhile. The key is to have and hold your focus on what you want, your goal, your target, the thing that you so badly want to achieve and to cultivate this passion. That is the key to motivation.

25 Simple Ways to Motivate Yourself

by Henrik Edberg

Feeling less than motivated all too often? I do. Well, perhaps not too often. But sometimes I just feel really lazy and unmotivated. Want some practical solutions to that universal motivation-problem? Here are 25 of them. Try a handful. Let me know which ones work well for you. Im sure youll find at least one or two that do just that among these suggestions. 1. Make a deal with yourself. Good for overcoming procrastination and getting things done. You can make the deal small or large. You simple tell yourself something like: When Im done with this chapter/these reports I can take a walk in the park and enjoy an ice-cream.

2. Act like it. If you dont feel motivated or enthusiastic then act like it. The strange thing is that within a few minutes you actually start to feel motivated or enthusiastic for real. 3. Ask uplifting questions in the morning. Heres what you do; every morning ask yourself five empowering three-part questions this way: What am I ______ about in my life right now? What about it makes me _______? How does it make me feel? Put in your own value in the blank space. For instance, a couple of my questions are: What am I happy about in my life right now? What am I excited about in my life right now? Its important that you really feel how it makes you feel. When I think about the last part about what makes me happy right now I really feel it. These morning questions are great because the way they are set up makes you recognize things you take for granted and then they really get you to feel those positive feelings. 4. Move the goalposts. Set a large and specific goal. This will motivate you much more than small goals. A big goal has a big effect and can create a lot of motivation. 5. Do something small and create a flow. Just clean your desk. Or pay your bills. Or wash the dishes. You just need to get started. When you have finished that small task youll feel more alert and ready to go do the next thing. You just to get started to get motivated. So if you really dont feel like doing anything, start with something small and work your way out up. 6. Do the toughest task first. This will ease a lot of your day-to-day worries and boost your self-confidence for the rest of the day. Read more about doing the hardest task bright and early right here. 7. Start slow. Instead of jumping into something at full speed start slow. When you do that your mind will not visualize the task as something hard that you have to do fast, fast, fast. If your mind sees such things guess what often happens? Yep, you dont get started. Actually getting started, even if its at a slow pace, is a whole lot better than not getting started at all.

8. Compare yourself with yourself. Not with others. Comparing what you have and your results to what other people have and have accomplished can really kill your motivation. There are always people ahead of you. Most likely quite a bit of people. And a few of them are miles ahead. So focus on you. On your results. And how you can and have improved them. Reviewing your results is important so you see where you have gone wrong in the past to avoid similar missteps further on. But its also important because its a great motivator to see how much you have improved and how far you have come. Often you can be pleasantly surprised when you do such a review. 9. Remember your successes. And let them flow through your mind instead of your failures. Write down your successes. Consider using a journal of some kind since its easy to forget your successes. 10. Act like your heroes. Read about them, watch them, listen to them. Discover what they did that was special and what made them tick. But remember that they are people just like us. So let them inspire you instead of looking up at them admiringly. 11. Remember to have fun. Or create fun in a task. Then youll stay motivated to do and finish it. 12. Get out of your comfort zone. Face your challenges to get a real boost of motivation. If you are holding yourself back have a look at 5 Life-Changing Keys to Overcoming Your Fear and the methods in this article. They can help you get started and take that first scary step outside your comfort zone. 13. Dont fear failure. Instead redefine it as feedback and as a natural part of a successful life. As Michael Jordan said: Ive missed more than 9000 shots in my career. Ive lost almost 300 games. 26 times, Ive been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. Ive failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. Also, try to find the valuable lesson(s) in each of your failures. Ask yourself: What can I learn from this? 14. Do some research on what you are about to do. Then your expectations will be more grounded in reality and you can also get good hints on what difficulties that you might run into along the way. Managing your expectations can lower the

