Hands up if you think that "getting motivated" is as simple as clicking your fingers or tapping your shoes together? It's not that hard at all is it? You just listen to a motivational speech or read a motivation quote (or read an article like this one!) and you realize that life is short and you need to get out there and have an amazing life! You start taking massive action. You're getting things done. You're working towards your life ambition. You're motivated! But then a week goes by and you realize that life is long and painful and everyone and everything seems to be on a mission to suck the motivation out of you. Sound about right?
Real motivation (as in, you wake up every single day and you feel energized to take massive action towards what you want to achieve) occurs when you have a great desire to achieve something, you fully understand your ultimate destination and you're willing to do whatever it takes to get there. How many of you feel that way every day?
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.
To wake up and feel motivated each day then the tasks you complete each day should be taking you towards your ultimate goals. The outcome is what's important - the task itself is really irrelevant. Isn't it? Getting good grades at school is really about getting into a good college or university or getting a great job that you love and are paid well to do. It's not really about getting good grades. Going to work each day is really about paying your bills or paying off your house or funding trips around the world (or anything else you desire). So stop focusing on the task and instead focus on the outcome.
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?
If you have to complete your Maths homework in order to get a good grade, in order to pass the subject, in order to pass the year, in order to get into College, then just do your Maths homework! Remember, it's not about the task; it's all about your grand ambition. Start by creating an ambition that is meaningful to you and then do what you have to do to achieve it. Now is the time to ask yourself, what is your grand ambition and what are you willing to do to get it?
Real motivation (as in, you wake up every single day and you feel energized to take massive action towards what you want to achieve) occurs when you have a great desire to achieve something, you fully understand your ultimate destination and you're willing to do whatever it takes to get there. How many of you feel that way every day?
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.
To wake up and feel motivated each day then the tasks you complete each day should be taking you towards your ultimate goals. The outcome is what's important - the task itself is really irrelevant. Isn't it? Getting good grades at school is really about getting into a good college or university or getting a great job that you love and are paid well to do. It's not really about getting good grades. Going to work each day is really about paying your bills or paying off your house or funding trips around the world (or anything else you desire). So stop focusing on the task and instead focus on the outcome.
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?
If you have to complete your Maths homework in order to get a good grade, in order to pass the subject, in order to pass the year, in order to get into College, then just do your Maths homework! Remember, it's not about the task; it's all about your grand ambition. Start by creating an ambition that is meaningful to you and then do what you have to do to achieve it. Now is the time to ask yourself, what is your grand ambition and what are you willing to do to get it?
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