How Do I Get Motivated?

When I talk to people about what I do people always ask me the same question, “How do I motivate myself to…?” It seems that motivation, or lack of it, is one of the core problems that people have with their lives.

They want to know how to motivate themselves to do things that they struggle to motivate themselves to do…

“How do I motivate myself to go to work earlier?”
“How do I motivate myself to study harder?”
“How do I motivate myself to go to the gym?”
“How do I motivate myself to lose weight?”
“How do I motivate myself to earn more money?”
“How do I…?”

The subject matter changes but the question itself always stays the same. Motivation is key to success however you define success but to most people motivation is something intransient, something that they cannot put their hands on, something intangible and most definitely something outside of their control.

“I’m just not motivated” people say. They return home from work or from their football practice and they repeat the mantra, “I just wasn’t motivated today”. They might as well say, “Lightening didn’t strike today, it just didn’t happen.”

For most people, motivation is a lottery. It happens or it doesn’t, you are or you aren’t, you can or you can’t.
Unfortunate! Motivation of this kind is hard to control, hard to harness and hard to leverage. With this kind of motivation, the results that you get in your life are going to be patchy at best. Probably worse.

The second issue with motivation is that many people say that they are motivated when they aren’t. They say that they do not need motivation. They say that motivation is not a problem for them. They say that they are up for it. They tell their boss, their family, their friends and their peer group that they are motivated…

How many people do you know or manage who say that they are motivated  to do their jobs well or to earn big money yet they go home early, they don’t focus and they get distracted easily? They’re so clearly not passionate about what they do. They’re so clearly not motivated in their lives, their pursuits and their activities.

Let’s face the truth; most people aren’t that honest about motivation. Few people admit that they’re not motivated yet most are exactly that; not motivated enough to do the things in their lives that will bring them the successes that they desire.

Knowing how to get and stay motivated is essential if you want to achieve more in your life. Motivation is essential if you want to live an extraordinary life. Motivation is essential if you want more for yourself, your family and your loved ones.

In my next post we’re going to look at the first of many strategies for getting more motivated… the importance of taking stock…

Tagged as: achieve your goals, motivation, personal development, Personal Motivation, personal success