You Can Get Motivated to Reach Your Goals

You are told to think positive. Live as if you already have achieved what you want. Get and stay motivated to reach your goals.

It is said you can get motivated to reach your goals by placing positive affirmations like “I am capable of achieving my goal!” and “I am thin and healthy!” on your bathroom mirror and refrigerator.

There are jobs we do not particularly like to do, yet we find the motivation to finish them because we see the greater purpose. Under the best of circumstances, sustaining motivation can be tough. So how exactly do we get and stay motivated?

There is no secret or magic to motivation. There is no quick fix to make it happen. Still, you can get motivated to reach your goals by using some methods to stay on track and keep your objective foremost in your mind.

There are eight strategies to get and keep you motivated below. They can be useful to accomplish any goal professional or personal.

8 Strategies to Get and Keep You Motivated

1. See the big picture and create a list of the reasons you want to achieve your goal. With a pen and paper, sit down and write out a list of the reasons you want to achieve your goal. Typing is too passive.

Sitting quietly with a pen and paper will help you focus on your purpose and make a mental connection for a commitment to follow through.

Concentrate on the good positive reasons that support your goal. Some reasons to include may be for a material reward, personal, and a feeling of accomplishment.

For a goal that may feel more necessary than exciting, realize completing the task may bring you a step closer to your bigger goal. So a reason might be I will study so I will qualify for the better job. Or, I will not eat so I can fit into my new jeans.

2. Make it manageable and break your goal down into steps. Again with a pen and paper, sit quietly and write down the steps you need to take to accomplish your goal. This is your action plan.

Breaking down your goal into steps will help you avoid feeling overwhelmed and allow you to track your progress. Every task completed will bring you closer to your main goal and will reinforce your motivation to continue.

When asked how Rome would rebuild itself after being destroyed by a devastating fire, the Roman Emperor Hadrian replied: “Brick by brick, my citizens, brick by brick.” Try this when setting out to find a new job or making a lifestyle change.

3. Make it fun and real by visualizing your success in the smallest detail. How do you see yourself once you have reached your goal? How do you feel? Do you hear the applause and compliments from your supporters?

See it, feel it, and hear the sounds that come with your achievement. Top athletes use imagery as mental training. They see themselves running in first place, feel the wind in their hair and the sweat on their face, they hear their breaths and the roar of the crowd when the cross the finish line.

4. Be willing to take a different approach. Giving up is our greatest weakness. If something is not working, be willing to try a different way. Focus on your goal and do not limit yourself by being stuck on just one way to accomplish it. “PUSH stands for, (P)ersistence, (U)ntil, (S)omething, (H)appens!” –Unknown

5. Find the help you need. Do your research. Find the people, information, and tools you need so you can get motivated to reach your goals. Do not assume you know best.

Even experts need help and consult with others. It is easy to overestimate ourselves and our abilities. Be willing to share your intentions with others that may be able to help you. Seek out education and training.

6. Decide in advance how you will handle waning motivation. Most of us set a new goal or start a new project with great enthusiasm and eventually find ourselves stalling like a plane with engine trouble when the hard lack-luster work needs to be done.

The only way to overcome this is through decisive action. Motivation does not just happen at will. If you are exhausted, rest and decide to persevere.

Think of the great people you have heard of or know that have overcome tremendous obstacles. Put your goal in perspective, keep going and soon your engine will be running strong again.

7. Recognize your progress and reward yourself. Some achievements come more quickly than we expect to our great surprise while others take longer than we hope. In our modern world, we are accustomed to fast and even instant results.

We have to be in it for the long haul more often than not to have real success. Being hard on ourselves can become easy and is not helpful to staying motivated. Be sure you are keeping track of your steps and noting accomplishments.

Reward yourself with a respite, a coffee, a choice meal. Tell a friend about your accomplishment. Recognize what you have learned and the progress you have made. Be proud of yourself.

8. Regularly look at your reasons for proceeding. Keep your list of good positive reasons for wanting to achieve your goal in a prominent place so you can easily read it.

Routinely update your list. Remind yourself on a consistent basis why you are working hard to achieve your goal. Consider keeping a journal if you do not already.

Finally, keep perspective. Read and listen to publications by inspiring authors like Tony Robbins tonyrobbins.com and Zig Ziglar ziglar.com. Have faith in yourself and your abilities and stay motivated with decisive action.

Thank you for reading You Can Get Motivated to Reach Your Goals. Do you have a tip for getting and staying motivated? Share it in a comment below!