often almost explosive initial enthusiasm. But it can also lessen the lack of motivation that usually follows when most of that enthusiasm has dissipated. When you know what has happened to others in similar situations what path they have walked you can adapt and try their solutions (and personal variations of those) and your own. This makes the worries and challenges easier to handle. Both emotionally since you know at least some of the things that will happen and that others have lived through it before and practically. 15. Figure out why youre doing something. If you dont know or dont have good enough reason to do something then it will be hard to get it done. Do things that you have really strong reasons to do. If you want to do something then figure out a good reason to do it. If you cant find one consider dropping it and doing something that you have a good reason to do instead. 16. Write down your goals and reasons for working towards them. Tape them on your wall, computer or bathroom mirror. Then youll be reminded throughout the day and it becomes easier to stay on track and stay focused. 17. Take The Positivity Challenge! Learn to think more positively most of the time. Learn to let to go of negative threads of thought before they have a chance to take hold of you. You might not be able to be positive all the time no matter what happens. But I think most of us can improve on our positive thinking and the results it can lead us to. Perhaps more than you realize right now. 18. Cut down on TV. Do you watch it too much? Watch less of what they are doing in TV-land and do more of what you want to do in life. 19. Break it down. Break down your task or project into small steps. And just start with focusing on that first small step. When you are done move on to the next and just focus on that one. The small successes will keep your motivation up and keeping your focus away from the big picture stops you from becoming overwhelmed and discouraged. Its amazing how much you can get done if you follow this simple method. 20. Reprogram your information intake. Program out negative and cynical thoughts from the media and society. Reduce your information intake. Then program in positive news and entertainment, more of your own thoughts and useful information such as personal growth tapes and books. Be selective and keep it positive.

21. Make use of your creativity. Take out a piece of paper. Write at the top of the page what area in your life you would like to have more ideas about. Perhaps you want ideas to earn more money or become a healthier person. Then brainstorm until you have written down 20 ideas on that topic. Then try for 10 more. Not all ideas will be good. But some will. And as you make use of your creativity you not only discover useful ideas. You also discover just how creative you can be if you try and how motivating and great that feels. Have a look at 8 Ways to Spark Your Creativity for more ideas on this topic. 22. Find out what makes you happy. Then do that. As much as you want or can. 23. Listen while youre on the move. Build your own small library of motivational/personal development tapes. Listen to them while you are driving, riding the bus or your bike, while you are out running or walking. Take a peek at my recommended personal development products if you are looking for a good place to start. 24. Think outside your box. Dont imagine the future from the box of what you have now. Just because your mind is in box of previous experiences doesnt mean thats the limits of the world. Your possibilities are much larger. Create the future from the now and from nothing rather than your past to experience bigger changes with fewer limitations than you would if you created it from what you can see from your box. 25. Make each day count. We dont have all the time in the world. So focus on today and do the things you really want to do.

8 Great Ways to Motivate Yourself When You Just Don't Feel Like It

Motivation is a tough thing, especially if you're in the midst of some difficult circumstances. If you're at all like me, and things aren't going the way you planned, you might have a tendency to fall into a funk. Instead of conquering the world, you might just want to put on some pajama pants, crack open some Ben and Jerry's, and watch TV. This is a poor solution to your problems. Seriously, sitting around isn't going to solve anything. You'll end up feeling worse about your situation the less you do about it. And, if you keep up with the B & J, you'll end up with a weight problem, too. So, how do you motivate yourself if you're not feeling motivated? I think the feelings are key to understanding the root challenge. You're not always going to feel like doing something. You have to lead your emotions, not let your emotions lead you. Take one or more of these 8 eight concrete steps to inject some purpose into your situation.

1. Let Fear Take Hold Fear is one of the strongest motivators we have. The "fight or flight" response is dependent on feeling fear as its source. So, let fear work for you. If you're genuinely concerned about what's going to happen now that you've lost your job, and you don't know where the money is coming from to pay the rent, you're going to do whatever needs to be done. Issues that seemed to be obstacles before are going to fade to the background.

2. Keep the Finish Line In Sight A lot of folks have a tendency to look at the next step, rather than the big picture. While this technique has its merits, it's important to look up at the finish line occasionally. If you don't, and you're constantly focused on the day-to-day minutiae, you'll eventually wonder why it is that you're doing what you're doing. It's important to remember the payoff, because that's what got you excited in the first place.

3. Make It a Game This one works wonders with little kids! If your goal is to clean up toys before bedtime, you parents know that it's often beneficial to race your kids to see who can pick up the most toys in the shortest amount of time. The same thing works with yourself. If you're training for a marathon, you can continually try to improve on your overall time, or your split times, or whatever. Find ways to measure yourself, and constantly try to set personal bests.

