You may be wondering why you can't "get motivated" or why you don't "feel motivated" but if that sounds like you, you needn't worry. You see, "getting motivated" is really just a myth. Motivation isn't something you can turn on and off like a tap. Sure, you can watch a self-motivation video or read a self-help article like this one and feel full of passion and hope and have great dreams - and then all of a sudden you fall flat on your face. Life has got in the way again!
A true state of motivation occurs when you have a strong craving to achieve something, you can imagine exactly what it is you are trying to achieve, and you are prepared to do anything to make it happen. When in this state you will wake up each day ready to take on the world and make your dreams a reality. That is the real essence of being motivated. But how many of us really feel this way when we get up in the morning?
But let's go back a step or two. In order to find a true state of motivation it's important to understand how and why each step along the way is important. You see, if you understand why a certain task is important to complete, there is a much greater chance you will complete it. For example, if my goal is to learn to speak Indonesian (one of the easiest languages to learn by the way) and I find a CD set that teaches you how to learn Indonesian I am very likely to buy the set and go through the activities. That's simple enough to understand isn't it?
But if the task you have to complete has no benefit to you? How do you feel motivated when what you have to do is completely unrelated to what you are trying to achieve? Well, the reality is that you are likely to revolt against the task or the person asking you to do it. For example, if you want to learn Indonesian you are forced to learn Spanish, you are probably going to be pretty upset! Again, this makes perfect sense. You want to Indonesian, not Spanish. Therefore, there is no motivation to complete the activity.
The real challenge in motivation is just identifying the relevance of the task - because without relevance there is absolutely no motivation to take action. However, just because you can't see the relevance doesn't always mean there is none. Sometimes tasks do have relevance to what we are ultimately trying to achieve but we just can't understand it clearly enough.
The tasks you complete should always help you get closer to your ultimate ambition - and the good news is that most tasks do. What you really need to understand is how they do that. If you want to get a great job that you love and are paid well to do then what do you need to do? Why, get good grades of course! Because good grades equals good college equals good job. Isn't that the line of thinking behind getting good grades? Perhaps you want freedom. You want to lie on a deserted beach somewhere sipping on cocktails. So how do you get that? Well, education equals learn about business equals start a business equals early retirement. But the fact is, you had to get an education in order to find your way to retirement didn't you? You had to complete the tasks required first.
Now is the time to think about your final destination. What do you really want to achieve in your life? If you had to imagine your perfect life, what would it be like? Do you imagine a big house, a big bank balance or a big family? Would you like to travel the world? Would you like to create art all day? Would you like to live in the forest? In doesn't matter what you want because there will still be steps required to get there. So what is your ultimate ambition?
Do what you have to do to get good grades. Do what you have to do to get into a great College or University. Do what you have to do to find a great job you love, or start a business to solve a problem in the world. But whatever you do, don't focus on the task. Focus on the end result. Define your magnificent life goal (something that truly inspires you) and then do what you have to do to make it a reality. If you want something bad enough, you will do whatever it takes. If you're not willing to do whatever it takes, the reality is that you don't truly care if you achieve it and you need to keep looking.
A true state of motivation occurs when you have a strong craving to achieve something, you can imagine exactly what it is you are trying to achieve, and you are prepared to do anything to make it happen. When in this state you will wake up each day ready to take on the world and make your dreams a reality. That is the real essence of being motivated. But how many of us really feel this way when we get up in the morning?
But let's go back a step or two. In order to find a true state of motivation it's important to understand how and why each step along the way is important. You see, if you understand why a certain task is important to complete, there is a much greater chance you will complete it. For example, if my goal is to learn to speak Indonesian (one of the easiest languages to learn by the way) and I find a CD set that teaches you how to learn Indonesian I am very likely to buy the set and go through the activities. That's simple enough to understand isn't it?
But if the task you have to complete has no benefit to you? How do you feel motivated when what you have to do is completely unrelated to what you are trying to achieve? Well, the reality is that you are likely to revolt against the task or the person asking you to do it. For example, if you want to learn Indonesian you are forced to learn Spanish, you are probably going to be pretty upset! Again, this makes perfect sense. You want to Indonesian, not Spanish. Therefore, there is no motivation to complete the activity.
The real challenge in motivation is just identifying the relevance of the task - because without relevance there is absolutely no motivation to take action. However, just because you can't see the relevance doesn't always mean there is none. Sometimes tasks do have relevance to what we are ultimately trying to achieve but we just can't understand it clearly enough.
The tasks you complete should always help you get closer to your ultimate ambition - and the good news is that most tasks do. What you really need to understand is how they do that. If you want to get a great job that you love and are paid well to do then what do you need to do? Why, get good grades of course! Because good grades equals good college equals good job. Isn't that the line of thinking behind getting good grades? Perhaps you want freedom. You want to lie on a deserted beach somewhere sipping on cocktails. So how do you get that? Well, education equals learn about business equals start a business equals early retirement. But the fact is, you had to get an education in order to find your way to retirement didn't you? You had to complete the tasks required first.
Now is the time to think about your final destination. What do you really want to achieve in your life? If you had to imagine your perfect life, what would it be like? Do you imagine a big house, a big bank balance or a big family? Would you like to travel the world? Would you like to create art all day? Would you like to live in the forest? In doesn't matter what you want because there will still be steps required to get there. So what is your ultimate ambition?
Do what you have to do to get good grades. Do what you have to do to get into a great College or University. Do what you have to do to find a great job you love, or start a business to solve a problem in the world. But whatever you do, don't focus on the task. Focus on the end result. Define your magnificent life goal (something that truly inspires you) and then do what you have to do to make it a reality. If you want something bad enough, you will do whatever it takes. If you're not willing to do whatever it takes, the reality is that you don't truly care if you achieve it and you need to keep looking.
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