The Six Secrets of Motivation

The truly motivated among us all share a secret, and today I want to share it with you. Motivation lies within choice. Once you make the choice to change, you start the ball rolling.

We are all blessed with the freedom of choice. Even in situations that are out of our control, we have a choice on how to deal with them. What then, does choice have to do with motivation? Everything! Let me walk you through the six secrets that lie within this one short word, so that you too can know the steps to self motivation.

C hoose to make a change. The first step to being motivated is quite simply choosing to make the decision that you need a change. As long as you sit around moping about not being motivated, or complaining about your current situation, nothing will ever change. If you are not happy with the way things are now, or simply want things to be better, it is up to you to make the choice to make a change.

H ave a reason. It is not constantly pushing yourself forward that keeps you going, instead, it is the combination of the push, and, just as importantly, the pull. That pull comes from the reason that drives you forth. If you don’t look for reasons to be motivated, you won’t find them. Remember, whatever you look for, you find. Sit down and write out the changes that you want to see. Make SMART goals, and let them be the reason you move forward.

O vercome negative thinking. It is crucial that you don’t let your negative thoughts or your fears get the better of you, as both of these are motivation killers. Negativity and fear will pull you down. Constantly remind yourself that you DO deserve a change, and that you CAN do it. Believe in yourself, and work hard to maintain your positive attitude.

I nitiate and sustain action. When you have a reason and are ready to face everything with a positive attitude, it is time to take action and continue taking action until it gets done. You need to set aside the time to make things happen. You need to take care of your body and make sure you have enough energy to move yourself forward. So often people stall at this step. It is not enough to want to change, to have a reason to change, or even to believe that you deserve change. Motivation is directly linked to action. Fuel your motivation by committing to the action that will make things happen.

C ompletion. You have probably heard me say this before – we are creatures of completion. In order to sustain our motivation, we must be continually reminding ourselves that we are succeeding. The best way I have found to do this, is to break our overall goals into small steps. If my goal is to lose 20lbs in 3 months, I should break it into portions that are easier to measure. For instance, I could say that exercising 30 minutes a day will help me reach my goal. I could state that I would like to lose 2lbs a week until I reach 20lbs. These are small pieces that are easily measureable and thus will feed our need for completion. Separate your big goals into smaller ones, and then work on completing those instead.

E valuate and celebrate. As you reach those smaller steps, take a moment and evaluate your progress. What have you done well? What could you improve? What do you need to do to keep going? Now, before you continue, stop and celebrate your successes. Not only are we creatures of completion, we also have an innate need to feel good about accomplishing things in our lives. Don’t rely on other people to celebrate for you, or to notice that you are changing. Instead, take time to pat yourself on the back before you move on.

Remember, motivation is a choice. Motivation is not something that is out of your control, in fact, you are the only one who can control your motivation. It’s up to you to make the choice.