4. Remove All Other Options Hernn Corts landed in Mexico in 1519 in order to secure lands for the Spanish crown. One of his first orders to his men was to burn the ships that they had arrived on. This was to remove any thoughts of retreat from their minds. When things were going poorly, the men didn't have the option of thinking, "well, we can always go home". This is a scary step, but sometimes it's the only one that will work. For a person who wants to work for themselves, even if they have developed a substantial business on the side of their full-time employment, quitting that secure day job is a "burn the ships" moment. There isn't anything to fall back on, and they have to succeed.

5. Tell Someone Else If you have a goal you want to reach, don't keep it to yourself. Be sure to share it with people you respect. Once you've publicly acknowledged it, it becomes harder to give it up. You've made a verbal contract in a sense with people whose opinion you care about. If you were to give up on your dream, you would lose face with them. Most folks don't want this to happen, but

because they're scared of failure, they keep their dream to themselves. However, if you want to succeed, you'll tell as many people as you can.

6. Tell Yourself Daily Make an affirmation to yourself about your goal. For those of you who aren't familiar with the concept of daily affirmations, it goes a little something like this. You write down a sentence or two that specifically details what it is you're going to achieve. You need to make it specific, and you need to keep it short. Then, just before going to bed, first thing when you wake up, and at various set points during the day, you read your affirmation aloud to yourself. This sounds a bit hokey to some, but it serves to keep your mind focused on what it is you're working toward. It keeps your mind on the task at hand, even when there are many other things that are demanding your attention.

7. Recruit a Group In the course of telling people around you about your goal, you may run into a few of them that are excited about what you're doing. They may be so excited that they want to do something like it. If you talk to enough people, you'll find some that have goals just like you. You can take the initiative to lead these folks into a group that supports each other in reaching each of your destinations. By having an accountability group, you put yourself in a situation where you're not only afraid of losing face with the other members, but you also have people available to provide ideas and brainstorm ways to keep going when you get stuck. It's amazing the things that members of an accountability group can accomplish together.

8. Break It Up While I said that you need to keep your eye on the prize back up in step #2, there's nothing wrong with breaking up your big, huge, audacious goal into smaller goals along the way. If your goal is so big that it scares you, or you

worry about not being able to achieve it no matter how hard you try or how many people you tell about it, this may be a good tip for you. Just break it up into chunks. The sub-goals you set for yourself should still be something you can be proud of on their own, but they should also advance you toward the main objective. By taking things in smaller doses, you won't get easily frustrated. So, here are eight tips to keep your motivation up when you just don't feel like it. It's really all about fooling yourself into doing something that you know is good for you (like eating broccoli with cheese, right?). If there's something I missed, or you have a story about how one of these tips worked for you, share it with the rest of us in the comments.

31 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Exercise

80 percent of success is showing up. Woody Allen

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

How do you find motivation to exercise when you just dont feel like getting off your butt? I ask myself this question every now and then, and I have the feeling Im not the only one. A few weeks ago, I wrote 4 Simple Steps to Start the Exercise Habit and the fourth and final step was to add motivation as needed until the habit sticks. This post is to help you with that fourth step. There are a million ways to motivate yourself to exercise, actually, but these are a few that have worked for me. And trust me, Ive had days when Ive struggled with exercise. Most recently, the things that have helped include finding a workout partner (one of the best motivators!), logging my exercise, reading magazines, books and websites, and rewarding myself.

1. How you feel after a workout. I always feel great after a good workout. Its a high. And I let that motivate me the next time: You know how good youre going to feel, Leo! 2. Time for you. While many people make time to take care of others (kids, spouse, other family, co-workers, boss), they dont often make time to take care of themselves. Instead, make your you time a priority, and dont miss that exercise appointment.

