Motivation is one of the most important aspects of life and yet it’s easy to overcomplicate like braggers quotes. This is why this article will provide a simple eight-step process that you can use to build a stronger motivation strategy for yourself, regardless of your current situation or goals.
The general purpose of motivation is to help people to achieve their full potential, which means creating the best possible circumstances that they can thrive in. You may have heard of an “achievement motivation”, but it’s a flawed strategy because it doesn’t provide the best possible circumstances for growth, and can even backfire.
To be effective, you need a Motivation Strategy, which is essentially a set of actions that you take every day. For example: every morning before going to work or school you write yourself a note on your calendar reminding yourself why you should strive for success that day.
The 8 steps are:
1) WHO ARE YOU –
Write down who you are and what makes you unique. (i. e. I’m a college student and my name is “John Smith”)
2) WHAT DO YOU WANT –
What’s your main goal, or what do you really want to achieve? Write down exactly what it is. (I want “John Smith” to be the best college student that he can be and to become an expert in his field. Write down what you want out of life, no matter how impossible it may seem. (i.e. I want to be a millionaire by the time I’m 30)
3) WHY DO YOU WANT IT –
Write down why you want what you wrote down in the previous step, and make sure that your answer is convincing enough to motivate yourself every day when you read it. (i.e. I want to be a millionaire because I love helping other people succeed and making them happy, and for me that’s the best feeling in the whole world. )
4) HOW DO YOU GET IT –
Write down how you will achieve your goals. (i.e. I want to be a millionaire by the time I’m 30, so I will start to save $150 per month for the next 10 years until I have $210,000 in savings. Write down exactly how you will achieve the goal. (i.e. I will read one chapter of a book for every point I get on my SAT’s.)
5) WHEN DO YOU GET IT –
Write down a specific date (i.e. 10th grade graduation). However, this is not a specific day, but rather something that you can work towards every day and achieve whenever you have time to do so. (i.e. Every Time I study for an important test or assignment, I will write down an extra five minutes and put it on my calendar. If I do it for 35 days in a row, I will graduate on time.)
6) HOW MUCH DO YOU GET IT –
Write down how much you will put into achieving the goal (i.e.I will give myself an extra $100 out of every paycheck if I get an A on my next test). Although this is a small step, it’s important to keep your motivation levels high by rewarding yourself for hard work. This step can be used in addition to the previous step, or alone if you’re feeling lazy. (i.e. If I get A’s on my next two tests then I’ll buy myself that new video game that just came out. If I get two B’s then I’ll just save the money and put it towards my goal.)
7) HOW DO YOU MEASURE IT –
Write down how you will measure how successful your strategy has been. (i.e. I will track the money I put into my goal every day on a spreadsheet and if I don’t get it then I’ll feel like an idiot). Write down how you will measure success (i.e. I will only say that I’ve graduated when my diploma is in hand, not when school ends). This step is important for the same reason that the previous step is important – it’s easy to procrastinate, and this provides a small but significant motivation because you can see your progress and feel a sense of achievement.
8) HOW DO YOU TELL OTHERS –
Write down what you’re going to tell other people about your goals and accomplishments. Give yourself permission to have a life that you enjoy and are proud of. (i.e. I’m going to tell my friends that I graduated and got a job when I get my diploma.)
The first few steps of this process are very basic and basic, so the steps that follow are more advanced, but still all based on this foundation. Take some time to think about your problems, write down what is important to you and make a list of why it’s important for you to achieve your goals in life.
Conclusion:
As you can see, the motivation strategy presented in this article is much easier to implement than you might think. You don’t have to spend hours and months reading books and trying new things in order to be successful. Instead, use what you know about yourself and go from there.
By following this process, you can be confident that your motivation is on a steady upward trend, and will get better every day until all of your goals are met.