What makes people attempt new endeavors, and push themselves further than they have ever dreamt of going before? We all have certain things which we would like to achieve in our lives – become fitter, obtain a promotion, or complete a challenge, to name a few. What is it though which separates people who actually go out and achieve these targets, and others who continue to dream of them?

Motivation, is it a psychological feature of our make up which entices an inner desire to achieve or overcome fears, or even an electric energy which can be passed from one person to another in a contagious way, or simply just an urge to get “stuff” done? However you want to describe motivation, it is clear though that the world contains people who are more motivated than others, and strive to achieve things others could only dream of. Can anyone simply transform themselves into a highly motivated human being??

Extremely successful people, whether it is in the world of business, sport, or politics are more often than not regarded as highly motivated people, but unfortunately in today’s world, too many people make excuses as to why they cannot do this, or achieve that, or go there. This may be the case on the surface, but if you honestly really want something, and it’s a burning passion of yours, you will find a way, you will develop a higher motivation to do whatever is needed to achieve it.

With a higher motivation for success can sometimes bring the need for sacrifice. If you speak to highly successful people in any field, you will find they have made sacrifices along the way financially, with their time, other desires, or something else they may hold close to themselves.

How can motivation help people to achieve the goals in which they strive for?

Being motivated is a lot easier when everything is going your way and according to plan, but what happens when things start to go wrong, and everything which you are trying to achieve starts to feel like it’s getting further and further away. Will you keep your head down and continue to work, change direction, or just give up? It’s now that you must use these setbacks as motivation for your future successes! This is easier said then done, right! Here are a few tips which just might help.

• You must know exactly what it is you want. If you don’t know what you want, how are you supposed to be motivated to achieve a vague target? What you want must be something you are passionate about, will make sacrifices for, and at the end of the day not be content unless you have given 100% effort trying to obtain it.
• Make a plan on how you’re going to achieve your goal. Having a plan will keep you being proactive, and give you small incremental steps to achieve along the way to your ultimate goal.
• Visualise the future. Imagine you have achieved everything you set out to accomplish. How does this make you feel, what emotions do you have running through your body? Remember these feelings and store them in your mind to use every time you feel unmotivated, or when times are tough and things are not working in your favor.
• Act now, don’t wait until tomorrow, next week, or next year, start today. You know what it is you want, you’ve made a plan on how you’re going to obtain it, and you’ve seen and felt what it will be like once you have accomplished your goals, so go for it now, not later!

Being highly motivated I believe is within everyone, whether you want to run your first 10k race, wash the car, or become the next prime minister of your country. Make sure you know exactly what it is you want, how you are going to achieve this goal, but most importantly, NEVER GIVE UP!

LTTA