3. Calories burned. If you count calories (and its really one of the most effective ways to lose weight), you know that the more you exercise, the more calories you burn and the bigger your calorie deficit. 4. Having fun. Exercise should be fun. If it isnt, try a different kind of activity that you enjoy. As long as youre moving, its good for you. 5. How youre going to look. Imagine a slimmer, fitter you. Now let that visualization drive you. 6. Magazines. It motivates me to read fitness magazines. Not sure why, but it works. 7. Cover models. Sure, theyre genetically freaky, and probably Photoshopped to look perfect. But for some reason, looking at how good a cover model looks helps motivate me to work harder. 8. Blogs. I enjoy reading blogs about people who are into running, or losing weight. It can show the ups and downs they go through, and you can learn from their experiences. 9. Success stories. I find the success stories of others incredibly inspirational. If a fitness website has success stories, Ill almost always read them. 10.Forums. Do the monthly challenge on the Zen Habits forums, or join another forum full of like-minded or like-goaled peopled. Check in daily. It really helps. 11.Rewards. If you exercise for a few days, give yourself a reward! A week? Another reward. Do it often in the beginning. 12.Fitting into new clothes. Wanna look good in a smaller size? Work out! 13.Being attractive. Thats always a good motivator, as Im sure we all know. Edited to correct language. 14.Adrenaline rush. I get a rush when I exercise. Ride that rush to complete the workout. 15.Stress relief. Wound up after a long day at the office? Get out and work off that stress. It makes a world of difference. 16.Time for contemplation. I love, love the quiet time of exercise for thinking about things. Most of this post was written in my head as I exercised. 17.A workout partner. Best thing Ive done. 18.An exercise class. Sign up for a class, perhaps with a friend, and youll be motivated to get there and work out. 19.A coach or trainer. Worth the money, just for the motivation. 20.An exercise log/graph. For some reason, writing it down is extremely important. Really. Do it for a week and youll see what I mean. 21.Your before picture. You often dont realize how far youve come. Take pictures.

22.A 5K race or triathlon. Just sign up for one, and youll be motivated to train. 23.The dread of feeling yuck from not exercising. I hate how I feel after not exercising. So I remind myself of that when I feel tired. 24.Living long enough to see your grandkids and play with them. 25.The scale. Its not motivating to weigh yourself every day, as your weight fluctuates. But if you weigh yourself once a week, youll be motivated to have it keep going down, instead of up. Combine the scale with the measuring tape, and measure your waist. 26.Reaching a goal. Set a goal for weight, or your waist measurement, or a number of days to work out, or a number of miles to run this week. Setting and tracking a goal helps motivate you to complete that goal. Make it easily achievable. 27.Posting it on your blog. Tell people youre going to lose weight or exercise daily, and report to them. Youll make it happen. 28.Motivational quotes. I like to print them out or put them on my computer desktop. 29.Books. I just bought a strength-training book as a reward. It makes me want to hit the weights! 30.Others commenting on how good you look. When someone notices the changes in your body, it feels good. And it makes you want to work out more. 31.An upcoming day at the beach, or a reunion. Nuff said.

14 Easy Ways to Get Insanely Motivated

These simple strategies will keep you energized through the holidays and well into the new year. It's getting toward the end of the year, so with the holidays in sight, I thought it appropriate to give you all a little gift: a column that I guarantee will make you more more successful in the coming year. Here are 14 quick strategies to get and keep yourself motivated:

1. Condition your mind. Train yourself to think positive thoughts while avoiding negative thoughts. 2. Condition your body. It takes physical energy to take action. Get your food and exercise budget in place and follow it like a business plan. 3. Avoid negative people. They drain your energy and waste your time, so hanging with them is like shooting yourself in the foot. 4. Seek out the similarly motivated. Their positive energy will rub off on you and you can imitate their success strategies. 5. Have goalsbut remain flexible. No plan should be cast in concrete, lest it become more important than achieving the goal. 6. Act with a higher purpose. Any activity or action that doesnt serve your higher goal is wasted effort--and should be avoided. 7. Take responsibility for your own results. If you blame (or credit) luck, fate or divine intervention, youll always have an excuse. 8. Stretch past your limits on a daily basis. Walking the old, familiar paths is how you grow old. Stretching makes you grow and evolve. 9. Don't wait for perfection; do it now! Perfectionists are the losers in the game of life. Strive for excellence rather than the unachievable. 10. Celebrate your failures. Your most important lessons in life will come from what you don't achieve. Take time to understand where you fell short. 11. Dont take success too seriously. Success can breed tomorrow's failure if you use it as an excuse to become complacent. 12. Avoid weak goals. Goals are the soul of achievement, so never begin them with "I'll try ..." Always start with "I will" or "I must." 13. Treat inaction as the only real failure. If you dont take action, you fail by default and can't even learn from the experience. 14. Think before you speak. Keep silent rather than express something that doesnt serve your purpose.