Increase your motivation

3 May

Goals give you motivationMost clients, prospects and random entrepreneurs, I meet have a long list of items they’d like to accomplish. Unfortunately, only a few actually accomplish them. I wanted to identify what could be the common factor for those that do achieve their dreams and those business owners that seem stuck in the mud. What I found was pretty basic. Successful business owner have clearly defined goals that spark and continue to fan their motivation.

If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, but are finding it difficult, it’s time to increase your motivation.

The first step is to identify what de-motivates you and then tackle these areas head on. Create a table, like the one below and take 15 minutes to reflect on things that steal your motivation. List these under the column, De-motivators.

Identify Your De-Motivators

Now determine if these de-motivators are occasional (unexpected visit from family; or being under the weather), or are they habitual (leaving tasks unfinished; or saying yes to everything). Mark the cause, circumstantial or habitual, in your table.

Next comes the solution column. If circumstantial factors bother you, then get a grip on exactly what is it that “switches you off” and try to nip that de-motivator in the bud. If you can’t kill it immediately, at least list the solution.

If you find that the de-motivator is a recurring habit, you have to acknowledge it as a serious problem, which may undermine all the good work you want to accomplish. You need to bring motivation and passion to the activity.

Establishing clear motives for the actions you undertake is one of the best ways to create motivation. Remember the old ‘What’s In It For Me’ principle? You can apply it to yourself to create motivation.

Once you have figured out that the effort you make fulfills a need that you have, the effort will automatically become much more worthwhile.

Looking back to the de-motivator lists that you drew up, are there any that you can’t do much about? If so, figure out why you are putting up with these de-motivators. If any of these can’t be justified for making an effort to endure them, then you need discover ways to simply eliminate these de-motivators.

Find your passion.

“Nothing great is ever achieved without passion.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Passion is a great motivator. It is what gives the ultimate meaning to your actions. Being fiercely passionate about goals and targets helps give you an edge.

Passion does have to be handled with precision. Identify your passion and then use it with laser sharp focus to achieve your goals.

Step 1 – Define your passion

What “fires you up”?

Answer these three questions:

  1. What would I want my life to be like when I am 60?
  2. What do I want to have accomplished 5 years from now?
  3. What are the three things I would want to do if I only had 6 months to live?

If you come up with multiple answers, focus on the top three answers for each question.

Now narrow that down even further by selecting three that look most important to you, overall. Since these three goals are very important to you, you should naturally be passionate about achieving them.

Step 2 – Harness Passion Energy

Once you have set inspirational goals, work out what you need to do to achieve them.

Identify the key information and training you need to achieve them effectively, and think through the tools you’ll need and the people you’ll need support from on your way.

Entrepreneurs, who first craft a well thought-through plan of achievement, have a much easier time turning their goals into reality. This is because they have identified why they are doing what they love to do  and now are much more ready to tackle the how.

Take your passion, and make it happen… :)

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