This article is a
list of tips and tricks that, if used in combination, are a nearly sure way to
achieve your goals. Achieving goals is not a matter of having “discipline”.
It’s a matter of motivating yourself, and keeping your focus on your goal.
Follow these tips, or any combination of them that works for you, and you
should have the motivation and focus you need.
Here They Are:
1. Chart Your Progress.
Create a chart to track your progress with each of your goals. This chart
is not just for information purposes, it’s to motivate you to keep up with goals.
If you are diligent about checking your chart daily, and marking dots or ‘pass’,
then you will want to make sure you fill it with dots. You can say to yourself;
“I better do this today if I want to mark a dot.” Well, these is a small
motivation, but trust me, it helps. Some people prefer to use training log,
which works just as well. Whichever you choose to do it, just track your
progress, and allow yourself a bit of pride each time you give yourself a good
mark.
You
may have some bad marks on your chart. That’s OK. Don’t let a few bad marks
stop you from continuing. Strive instead to get the good marks next time.
2. Hold Yourself Back.
You must have noticed that when you start with a new exercise or goal, you
always feel eager to continue. You are sometimes full of excitement, and your
enthusiasm knows no boundaries. However, in a matter of minutes or hours, you
begin to understand the fact that you actually have limitations, and my
enthusiasm begins to decrease.
Well, a great motivator that I have
learned is that when you have so much energy at the beginning of a program, and
want to go all out — HOLD BACK. Don’t let yourself do everything you want to
do. Only let yourself do 50-75 percent of what you want to do. By so doing, you
have broken the task into smaller bit that will be easy to complete.
3. Join an online (or
off-line) group to help keep you focused and motivated.
Joining a forum helps you stay on track. Not only will you meet people who are
either going through what you experiencing, you will also meet people who have
already conquered it. They are there for great advice and moral support.
4. Post a picture of your
goal somewhere visible — near your desk or your mirror.
This helps you to visualize your goal exactly how you think it will be when you
have achieved it; it could be financial or physical goals. Find a magazine
photo or an online picture of what you want to acquire and post it somewhere
where you can frequently see it. Put it as your desktop photo, or your home
page. Use the power of your visual sense to keep you focused on your goal.
Because that focus is what will keep you motivated over the long term — once
you lose focus, you lose motivation. This is the only way to keep that
motivation going over a long period of time.
5. Get a workout partner
or goal friend. Staying motivated on your own is
tough. But if you find someone with similar goals (exercise, weight loss,
finances, etc.), see if they will like to partner with you. Or partner with
your spouse, sibling or best friend on whatever goals they’re trying to
achieve. You do not have to collectively go after the same goals. The key point
is; you are both pushing and encouraging each other to succeed.
6. Just get started.
There are days when you don’t feel like doing anything (figuring out your
budget, or whatever it is you are supposed to do that day for your goal). Well,
instead of thinking about how hard it is, and how long it will take, tell
yourself that you just have to start. After that, it all flows naturally.
It is when you act nonchalant
sitting in your house, thinking about starting and feeling tired, that it seems
hard. Once you start, it is never as hard as you thought it would be.
7. Make it a pleasure.
One reason we might put off something that will help us achieve our goal, such
as exercise for example, is because it seems like hard work. Well, this might
be true, but the key is to find a way to make it fun or pleasurable. If your
goal activity becomes a treat, you actually look forward to it. And that’s a
good thing.
8. Give it time, be
patient. Truthfully speaking, this is easier
said than done. But the problem with many of us is that we expect quick
results. When you think about your goals; think long term. If you want to lose
weight, you may see some quick initial losses, but it will take a long time to
lose the rest just like; if you want to start a company, you won’t be able to
do it overnight.
If you don’t see the results you
want soon, don’t give up, give it time. In the meantime, be happy with your
progress so far, and with your ability to stick with your goals. The results
will come if you give it time.
9. Break it into smaller,
mini goals. Sometimes large or long-term goals can
be discouraging. After a couple weeks or days, we begin to lose motivation
because we still have several months or a year or more left to accomplish the
goal. It’s hard to maintain motivation for a single goal for such a long time.
Solution: have smaller goals along
the way.
10. Find inspiration, on a
daily basis. Inspiration is one of the best
motivators, and it can be found everywhere. Every day, seek inspiration, and it
will help sustain motivation over the long term. Sources of inspiration can
include: the Holy Bible, blogs, online success stories, forums, friends and
family, magazines, books, quotes, music, photos, people you meet e.t.c.
11. Get a coach or take a
class. This will motivate you to take action.
This might be an expensive way of motivating yourself, but it works. And if you
do some research, you might find some cheap classes in your area, or you might
know a friend who will provide coaching or counselling for free.
12. What’s your reason?
What’s the motive behind the action? Write them down. Give them some thought. Are
you doing it for your loved ones? This is more powerful than just doing it for
self-interest. Doing it for your self is also good, but you should do it for
something that you really want to happen, for really good reasons.
This can also serve as your
motivation.
13. Become aware of your
urges to quit, and be prepared for them.
There are times we face challenges that bring about the urge to stop. One of
the most powerful things you can do is to start being more conscious of those
urges.
A good exercise is to go through
the day with a little piece of paper and note the issues that bring about this
urge; this simply makes you aware of the urges. Next, have a plan for when
those urges come, plan for it beforehand and write down your plan, because
once those urges surface, you will not feel like coming up with a plan.
14. Keep a daily record of
your goal. Being consistent in record keeping can
be a great motivator. Your record book not only have what you did for the day,
but your thoughts about how it went, how you felt, what mistakes you made and
what you could do to improve.
You must be consistent in record keeping.
15. Create a friendly,
mutually-supportive competition. We are all
competitive in nature, at least a little. Take advantage of this part of our
human nature by using it to fuel your goals. If you have a workout partner or
goal friend, you have got all you need for a friendly competition. See who can
do more push-ups, lose the most weight, lose the most inches on their waist or
get that result first. Make sure the goals are weighted so that the competition
is fairly equal. Also, mutually support each other in your goals.
16. Always think positive.
Monitor your thoughts. Be aware of your self-talk. We all talk to ourselves a
lot, but we are not always aware of these thoughts. Start listening. If you
hear negative thoughts, stop them, push them out, and replace them with
positive thoughts. Positive thinking can be amazingly powerful.
Visitors Corner: So glad you are here, were the tips
helpful? It will be a pleasure to hear your contributions. Don’t leave without
dropping a comment. Enjoy the rest of your day.
