People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.
Andrew Carnegie
If you want to excel in life, self motivation is essential. You must know how to motivate yourself. You must be able to keep your spirit high no matter how discouraging a situation is. That’s the only way to get the power you need to overcome difficulties. Those who are discouraged in difficult times are certain to lose even before the battle is over.
The question is: how do you motivate yourself? Here are several tips I’ve found to be effective to build self motivation:
1. Have a cause
I can’t think of a more powerful source of motivation than a cause you care about. Such cause can inspire you to give your best even in the face of difficulties. It can make you do the seemingly impossible things.
While other causes could inspire you temporarily, a cause that matters to you can inspire you indefinitely. It’s a spring of motivation that will never dry. Whenever you think that you run out of motivation, you can always come to your cause to get a fresh dose of motivation.
2. Have a dream. A big dream.
Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.
Karen Ravn
Your cause is a powerful source of motivation but it’s still abstract in nature. You need to make it concrete in the form of a dream. Imagine how the world will be in the future. Imagine how people will live and work.
Having a dream is important because it’s difficult to be motivated if you don’t have anything to shoot for. Just think about people who play basketball. Will they be motivated to play if there is no basket to aim at? I don’t think so. They need a goal. You need a goal. That’s what your dream is for.
But just having a dream is insufficient. Your dream must be big enough to inspire you. It must be realistic but challenging. It must stretch your ability beyond your comfort zone.
3. Be hungry
Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way.
Les Brown
To be truly motivated, you need to have hunger and not just desire. Having mere desire won’t take you through difficult times since you don’t want things badly enough. In many cases, hunger makes the difference between the best performers and the mediocre ones.
How can you have hunger? Your cause and your dream play a big role here. If you have a cause you care about and a big dream related to it, you should have the hunger inside of you. If you think that you are losing hunger, all you need to do is to connect again to your cause and dream. Let them inspire you and bring the hunger back.
4. Run your own race
I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself.
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Comparing yourself with others is an effective way to demotivate yourself. Even if you start with enthusiasm, you will soon lose your energy when you compare yourself with others.
Don’t let that happen to you. You have your own race so how other people perform is irrelevant. Comparing yourself with others is like comparing the performance of a swimmer with a runner using the same time standard. They are different so how can you compare one with the other?
The only competitor you have is yourself. The only one you need to beat is you. Have you become the best you can be?
5. Take one more step
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Winston Churchill
When you meet obstacles along the way, there could be the tendency to quit. You may think that it’s too difficult to move on. You may think that your dream is impossible to achieve. But this is where you can see the difference between winners and losers. Though both of them face the same difficulties, there is one thing that makes the winners different: the courage to continue.
In difficult situations, just focus on taking one more step forward. Don’t think about how to complete the race. Don’t think about how many more obstacles are waiting for you. Just focus on taking the next step.
6. Let go of the past
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Believe it or not, one of the best demotivators is your past. Your past can drag you down before you realize it. Your past can give you a heavy burden on your shoulders.
The good news is it’s a burden you don’t have to carry. Take it off your shoulder and leave it. You might make mistakes in the past. You might disappoint others with what you did. But it’s over. It’s already in the past and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Today is a new day and you have the chance to start again. No matter how bad your past might be, you still have a bright future ahead waiting for you. Just don’t let the burden of the past stop you.
***
Apply these tips and motivate yourself. Don’t settle for mediocrity. Let your self motivation take you to excellence.
This article is part of October 2008 theme: Winning Attitude
Photo by bingbing
I lost more or less everyting during this worldwide recession, it was only a small business but I went to the wall.
This only makes me stronger to take those first few steps and climb that mountain again, I have climbed the mountain before and i know the paths that lead up there, it may rain or snow but I keep going until I have reached the top.
I really am optomistic about my future and I will be a success.
Visualise were you want to be and believe in what you are doing, kick some serious ass
mark: i also lost my business, father passed away, mother stroke and now has stomach cancer, my husband ran of with another women, I suffered a horrific automobile accident, in the process of filing bankruptcy, entering my mid life, and now a struggling single mother of an 11 yr old, all of this within the last two years, whew… motivation sometimes it is hard, but I look for words of wisdom to pick me up like these articles, I have always lived by: the best revenge is to achieve victory, I am now seeking revenge hard, like never before, there is of course economic meltdown controlling the circumstance but this meltdown just serves as a challenge to bring out more creative thinking, put my thinking hat and get my victory back. thank you
hello dear,
i am very sad to see your bad situation.please be ready to success.from tomorrow,your life is going to chnage.your all problems will be finish very soon.
manish
its hearing people like u say their trials that make some of us realise we are only just whinning over nothing, hold on dear your strength is amazing
i felt great disappoint for being under such situation having also 11 year old child.i can understand that you are undergoing lot of stressful burdens but you should never forget one thing that life is for those who could struggle and challenge, in the terms of religion to get a human birth is not easy its kind of hardest thing so you should never waste this precious life, ya those bad circumtances had been happened with you but its kind of past and at the same time we cant do anything for that because past is past but future is still to come and that unseen future is depend on how you prepare for that.
