Motivate Yourself by Knowing Who You Are
by Michelle Koonce
What is that saying? We can fool some of the people some of the time. When it comes to ourselves, we can’t even get away with a suspicious look. For goal setting, it is important to truly know yourself.
Motivation is the process we use to continue doing something. It can come in the form of rewards, support, self-affirmations, or visual aids. With any goals that we set, there has to be a motivating force behind it to spur us on to success. We have to have a reason for continuing on until we reach our goal.
What motivates us? That is the $64,000 question. To begin, learn a bit about yourself. I know that people say that they don’t know who they are, but we each have a basic idea that we can build upon. Here are a few things to help get the juices flowing and aid in figuring out who you really are. From there, you’ll be able to find your motivation and complete your goals successfully.
What do you like? That’s an easy one. Likes and dislikes come from experiences in life. You may not like snakes or public speaking or high places. So, a goal of climbing Mt. Everest would not be good for you or using a climbing trip as a motivating factor to run five miles a day.
Motivation is a mind game. To be more exact, it is a tool of the subconscious mind. Negative thinking brings about negative results. All the motivation in the world can’t overcome the power of negative self-talk on the subconscious mind.
Are you a negative person? The first step to achieving your goals would be combating the negative thoughts. Simply ignoring them and trying to go on with your goals is self-defeating, because beneath the front we put on for others lay our own subconscious thoughts that will win in the end if we let them. You have to kick the negativity not just mask it.
Achieving goals is a process that involves finding our motivation. A lack of motivation results in broken promises. The goal can be stopped at any time we become bored, upset, or ridiculed by another. In order to find the source of our motivation, create a list of your attributes. On this list, include:
· Likes
· Dislikes
· Character traits
· How you would describe yourself
· Goals you have achieved in the past
All of this information can be combined to determine how motivated you are right now. If you have had goals in the past but never achieved them, look to the character traits and words to describe yourself for insight. Someone with low self esteem will have a tough time getting and staying motivated to do something without a support system.
Look at your list of goals. Are there any goals that require you to do something that you don’t like in order to reach them? One example of this would be someone who wants to start a motivational speaking business, but who doesn’t like crowds or getting up in front of others.
Once you’ve found the things that are keeping you from reaching your goals you can start the process of overcoming them. Begin implementing things which can help you get past those drawbacks. For instance, if you need a support system, enlist the help of a friend or mentor to hold you accountable. If you need pep talks to get you through rough times, ask your spouse or close friend to be there for you during those times and lift you up again.
Learning a few things about yourself is the key to finding the motivation to achieve your goals. Without taking a good look in the mirror, goals will be sabotaged from within more than they ever will from other people or circumstances.
