10 Ways To Get Motivated To Achieve Your Goals

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In life, we all have our highs and lows. You might have experienced a period when everything seemed to be moving just fine, then all of a sudden, it all went downhill. In this kind of situation, what keeps you moving? What keeps you motivated? Today we’ll dive into 10 ways to get motivated to achieve your goals even when you don’t feel like it.

When you’re motivated, you’ll keep moving. You’ll be relentless. You’ll be tenacious.

Motivation does not just happen; certain factors trigger it. They range from internal factors to external. In other words, from intrinsic to extrinsic factors. Although people can motivate you through the feedback you get from them (extrinsic motivation), the most important source of motivation is the one you get from yourself (intrinsic/internal).

The big questions you might be asking now are: “How do I get motivated?”, “What step(s) should I take to stay motivated?”, “Can I actually motivate myself?” etc.

As a matter of fact, the answers to these questions are provided right here! Simply read on to discover the best ways to get motivated to achieve your goals.

1. Reconfigure your mindset

The very first step to take to get on the right track towards motivation is to adjust your mindset. Motivation is a thing of the mind. It doesn’t matter if you get motivated externally. Therefore, you have to reconfigure your mindset. Reconfiguration in this context means to change your mind from how typical human minds work to how successful minds work.

Naturally, humans are survivors. That is why the average mind is scared of uncertainty (life hack!). To such minds, it is so terrifying to try out new things or to take risks.

So, don’t feel abnormal for being scared, you’re perfectly OK. You only have to reconfigure that natural, survival mindset that is typical of most humans to stand out.

However, the striking features of successful mindsets that differentiate them from unsuccessful ones are:

Successful people are able to master their mindset.
They keep going, despite their fears.
They don’t let uncertainty be a barrier to what they want to achieve.
People who are successful decide to move from the position of survivors to the position of go-getters.
They simply choose to “believe” when their mind is pushing them to “doubt”.

In a nutshell, your mindset is originally designed to shy away from missions like achieving big goals. It’s meant to seek pleasure over pain. However, it is left for you to master and condition your mindset towards the right end.

2. Set a goal

After you have transformed your mindset from being a survivor to being a go-getter, the next in line is to set a goal. Setting a goal is like a landmark; a location where you desire to be. A dream which you want to make into a vision… A vision that you intend to make a reality.

When you have a goal, it will set your mind on something to achieve. You cannot be motivated if you have nothing to look ahead to. You can’t stay motivated if you have no aim. In other words, a goal will give you something to target. And when you have a target, you’ll be motivated to reach it.

Have you ever wondered why most new generation organizations often give their employees targets to reach? It’s simply to boost their motivation.

3. Have focus

The moment you set a goal that you intend to reach, the next step to achieve that goal is to focus. Having a focus will give you a sense of direction; a pathway towards achieving your goal. Moreover, if you’re focused, you will garner up enough concentration to maintain that path you’ve taken.

A lot of people have goals. In fact, almost all people have dreams and aspirations. But because they lack focus, they fail to achieve those goals.

Can you remember in school when you had to focus on a particular course because it gave you a tough time? I’m sure you improved later on because of the amount of concentration you devoted to the course.

The same thing is applicable to your goals. You can actually achieve them if you focus!

4. Always remember the reason…

A successful entrepreneur once said, “I passed through a lot. I experienced a lot of negative turnarounds, I tried and failed many times. On many occasions, I nearly gave up, but whenever I remembered the reason I started, I saw the need to push on!” — Now, that was a motivated person speaking!

Having a motive or a reason or a rationale behind the goal you’re chasing is so powerful.

As humans, there is at least one reason behind any action we take; whether consciously or unconsciously. Once we acknowledge the reason behind our action, we stand the chance to intentionally repeat such action whether it’s favorable or not.

Knowing the “reason” you want to achieve a goal will keep you motivated to continue pressing no matter how many difficulties or failures you experience. The reason you need to achieve your goal might be because you wouldn’t like to be a disappointment to your family, friends, fans, or well-wishers (that’s related to extrinsic motivation).

Also, it could be because you don’t want to fail yourself (intrinsic motivation).

However, it’s important you prioritize intrinsic motivation because where your external environment fails to motivate you, the motivation you generate within you will keep you going.

Endeavor to remember your “reason”. That’s a good source of intrinsic motivation.

5. Believe in your ability to achieve

There is a popular saying that “when you believe, you achieve”, and I totally agree. Because, firstly, there is no possibility that you will attempt something if you do not believe you can achieve it. Truly, to believe is fundamental.

