The key to building ‘Self Motivation’

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scrabble-931988__180One of the questions I get asked on a regular basis is ‘ I just cannot motivate myself, what can I do to get motivated?

Most people get motivated in the beginning.  They start off in the excited phase of the failure cycle. They have made up their mind to accomplish whatever it is they want to achieve and nothing is going to stop them.  Then they find themselves two months later avoiding the behavoiur they need to do in order to be successful, they make excuses and then start to blame everything and everyone around them for why its not working out.

Self-motivation is an essential part of excelling at life. You must learn to motivate yourself because you cannot depend on others to do it for you. You have to know how to encourage yourself regardless of how bad the situation.

There are several keys to building self-motivation.

  • Work towards your vision, a cause with pulling power that gets you excited

  • Write down your goals, your vision, and your action plan to succeed

  • Do something every single day towards that cause and see your vision unfold

  • Be consistent, stick to your plans and hold yourself accountable

  • Don’t compare yourself to others, compete with the best version of yourself

  • Make the conscious effort to not give up, challenge yourself daily

  • Don’t live in your past failures or successes

  • Utilise positive thinking and show gratitude for all you have in your life today

  • Monitor your progress and write down your plan for improvement weekly 

  • Be aware of your strengths and skills, know that you are capable of so much more

  • Read books that promote self-motivation

  • Ensure your body is well rested, nutritionally fed and physically excercised daily

  • Find productive ways to manage your emotions and pay attention to your thoughts

  • Take time to be mindful daily while also taking to time to visualise your future 

Andrew Carnegie said it best with his quote “People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.”

I know from experience when you motivate yourself and stretch yourself to extend outside of your comfort zone amazing things can happen.  I have also learned that you must have a passion or a drive for what it is you want to achieve.

I have worked with a client who was trying so hard to motivate herself in one area that it became to great a chore.  Together we realised that she was on the wrong path and trying to make something fit her life that did not fit.  If you want to be successful in an area but absolutely hate every minute of it then let it go.  Concentrate on what you enjoy and love, something that you could do for hours on end and gives you joy and excitement.  I believe we all have been given our gifts for a purpose and it is up to each of us to find that purpose and use these gifts well.

My client paid attention to her gifts and her passion. Once she stopped fighting it she ended up on the right path and has been extremely successful.  Opportunities came her way that she could have never imagined.

I hope you find these keys to self motivation helpful. That they encourage you to excel in life so that one day you can see your vision enfold in front of your eyes.

Cheers

Elaine

How can I discipline myself?

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Eat that frog

Your frog is the task that will have the greatest impact on achieving your goals, and the task that you are most likely to procrastinate starting.  We all have things we know we need to do but put them off consistently.

If the first thing you have to do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long!”

“If you have to eat a live frog, it does not pay to sit and look at it for a very long time!”

The key to reaching high levels of performance and productivity is for you to develop the lifelong habit of tackling your major task first thing each morning. Don’t spend excessive time planning what you will do. You must develop the routine of “eating your frog” before you do anything else and without taking too much time to think about it.

Successful, effective people are those who launch directly into their major tasks and then discipline themselves to work steadily and single-mindedly until those tasks are complete.

Top 6 tips to help you cope!

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Make today the day to organise your life

Make today the day to organise your life

Many times my clients have said this to me when they are on their personal development journey.  They have to discipline themselves and complete their daily action plan as well as do their normal daily activities. There will likely come a time when you feel like you just can’t get your head above water. When this happens, follow these five easy steps to get things back under control.

  1. First, take a deep breath. Make sure that your mind is calm and clear before you begin.
  2. Next, make a list of all the tasks that are outstanding. If there is a due date, mark it beside each item.
  3. Identify the three most important items. Make those a priority for today.
  4. Look at your calendar. Create a plan for the most important items. Transfer these items to your tracking system (Outlook, productivity journal, day timer, etc.).
  5. Start work on the most critical item first.
  6. Tick items off as you have completed them and realise that you can do this one little step at a time.

Like other plans, you will probably need to revisit your to-do items and priorities once you have completed a few tasks. This plan, however, should help you get your head above water and get back on track.