Everybody at sometime or other desires/requires the ability to motivate themselves. But do you know what motivation is exactly? The dictionary defines motivation this way:
"Motivation: The psychological feature that arouses an organism to action towards a desired goal,
the reason for that action
Substitute "organism" with "you" and you begin to get it. An implication of the definition is that we need to have a reason behind our actions to achieve our goals. Hence the goal needs to be real to you; a dream, a quest, a need to achieve… Even if the goal is broken down and you’re working on a piece that is mundane or monotonous. It doesn’t matter as you know it’s a stepping stone to your ultimate prize.Infact these are the components that require the most motivation these stages of the goal and the dreaded beginning.
Ultimately achieving what you want in life means getting motivated. Inspiration along with perspiration is key ingredients in making you a success.
People at the top of every profession share one quality — they get things done. This ability supersedes intelligence, talent, and connections in determining your financial security and the speed of your advancement.
Despite the simplicity of this concept there is a perpetual shortage of people who excel at getting results. The action habit — the habit of putting ideas into action now — is essential to getting things done and ultimately becoming independent.
It takes courage to take action without instructions from the person in charge. Perhaps that’s why initiative is a rare quality that’s coveted by managers and executives everywhere. Seize the initiative. When you have a good idea, start implementing it without being told. Once people see you’re serious about getting things done they’ll want to join in. The people at the top don’t have anyone telling them what to do. If you want to join them, you should get used to acting independently.
Motivation is, as the word itself suggests, a motive for action. Motivation is, basically, the reasons for what you do. Knowing what to do and how to do it is an important part of leadership, as an executive recruiter I am constantly asked what makes a good leader. The ability to “motivate and be motivated” is definitely one of the top 10 attributes.
You can do the wrong things for the right reasons and the right things for the wrong reasons, but leaders do the right things for the right reasons.
12 ways to stay motivated:
1) Become a dream chaser
Don’t let incessant activity push out dream time. While there are those who only dream and never do—the daydreamers—there are also those leaders who are so pre-occupied with day-to-day tasks that they lose the fuel of dreaming. They don’t aspire high enough, either for themselves or their organizations. What would you really like to see happen in your life and the lives of those around you? True passion and purpose is the foundation for motivation.
2) Personal mission statement
When you’re Value’s “Personal Mission Statement” are clear, decision making is easy. I can’t think of anything as important to the success of a leader as truly knowing what is important to you, what drives you this defines your character and gives credibility to your convictions.
3) Be Creative
One of the biggest misconceptions about creative work is that it can only be done when inspiration strikes. If you wait for inspiration to slap you in the face, your work sessions will be few and far between. Instead of waiting, proactively start your creative motor. If you need to write something, force yourself to sit down and write. Put pen to paper. Brainstorm. Doodle. Get on the computer and start searching. Allow you creative juices to flow. This is where the ideas come from this is where your individualism is forged.
4) Become action orientated
Ideas are important, but they’re only valuable after they’ve been implemented. One average idea that’s been put into action is more valuable than a dozen brilliant ideas that you’re saving for “some other day” or the “right opportunity”. If you have an idea the you really believe in, do something about it. Unless you take action it will never go anywhere. Or like Tony Robbins says; “Take massive determine action”
5) Act Today
Practice doing things rather than thinking about them. Do you want to start exercising? Do you have a great idea to pitch your boss? Do it today. The longer an idea sits in your head without being acted on, the weaker it becomes. After a few days the details gets hazy. After a week it’s forgotten completely. By becoming a doer you’ll get more done and stimulate new ideas in the process.Infact a golden rule is to “do one thing every day that frightens – or challenges you”.
6) Act Today reminder
If you’re waiting to start until conditions are perfect, you probably never will. There will always be something that isn’t quite right. The timing is off, the market is down, or there’s too much competition. In the real world there is no perfect time to start. You have to take action and deal with problems as they arise. The best time to start was last year. The second best time is right now. Prioritize and compartmentalize in accordance with your 80-20 breakdowns.
7) Concentrate on the 20% - reminder ‘3’
Vince Lombardi said that in order to be good at anything you need to be brilliant at the basics. With this in mind look at what you do on a day-to day basis. The 80 – 20 rules tells us that only 20% of what we do is crucial –pertinent- and effective, the 80% is neither here nor there , we can pretend it is in fact we constantly do. To reiterate -We spend 80% of our time working on the 80% and 20% of our time working on the 20%. The new rule should be; spend 80% of your time working on the 20%. It’s common practice for people to socialize and make small talk at the beginning of meetings and the beginning of any task. The same is true for other work activities, how often do you check email or RSS feeds before doing any real work? These distractions will cost you serious time if you don’t bypass them and get down to business immediately. By becoming someone who gets to the point you’ll be more productive and people will look to you as a leader. Good note: “Get from the day not through the day”
8) Find a Mentor
Learn from leaders you admire. Don’t just read about them—observe them first hand. Find role models worthy of your attention, those who lead in the manner you aspire to lead and those who have impacted others as you desire to influence.
9) Live for now
Focus on what you can do in the present moment. Don’t worry about what you should have done last week or what you might be able to do tomorrow. The only time you can affect is the present. If you speculate too much about the past or the future you won’t get anything done. Tomorrow or next week frequently turns into never
10) Use action to cure fear
“Look into the dark long and hard enough and you will see something ‘Have you ever noticed that the most difficult part of your goal requires you to address your comfort zones - pre-performance anxiety? Here is a fact ‘once you get started the fear disappears”. Action is the best cure for fear. The most difficult time to take action is the very first time. After the ball is rolling, you’ll build confidence and things will keep getting easier. Kill fear by taking action and build on that confidence.
11) Address your comfort zone
The only way to grow your impact is by growing yourself. Growth is always accomplished outside of one’s comfort zone. If you only do what you’ve always done, you’ll never master new skills. Create an infusion of new ideas and chances to develop new skills.
12) Be a Mentor
You’ll know you are making an impact when someone approaches you and asks you to be their mentor. You could initiate the process, but similar to the saying, “When the student is ready the teacher will come” is the idea that when you are ready to mentor the mentee will show up.
One of the best ways to internalize what you know is to share it with others. Being able to build into the life of an aspiring leader is not only a way to help in the growth of another, but a revitalizing way to stay motivated.
" Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them- you will find that they havent half the strenght you think they have"
Stay motivated my friends
Tony Christodoulou