Have you ever been in a situation where you doubted your ability to achieve? I’m sure you were so afraid to make any attempt. The truth is that it is a normal thing for virtually every human to doubt themselves when they are faced with uncertainty. However, if you intend to get motivated, you have to believe in yourself.

Remember, there is no limitation to what you can achieve in life… Only if you believe.

Ways to get motivated to achieve your goals

6. Include hard work

Recently, there has been this popular insinuation that you don’t have to “work hard” in order to make it in life but just to “work smart”.

Well, while I won’t discredit the fact that one has to be smart, it’s not proper to disprove hard work too. Actually, even in “working smart”, you still need to “work hard smartly” for that smart work to pay off.

You need to involve hard work in whatever you do. It doesn’t have to be physical for it to be a work. Actually, mental work is a great deal of work too! Sometimes even more tasking than lifting thousands of bricks daily (okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but you get it).

As a matter of fact, your motivation can be traced to your ability and willingness to increase your work rate.

The truth is that the average human is afraid of work! But remember also that an average human is really struggling. Therefore, if you keep shying away just like most people, then you can’t distinguish yourself as one of the successful few.

The reward for hard work, they say, is success. And to succeed, you cannot run away from work.

7. Measure your output

If you want to get motivated, measuring your output is the next step to take after doing the work.

This is because no matter the number of failures you experience, your consistent hard work will definitely yield some good results at some point… When you measure those results, you’ll be motivated.

Also, as you continue to make conscious efforts to stay motivated, bear this in mind; while you measure your output, you’ll most likely have the urge to calculate the time you spent to generate such output… you shouldn’t consider that!

Simply let your output inspire you to do more.

8. Transform your circle and environment

You need to transform your immediate environment and your circle if you are going to get that extra boost.

Your immediate environment is not just your geographical location but everything around you including your lifestyle, your choices, the books you read, the videos you watch, what you listen to, even the exercises you prefer doing.

Those little things can go a long way to boost your motivation.

For instance, reading ideal, motivational books can inspire you and transform your life. Listening to a good program over the radio can be uplifting. Also, some exercises or hobbies like running or singing inspirational songs can help out too.

When it comes to your circle, this includes the people you relate with (face-to-face) on a daily basis. They have a great influence on you. Positive-minded people who are highly motivated can influence you positively. You can always tap from their wealth of motivation.

9. Remember, difficulties and problems are inevitable, expect them

This is simply called anticipation.

It is a fact that anything you expect beforehand is usually not as devastating (or exciting) when it eventually happens.

For instance, when a friend says he’ll surprise you — but you already know exactly what the surprise is — you will certainly not be too excited when it turns out exactly how you expected.

Similarly, when you sense a bad omen, you’ll get ready for the worst, and when the disaster eventually strikes, it won’t knock you down. (Mind you, this is not a case of pessimism but a case of readiness).

This is similar to what an American singer said in one of his songs: “… hoping for the best, but expecting the worst… “.

That does not mean he lost faith in himself. He was only trying to express his anticipation and readiness to tackle any problem that could have emerged. Moreover, in life, problems are inevitable. You can’t avoid them. Nature itself has programmed problems to be an integral aspect of existence.

For the fact that life is not a bed of roses, and because it is all about ups and downs, you have to expect difficulties at some point. Remember, motivation entails your ability to expect difficulties and a way to face them without giving up.

10. Don’t engineer your own failure

Now, you’re probably asking, “Is it possible for someone to plot his own failure?” Well, dear friend, the answer is Yes!

As you strive to succeed and do a lot more to motivate yourself, there are little things you might not notice but they hamper all your efforts.

Firstly, you fail to plan: An adage has it that “he who fails to plan, plans to fail”. You may be doing a lot of work but, if each time, you fail to plan properly before engaging, don’t be surprised when such an endeavor fails.
Secondly, you prioritize fun: This does not mean that it is wrong for you to have fun. But if you want to get motivated to achieve those goals, you have to prioritize work instead. Fun can only come after work.
Thirdly, you give up easily: Considering the fact that problems are inevitable, you must learn to handle tough situations. You can always adapt to the turbulence of life. Giving up on your goal is the peak of demotivation. It is the height of self-sabotage. Therefore, keep pressing and don’t give up.

Final Thoughts

To conclude this, I’d like to assure you that you have millions of capacities inside you. It takes only a little motivation to trigger them.

However, you must put in hard work and perseverance to stay motivated. You can start by making conscious efforts to apply the tips discussed above… You’ll certainly be boosted to achieve your goals.