Ms. Virginia, I came across this website while looking for something else. First of all you are a true player in this game called life. Email and I will like to help toward your road to success. I am a business owner and by the Grace of God I am able to help people to get back on their feet by offering an opportunity! Be Bless Elise
Sure Mark!!! You will be successful :)
Mark,
I’m glad you have the right attitude. With that kind of attitude, I’m sure you will be successful.
This is a great post. Thanks to those people that bring out their time to help others out like this. I quite helpful to everyone that were fortunate of visiting this. All the tips are very helpful and non should be neglected. Thanks to you all once more.
hi,
this article is exremely good, its a mind oppener for me. expecially at this time whereby i could not think of moving step ahead from where i am and had a scary feeling and trying to be carefull with one position all the time. but this has made me realize that as long as you have a dream and a couse you can make it and that is what i will do from now on.
Motivation is a second form of competition.If you are to be motivated then that should generally come from the requirements of the surrounding situation.Once you are in the tight grip of motivation, it proceeds like the third law of motion.
Even if you have motivation, what is the next step in achieving your goals. Just do it? Just do something?
Complicated and ambitious goals requires complicated and systematic planning. The best plan requires you to be logical and objectives towards your want and desires. If you don’t know how to plan, you are bound to run out of motivation after reading this article.
Even if you have a good plan, the obstacles is your own procrastinating lazy self. Taking one thing one step at a time is not going to solve the problem of procrastination because being a procrastinator is not like flipping on a switch at the back of your head. Procrastinating is a gradual mental conditioning that we have enforced thru our bad habits and toxic intellectual diet.
And if you think that that is the end of your goal completion process; that it’s all smooth sailing, well no. There are lots of other barriers such as hard to overcome as our procrastinating habits.
I think everyone at somepoint what something more that who we we are at this moment. or we want to ahcieve something, and be able to reach our goals and dreams in life. We do all have some sort of “faith in something”. But what we lack is MOTIVATION. if we’re cars, motivation is life the gasoline that will keep us moving in life. This blog is very helpful and made me think asbout alot of things in my life.
Thanks.c:
Self Motivation begins right from the scratch where you get to know what you need in your life and how it can be achieved?
Lot of books are there regarding self motivation and follow the principles Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory. That is really amazing according to my point..
check out some apps related to motivation like Pocket Coach, Pocket Mentor etc.
try this url: http://www.itunes.com/apps/pocketcoach
this is a wonderful post to read.those who r not having self motivation after reading this ,they become confident,more reliable.thank u for giving this in this ebsite.
meaningless platitudes. if i was capable of all that i wouldn’t be reading these articles. what if you don’t have a dream? what if you hold the world in contempt? what if you feel powerless to make changes? what then?
You’re only powerless,if you think you are. To change the world we must start with ourselves. Help someone else or give a word of encouragement. Smile and say hello to a stranger. As long as we have life we have to opportunity to make things better.
wow it really nice.
we must learn to walk before we run excellent article
thx.it really helped.
informative post ‘ if we don’t have purpose and meaning for our life then we will lose our drive in another word self motivation thanks for sharing this
Thank you so much for posting these. Just reading these steps has inspired me to push forward in my business, almost changing my mindset in a way.
Having a cause and a dream seem to be the most motivating things for me personally. I once attended a conference called, A Cause to Live For, A Cause to Die For. Having a mission that calls out the best of who I am and that will most benefit the world around me motivates me beyond belief :)
I like the self-motivation tips mentioned in this article. Thanks the auther for sharing these helpful tips.
Whatever you set your mind to do you will achieve, so long as you pursue your aim passionately enough. The more desire you feel, the greater the result you will achieve.
You have to learn to focus clearly and really see your goal in your mind’s eye and also to feel what it would be like to achieve it.
This is where hypnosis is invaluable. With hypnosis you have access to your subconscious mind, your creative mind, and so you can learn to really see and feel your goal, thereby increasing your desire to succeed.
With hypnosis you can learn to change state and relax and to also focus single-mindedly upon your goal.
i was so down….these words really inspired me a lot….Really life is a gift,,and we got to make full use of with,,,try to be happy always and always keep going…i ‘ll definitely keep going towards my dreams..thanks a lot :)
[...] These are a tips that I found to be quite effective in creating self motivation. For a more in depth description you can read the full article Self Motivation: How to Motivate Yourself from LifeOptimizer: [...]
i’ve read many motivational books and was very helpful in my mindset. thank u for ur information.!
thanks a lot!!!
upon readings these it really inspires
and awakes me.
