No matter how talented you are, if you do not possess the will to motivate yourself to excel, you will never reach beyond the realms of mediocrity. True motivation is almost always self motivation. Self motivation is what helps confront your fears, overcome your failures and lift yourself from apathy and inaction to positive action. Sustaining motivation over a period of time is not easy. This is perhaps the reason why many of the endeavours that people start with earnest internet seem to fizzle out along the way. There are a number of reasons why people tend to get de-motivated along the way.

One of the primary reasons we lose motivation is a lack of confidence. We may start out with exciting plans, but lose confidence as soon as we encounter road blocks or failures. Positive thinking is the best way to keep up confidence and motivation when you are going through a bad phase. It is but natural that when you allow your mind to focus on negative thoughts like past failures, setbacks, and personal weaknesses, you quickly lose confidence and your motivation levels. Make a mental list of your strengths, past successes, and present advantages. If you are overcome by a setback, look for practical ways to set things right with a proper plan of action.

Another reason is a lack of clear goals and direction if you are not clear about what you hope to achieve, how can you work towards it? Unless a person has a detailed, focused picture of an end result that creates enthusiasm and a plan for achieving those goals, motivation will not endure. When you have clear goals and a plan in mind, it is much easier to rekindle your enthusiasm and drive through a failure or lull in progress

The third most common reason for falling motivation levels is a lack of commitment. Inject passion into your goals. If you don’t want a goal badly enough you may be tempted to drop it like a hot potato when the going gets tough. You wouldn’t do the same thing to your baby, would you? Treat your goals in the same way. Nurture your goals, handle them with care and nurse them through setbacks just as you would do for your child.

One way to keep your passion to your goals intact is to maintain a dairy of your goals and aspirations. Put down in to words the emotions you associate with your goals and what they mean to you.

When ever you feel de-motivated or lose faith in your ability to reach your goals, read through your dairy. You will come back with renewed energy and enthusiasm for your goals.

Follow your own pace. Everyone has a different style of working and forcing yourself to keep pace with someone else will only wear you out. Don’t let that happen to you.

The only one you need to better is yourself. Ask yourself, have you reached your fullest potential? That is the only thing that matters in the end. Create positive self-rein-forcing habits. To begin with, try initiating and sustaining one positive habit that will help you achieve your goals. Positive thoughts lead to positive actions, positive action lead to positive feelings about yourself, and positive feelings lead to more positive thoughts and
action. This will create a self affirming virtuous cycle of positivism that will help you sustain your interest and motivation levels.

When things get difficult, don’t worry about how you are going to achieve those lofty goals you have set for yourself.

Simply focus on the next one positive step that you can take, and remember what Winston Churchill famously said, “success is not final, and failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts!”

By following the simple, positive steps you can motivate yourself and sustain enthusiasm, energy and unwavering focus for your goals through the ups and downs that you encounter in the path to success.

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