For those who don't wake up and feel motivated by the prospect of a new day, we often wonder how to "get motivated". But motivation is not something you can just click your fingers and create. Sure, often we read something or watch something and then feel super motivated and ready to take on the world! But then a few hours or days pass by and we've pretty much forgotten how or why we ever got so motivated in the first place. The problem is that the reality of life has got hold of us again and so we just slump back into our old routines.
If you can visualize what you want to achieve and what your final destination looks like you will be far more likely to create desire. Why is this important? Well, your desire will dictate your actions. In order to jump out of bed each day, be thrilled by the prospect of the day ahead, and do whatever it takes to ensure you are working diligently towards your goal, you actually need to have a clearly understood end goal in mind! The challenge occurs when you have no objective in mind. You are just going through the motions.
Let's break this down into smaller parts so it's easier to understand. If you believe that completing a certain task will be useful and beneficial to you, you will naturally place a higher value on completing that task wouldn't you? For example, if you want to learn how to speak Italian then taking an Italian class is very relevant and you would have a great interest in participating.
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.
So what is your ultimate ambition? What are you striving to achieve? Do you aspire to work for minimum wage? Is getting a good job and a nice home your grand ambition? Or would you prefer to work for 10 years and then retire and do as you please? Yes? No? Don't know? If you don't know your ultimate ambition, then you won't be able to motivate yourself to complete each individual (and often painful) task. But, once you know why you are doing something, the how becomes only a matter of course, not an immovable obstacle.
Do what you have to do to get good grades. Do what you have to do to get into a great College or University. Do what you have to do to find a great job you love, or start a business to solve a problem in the world. But whatever you do, don't focus on the task. Focus on the end result. Define your magnificent life goal (something that truly inspires you) and then do what you have to do to make it a reality. If you want something bad enough, you will do whatever it takes. If you're not willing to do whatever it takes, the reality is that you don't truly care if you achieve it and you need to keep looking.
If you can visualize what you want to achieve and what your final destination looks like you will be far more likely to create desire. Why is this important? Well, your desire will dictate your actions. In order to jump out of bed each day, be thrilled by the prospect of the day ahead, and do whatever it takes to ensure you are working diligently towards your goal, you actually need to have a clearly understood end goal in mind! The challenge occurs when you have no objective in mind. You are just going through the motions.
Let's break this down into smaller parts so it's easier to understand. If you believe that completing a certain task will be useful and beneficial to you, you will naturally place a higher value on completing that task wouldn't you? For example, if you want to learn how to speak Italian then taking an Italian class is very relevant and you would have a great interest in participating.
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.
So what is your ultimate ambition? What are you striving to achieve? Do you aspire to work for minimum wage? Is getting a good job and a nice home your grand ambition? Or would you prefer to work for 10 years and then retire and do as you please? Yes? No? Don't know? If you don't know your ultimate ambition, then you won't be able to motivate yourself to complete each individual (and often painful) task. But, once you know why you are doing something, the how becomes only a matter of course, not an immovable obstacle.
Do what you have to do to get good grades. Do what you have to do to get into a great College or University. Do what you have to do to find a great job you love, or start a business to solve a problem in the world. But whatever you do, don't focus on the task. Focus on the end result. Define your magnificent life goal (something that truly inspires you) and then do what you have to do to make it a reality. If you want something bad enough, you will do whatever it takes. If you're not willing to do whatever it takes, the reality is that you don't truly care if you achieve it and you need to keep looking.
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