Godbless
Realy great effort, It helps in many ways…
I was pushed by the idea of “Run your own race”. It is really true based on my experience. I tend to be somebody by comparing myself to others which must not be. The point is “I want to be like them”!. I’ve realized that comparing myself to other people is just like pretending to be someone that leads to as the “empty one”. I am created just as I am. Running in my own race will help me to discover my uniqueness and will teach me on how to surpass great waves of trials.
these words gave me the courage to face difficulties,now i am a lot better than the past.l thank u very much|
i’m a big believer in inspiration!
having a cuase bigger than yourself and having big dreams will provide you with a lot of inspiration to furhter your cause.
motivation usually runs out for a reason and thats uaually because your goal and your values are incongruent, so an internal struggle occurs and your values ALWAYS win out!
food for thought.
matty patterson.
its really inspiring. . . . .i”m intrigue :)
This site really opened my mind and made me realize i need to run my own race and stop tring to join others, and focus on the task at hand instead of the end result.
this is simply great thank you so much
This post is one of the most important I read, about personnal growth. I’ve been reading plenty of book on this topic,but they give a lot of trip and you cannot apply them on a long time.
Here, we have just six essential and practical trips. Those trips are more important thant a little library of personnal growth. At least for me.
All of six steps are very very important. But, the best one and new for me is “RUN YOUR OWN RACE”. Before I visit this blog I was discourraged by thinking about the results of others. Now I’m fresh as daisy, fit as a fiddle to win my own race.
Thanks for author of this post to spend a part of his/her time to others.
Please, read TIPS on the place of TRIPS in my above commentary.
[...] luck with your resolutions! To see more information on the subject, you can check out the sites LifeOptimizer.org and PickTheBrain.com which provided a lot of the information and inspiration for this story. Happy [...]
What docent kill me only makes me stronger. This article applies to everyone even if you don’t realize it.
This is a great post. My sister’s husband had an accident on the night of their wedding and broke his neck. He is now a quadripolegec. It’s been 2 years. In the beginning he had hopes of a regular life, but in the past few months he has really checked out of life. He’s become a social hermit. My sister is also suffering from his lack in motivation for everything. Their marriage is suffering.
I’m worried and sad for my sister. My brother in law is a smart and funny man. He has sooo much to offer this world.
I will be printing out this information for my sister and hopefully she can help him to motivate himself to live his life to the fullest. Thank you.
Y’know, despite everything that’s happened to me within these past few years, I can still put a smile on my face and say “Where there is a dream, there is always hope” and keep moving forward onto my goals and dreams, because no one is going to make them happen but me.
it is so uplifting by hearing some of your tips, but howcome i keep on struggling about my past and its always be a dominant thing that burdens me much! can you please help me?
pimp_slim_yfc@yahoo.com
Kelly
Well, I am 23 years old and a finance professional. I am so loser at my job…cant concentrate neither do I like it. I get abused every time in office and get to hear all crap things from my boss. I hold an MBA, a CFA and other qualifications too. I was passionate about my chosen field and I was a topper in my batch and thats why I forwarded with my chosen field. But barely 1 year into my dream job and I lost interest. I am running into a US$20,000 education loan which I took for my MBA. My family members demands money from me saying that as I am earning I am liable to pay them as a kind of gratitude. I dont know how long will I be able to hold this job.
I went through every financial distress possible during my education and overcame every hurdle….but now I think that is it worth it? I still could not understand how all these happened.!!! I have lost the motivation prowess of myself. Can anybody suggest what should I do???
Hi Sourav,
Probably you can start by analyzing what went wrong? You mentioned that you liked your job earlier. What was it that resulted a decline in your liking towards your job.Since you mentioned that you are a topper in your batch so you have some level of intelligence and sharpness.You just need to do a cause & analysis of the situation.With the education you have you will get a good job,it may not be as per your expecation but important is too choose one in which you can immerse yourself completly. Don’t freak out thinking about future and your loans.Once the cash inflow starts your mind will autmoaticly start doing a 2+2 and within few years you will be good to go.Invlove yourself in the activties you like , but never got chance to do. Try meditation and yoga. Read motivational books. Keep youself in high spirits and believe me it works. You got to trust yourself.
I’m 45 years old and am unemployed. My job was eliminated at the end of February. I’ve never left a job before I had another so I am in unfamiliar and scary territory. However, I just completed an aritcle for my gym about self-motivation and feel empowered to reach my goals both in weight loss and life. I’ve always wanted to write a book so I’m going to use my time off to get it done. I’m still looking for employment but it’s tough in this economy. Not sure if I’ll remain in my hometown or move elsewhere but I’m ready for the challenge.
