Seven Helpful Steps for Self-Motivation

We all have dreams, desires, goals, don’t we? I hear people almost everyday tell their dreams of what they would like to have happen in their lives, both personally and professionally.  

However, those dreams will seldom become reality without appropriate action. It’s really a shame to see so many people everyday not living their lives to the fullest, depressed because their dreams and goals seem like they will never come to be. Yet, everyday these same people do the same thing, day after day, year after year. No closer today to doing what will male them happy.

The biggest reason as I see it that this happens is that people lack self-motivation to do much of anything that makes them feel the least bit uncomfortable.

I have a friend who wants to be a success in his business. Not uncommon at all, I see it all the time, but, he is unwilling to do what needs to be done to get things going in the first place. He spends his time spinning his wheels as if he was stuck in red
Georgia mud. The sad part is that he blames the world for his lack of self-motivation.

It’s simply not true that someone else is to blame for your own inaction. I’m reminded of the affirmation: “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me.

No one else can make you take action, sure they can motivate you by words or even their actions but in the end it’s up to you. That’s why it’s called self-motivation.

Actually although self-motivation is the excepted wording, it’s actually self-action that gets the job done.  

Here are seven tips to start your self-motivation: 

1 -Living healthy. Peak self-motivation is only possible when your health is at its all time high if getting sufficient sleep, have the proper vitamin balance, regular exercise and a proper and balanced food and drink intake. These will all go a long way to have a high amount of energy.  

2-Have a realistic plan of action. Having a goal is worthless, if your not going to carry it out, letting the least little thing road block you. If you don’t have a plan that you can handle, chances are you will never get to step one, let alone the end.  3- The 15-minute rule.Often, in order to not get overwhelmed with any one process, limit it to fifth-teen minutes. Actually set a timer for fifth-teen minutes, knowing that when it goes off you have complete freedom to end that task and begin another one. Make it part of your plan to accomplish at least one step that will bring you closer to your dream becoming a reality.  

4- Discover your “peak hours.”Everyone has different peak times. I find often after 10:00 PM is the peak time for me to work on more involved writing projects. First thing in the morning is best for me to get any packages ready to ship out. Ask yourself: Am I a morning, afternoon or night person? Find out the time of the day that you are most energetic. Keep in mind you may have different times for different peak performance involving totally different task, as I do.  5- Stop being a perfectionist. Being a perfectionist is a huge road block for many people. It’s always nice to strive perfection in any action, personal or business; however, it is seldom obtained or even desired in most cases. Sure do the very best, but also know when enough is enough. It’s better to work towards a end then to get hung-up and never have an end to reach. More often then not, good enough is just good enough. 

6- Break down the task into smaller components.

I mentioned this before under the 15 minute rule, but it bears repeating, because I think it is one of the biggest reasons for lack of self-motivation that man has ever placed on himself.

I’m sure you have heard the old axiom; how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! That’s exactly how you become motivated, one bite (step) at a time. Any goal can be chucked down into bite sized bits and that’s exactly how to stay self-motivated with any project and not become overwhelmed by its size.  

7- Give yourself a break.The second biggest problem I see with people, when it comes to self-motivation is that they don’t allow anytime becoming motivated in the first place. A man by the name of Joe Karbo became famous for a little book he published back in the 1970’s. He said in that book that most people are to busy working to make any money. Joe’s statement is so true. Most just don’t plan a little time (see the fifth-teen minute rule again) to actually plan their days. They wake-up and willy-nilly their way through it, with no plan of how it will end or when it will end.  

That’s it, seven sure fire ways to motivate you to self-action. If you need help with self-motivation, overcoming negative imprints, time management and goal planning  I offer various programs for all these and more, just ask rickallen@rickalleninfo.com