As humans we spend much of out time wandering around within the confines of our mind. Sometimes this often mindless wandering brings us to thoughts of dreams or ambitions that we have locked deep inside of ourselves. Rather than go for it; we allow a feeling of responsibility to be our excuse for not getting motivated to achieve our goals. Even worse, people tend to set high goals with the fullest desire and intention to reach them but have a difficult time getting motivated to even start and as quickly as the idea came in it too gets filed away with all the other big thoughts we have had throughout our lives.
It can seem that achieving something, anything rather can become tangled in the webs of our ever moving lives. Yet at the same time we spend a lot of time spinning our wheels. The trick to achieving something large or small is getting motivated to do it. Motivation is like any other feeling as it is different for everyone who feels it. Some lucky people are easily motivated by just a dream or thought of something better; while many others find it hard to dredge up the motivation to get out of bed every morning. Fortunately there are some tricks to kicking up your motivational energy into high gear so that even the most slovenly person can finally, yes finally, finish that looming task or truly meet their dreams in life!
Now days we frequently hear about life coaches. Among their many jobs that are supposed to enable fully grown adults to finally grow up is to spark motivation in people. Good news is that you don’t really need a life coach or a psychologist to get motivated. You need a vision, a goal, some excitement and a purpose. The most important factor above all others is the ability to be excited about something again. When boring adults become excited they are urged to move forward. It could be the vision of your dream coming to fruition that causes you such glee, or it could be the fact that finally you are doing something you have always wanted to do. It doesn’t matter why you feel it; just that you do. Being excited about our lives and the millions of opportunities that lie right outside our front door is the first step in getting motivated.
Even if you can’t clearly see the opportunity; you should be able to envision it. Think about all the things your mind can create. Think about all the power beheld by your very own imagination. Just because you are grown doesn’t mean that you have to set aside pretend play. In fact, imagining yourself in exactly the precise spot that you desire to be in will only help you get excited which will help you get motivated. When you decide on a goal – no matter what it is – try to be like a child and imagine it coming true. Allow yourself to experience all the awesome feelings of achievement and bask in the knowing that you can make a difference in your life.
Another helpful tool for getting motivated is to create a vision board. In essence, this is typical of something that you did in high school with your friends. You can cut and paste pictures, magazine articles, inspirational quotes, your own positive thoughts or whatever strikes you onto a canvas. Your vision board should be inclusive of all the things that you see for yourself in the future, all the things you want, all of your desires and culminate into a mini collage of your dream coming to fruition. Frame it if you like and keep it near your work space or on your fridge. The vision board is yours…and you should take ownership of it just as you take ownership of your goal. The point of these actions is to make your dreams real. Even if your dream is as simple as renovating the landscaping in your yard – you need to bring it to life. This will not only get you excited and give you a realistic view of your vision – but it will get you motivated to start working towards your goal. Be creative and allow your imagination to take the lead!
Another great tool to use when getting motivated to act is to take a long hard look at the life you have led. Then look forward 30-40 years and realistically see all the things that you want to add to it. Life is too short for regrets. Most of us, even now, can say for certain that there are things we would have liked to have done differently. We can assess opportunities in our lives where we wished we had acted. In most cases we simply did not have the motivation to do so. Imagine how different your life would be right now; had you adhered to that calling of your inner voice and took the leap of faith to dive head first into the pool of your dreams. This will convince you that there is no more time to waste and you have very little to lose by trying.
Getting motivated is often about believing in ourselves and believing that what we think, feel and dream about becoming are actually feasible. Every good thing in this world was born out of thought first. There is nothing – nothing in this world that didn’t sprout from thought first. The simplest and most complex things had to be thought of before they could be accomplished. From post-it notes to an IPod! Consider how this world would be if everyone was afraid to get excited or hold onto a vision or dream. We would have nothing, not a fork, car, school, home or road. Your thoughts are absolutely just as powerful and have the same ability to transform the world as did any inventor who has ever lived. Perhaps you won’t be inventing an incandescent bulb like Benjamin Franklin; but you will be reinventing your stagnant life into something more. You will be getting motivated to take the steps necessary to make all your dreams large and small become realities. Once they begin coming true you will be infused with the knowing that you can achieve anything you want and you be getting motivated to dream and set even more goals.
The age old phrase “reach for the moon, because even if you miss you will still be among the starts” are truly words to live by. There is no one in this world who couldn’t use a shiny little star to call their own!
