If you’re anything like me then you experience motivation in waves.
One day you’ll feel unstoppable and eager to work, as if success is a
certainty. A few days later your confidence will drop and you’ll start
to drag your feet and feel discouraged, hopeless, or worse —
indifferent.
These ups and downs are a natural part of life, but if you don’t work
to minimize the downs you’ll reach a plateau. If every positive step is
followed by a down slide, the net gain is minimal. The key to reaching
your highest potential is stringing together positive steps and
constantly accelerating forward.
Set Fantastic Longterm Goals
The biggest mistake people make with longterm goals is setting them
too low. If you only set the bar a couple notches above your current
level, you’ll probably get there, but once you do, where do you go next?
Without a bigger dream, it’s easy to reach a summit, stop to check out
the view, and lose momentum. If you have a fantastic longterm goal, than
each milestone will be a nice blip along the way — you can stop for a
moment but there’s no question that the road keeps going up.
Never be afraid to set your longterm goals too high. Maybe you want
to be a millionaire before you reach 30. Maybe you want to write a
bestselling book. These goals might seem impossible but they aren’t.
Thousands of people have accomplished them. They were able to do so
because they believed it was possible.
Once you set your sights high, your mind starts to search for
creative ways to get there. When you plan on being fantastically
successful, you are naturally inclined to think strategically and study
the examples in front of you. This forward thinking mentality will help
you form a longterm vision that trounces the short-sighted.
Go Easy On Yourself
Inevitably there will be failures and set backs that humble and
demoralize you. In these times it’s important to understand that every
failure is a success. Each failure means that you stepped out of hiding
and took a risk — something most people never dare to do. This makes you
brave, the fact you have survived makes you resilient, and if you’ve
learned something, that makes you smarter as well.
It’s important to recognize causes of failure and areas of personal
weakness, but constantly deprecating yourself will only decrease your
motivation. When criticizing yourself, do it gently, the same way to you
would with a subordinate who’s confidence you want to build. Recognize
shortcomings, but dwell on strengths and accomplishments. Even if you’ve
fallen short of a particular goal there is always something you can
build on.
Find Friends Along the Way
For people with ambition who operate in a competitive environment,
the natural reaction is to view competitors with animosity. There will
always be someone who has more than you, who’s making faster progress,
or who’s generating more buzz.
While your competitive fire can help increase motivation in bursts,
over the long-haul, this form of self-centered negative motivation
doesn’t last. For one, it isn’t enjoyable to associate progress with
negativity, and secondly, you’ll cut yourself off from from
collaboration.
In most cases, life is not a zero-sum game.
Another person’s success does nothing to detract from yours and
frequently enhances it. Instead of making rivalries, develop
friendships. Your competitors are usually the people you can relate the
most to. Do what you can to help them. Share advice and recognize good
work.
This type of giving not only inspires others to return the favor,
but it creates an infectious feeling of goodwill around you and your
projects. People are attracted to positive vibes.
t’s also important to find happiness and motivation in the mundane.
Every day I get dozens of emails through this site, some are random
questions or requests for advice, but many are just people saying hello.
I could look at all these emails as “something to deal with” but I do
my best to answer every single one and make a connection in the process.
Enjoying these small personal interactions reminds me of why I started
doing this to begin with.
Create Self-Reinforcing Habits
Another powerful longterm motivator is self-reinforcing habits. The best example that comes to mind is Jerry Seinfeld’s productivity secret. His habit was spending time writing every single day:
Seinfeld said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day. “After a few days you’ll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You’ll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain.”
By making the writing streak a goal, Seinfeld was able to create a
self-reinforcing habit that built towards his dream of becoming a
successful comedian. Each successful day made writing the next day even
easier. By using the streak as a motivator, he was able to taste success
every day and through repetition was able to break down resistance. If
you can do something for long enough it becomes easier to maintain the
habit than break it.
Staying motivated is a constant challenge, but if you dream big,
enjoy yourself along the way, and develop positive self reinforcing
habits, you’ll eventually find yourself at the top of your personal Mt.
Everest.
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