“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” — Walt Disney
Everyone has dreams and everyone wants to reach their dreams. More than 90% of the world do not accomplish their dreams. The reason for this is the lack of motivation. Motivation will change you from average to great, great to amazing, amazing to unstoppable. Motivation is the difference between the greats and the ones who are average. Motivation will set you apart in anything you do.
You probably think motivation is simply why you do something. That is a large factor in motivation but why you do something won’t separate you from the rest of the pack. You need to take action to separate yourself. Split motivation in two words, your motives and your action. If you have motives but no action, your dream is still a dream. If you have action but no motives, your dream is still a dream. But when you have motives and action, your dream becomes a reality. Motives are a huge part in reaching your dream because you will hit roadblocks, failures, and obstacles. You are going to want to give up. Your motives, your why will help you overcome those setbacks and will propel you into something greater. Your action is essential because if you don’t start the race you can’t finish the race. If you want to write a book, you need to write page 1. If you want to lose 30 pounds, you need to workout. If you want to run a marathon in under 3 hours, you need to take the first step. This seems obvious, but more people than not don’t have motives nor take the necessary action to reach their dream.
Some leaders and coaches think there are two types of motivation, long term and short term. However, that is wrong. If you motivation is strong enough, there is no such thing as short term motivation. Your motivation has to be what your thinking about all day everyday. Your motives have to something your you are willing to cry for. If you are not willing to cry for your why, your motives/your why are not strong enough. Long lasting motivation comes from having strong motives and a plan to reach your dreams.
Below are the 5 steps you need to take to have long lasting motivation:1.Identify your dream and write it down everywhere possible
In order to have motivation, you need to know what your dream is. With no end goal, there is no motivation. It is important to write your dream down everywhere possible. The more you look at what your dream is, the more it becomes visible to you. The visible it looks, the more motivation and desire you will have to reach your dream.
2. Find mentors/accountability partners/tell everyone your dream
I don’t care if you have all the motivation in the world. If nobody is with you through your journey, your ups and your downs, to motivate and push you to new limits every single day, your desire will eventually run out. The most accomplished individual’s in the world do not reach their dreams on their own. You need mentors and accountability partners to push you and inspire you to do more and become more. Tell everyone your dream because it will motivate you and push you even more. Zig Ziglar said, “A lot of people have gone farther than they thought they could because someone else thought they could.” Not only will having mentors and accountability partners motivate us but it will also give us the confidence we need to live life to your full potential.
3. Write down why you want it
If you don’t want to reach your dream bad enough, you never will. Write down why you want to reach this dream. Try to make “why you want it” internal instead of external. If your motivation is for money and fame, that motivation will most likely fade into something bad. If your motivation is for Jesus Christ, or your family, or children battling cancer, your motivation will stay consistent and maybe even improve through out your life time. Why you want something is crucial to reaching your full potential.
4. Develop a step by step plan and Take action
No plan, no success. Waking up everyday, going through the motions, and working hard whenever YOU want to will translate to success. Write down a plan every single day on how to get closer and closer to your long term goal/dream. After the plan, you need to take the write action. Remember: You can’t finish the race if you don’t start the race.
5. Law of Reflection
Everyone has heard of the expression, “Experience is the best teacher.” This quote is simply not right. The quote should be, “Analyzed experience is the best teacher.” Just because you make a major mistake one day does not mean you will never make that same mistake again. Let’s say you made that same mistake, but this time you paused, took a moment to reflect, and then analyzed that experience. Then you have learned from your experience and it will allow you to grow past this experience. The ability to learn to pause after an experience and analyze the experience will allow growth to catch up with you. Every day, every month, reflect on your past experience, positive or negative, and analyze it.
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