Hi Virginia.
I like to call you a fighter and after some days i like to call you a winner. I know you going to overcome this with bright colors.
I feel as if im in the middle of the river either get drown or fight to reach the shore.
but i know i will be victorious in this battle.
Absolutely brilliant site. Being made redundant at 60 I thought I was finished. Feeling very sorry for myself. I started self employed but found it difficult to motivate myself. To be honest I still do.Keep thinking about the past and the good job that I had. But it’s gone. In the past! I will read this site every morning before I go to work. Reading this has made me realise I still have a cause and a dream.Brilliant site. Good luck to everyone
I do not agree with any points you mentioned out there! Hunger makes u Crazy! and having dreams always make you in wanting something that you do not have!
Great!
Thanks for this amazing articles.
All this tips is awesome. But still, the key point is do it now. Start to do something -even small thing- right now and always put your self in higher standard.
Very Good !!!
i was going through some passing drak clouds, however this article helped me getting boostup… thanks to all
im a fresh graduate and a newly hired employee… in my first week at work i really had a hardtime in adjusting on my new environment.. i dont have friends yet..people here are very aloof and im afraid i cannot finished my 5months contract because of boredom…and I dont hear any motivating words coming from the people arround me…which for me is very very important……and then one day i surf the internet and I accidentally view this article which i am very thankful of because this site enlightened my mind and motivate me to continue working and dream bigger and it teaches me one thing… If others can’t/don’t motivate you.. then MOTIVATE YOURSELF…. Thank you so much for this wonderful article.!:)
Hi Elle,
Being a fresh graduate can create a lot of pressure , specially when you have to prove yourself to the world. At times like this you should be strong , motivate yourself. If life gives you lemon make lemonade out of it. Forget what other have to say or have to do , be your own guiding light. Clear your mind, get out of thoughts of fear.Just keep one thing in mind its a bad weather and you have to sail through it and when it’s over you will be a strong person. Have faith, trust yourself, have faith in good and go ahead in life fulfill your dreams and aspirations.
Hi elle. I think we r facing the same problem. I’m also fresh grad student and also newly hired on this early June. I never thought that will facing some challenging working environment, not in terms of the task given but in terms of mental challenges. Currently i still under on the job training and it is difficult when my superior or senior seems like not really welcome me there. What i aspect that they must be proffesional but not here. Only my bos understand what i feel cz sometimes i afraid to ask anythng to my superior. This is because, when i asked, she will give me negative reaction and her answer shows like i’m so stupid. However, after i read this article, its really motivate me and rise my energy to do what i can. We should believe in ourself, as my bos said, just do not bother how and what reaction people give to u, in future it will be a valuable knowledge for u.
Yes! Lets just make our everyday productive… i think it is the best motivation for ourselves.. disregard the nonsense things happening around us. Keep on counting the blessings and the good things that we have in our life..Lets accept the fact that we cannot please everyone.. If they keep on saying negative things about us.. well lets keep on showing positive attitude to them. as a fresh graduate and a newly hired employee it is expected that some of our office mates will be observing our performance (as well as challenging us) so always do your best, make your everyday productive and believe in yourself! If you think.. you’re being demotivated.. KEEP ON READING THIS ARTICLE like i do Snow if you think you have the potential.. Show it to the world.. we must learn to unleash our potential..
go Go Go snow and elle! :)Be inpired! be motivated! and be a blessing in our workplace everyday !
Yap. I have read this post. Its nice to motivate oneself in life. I’m a frustrated man. Always need help and thinks i couldn’t do without help others. Thats why i’m loosing my dream. But now i’m interested myself and hope i’ve a goal to gain in life.
Thanks again for the post.
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Really remarkable Mark!!!!
ThanX…!!!
Good posting/blog about self motivation. However I would argue you are leaving out one critical piece-”FAITH” AS a Christian beleiver in the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in my life, it is God and God alone that gives my life purpose and meaning, and gives me the passion and drive to develop the enternal self motivation in carrying out what is important to my in my life, in fulfilling God’s will in my life.
It is faith and faith alone that gives me the inward impetus to do the things that I would rather not do, but I do becuase I want to better myself in the game of life we are all apart.
It is my faith and my faith alone that is the driving force in creating in me, the burning desire and self motivation in attacking and achieving my personal and professional goals in life.
If you can believe it you can achieve it still holds true today, conversely if you don’t believe you WILL, more likely than not you WON’T.
it’s a helpful article, and I think It has helped me to understand the importance of having a dream, I’ve not known that before, if I want to be motivated I should have a big dream, I’ve not used to do that.
Absolutely fantastic! Thank you so much!
i was truly lost ….
got stuck where i was in middle of somethng thats just uselrss….
i want great sense of motivation to get out if this dreamy dreadly life….
hope i get it….