How to find motivation to achieve your goals

One of the biggest mistakes people make when they try to achieve a goal is they wait for inspiration and motivation. Imagine if everyone on the planet waited for motivation to get work done….. Productivity would drop to zero, and the economy would collapse. Since productivity has improved over the years, it’s not likely that achievement has anything really to do with real motivation. People are simply doing the things they have to do in order to achieve a certain goal. That goal may be set by them or their employer. It doesn’t matter who set it – it’s set, and someone is going to get it done. Those people who are waiting for motivation to strike and not realising that it’s not necessary at all, are never realising their full potential. Motivation to achieve your goals is not important, action is important. This is the key to success.

Motivation doesn’t exist

You probably have heard of the myth of the starving artist who can’t paint, or the writer with writer’s block. It’s interesting that these creative professions have the same myth. Like weight loss, that some secret motivation has to come in order for the person to be able to achieve success – some mysterious spark of inspiration that will get you off your bum doing what you need to get done.

However, nothing could be further from the truth. Doing, Not Thinking, Gets Results, Time and again. Successful people don’t wait. Successful people just do. They are people who get up out of bed every single day, rain or shine, and do things that lead to an end result of success. The successful singer sings every day, if they hate book-keeping they hire someone to do it for them so they can focus on their art. The successful writer, writes; the successful doctor – doctors. If you want to be successful at something, do it. Live it. You will succeed.

Successful people are not smarter than you

Success isn’t about who’s smarter. Most of the time successful people are often no smarter than anyone else. Take a look at the most successful actors you know. Without exception they are simply people who do their craft every single day. They are doing it, not thinking about doing it, and not dreaming of doing it. They go to auditions, get rejected, and then get up the next day and do it again.

Set S.M.A.R.T. goals

S.M.A.R.T stands for ‘specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and timely’ and they can seem like an outdated goal setting system. However, they are still valid and every goal you set should meet that standard. After all, you need to be specific and realistic enough about what you want so that you can measure it and you can act on it in a specific time frame. If it’s not, then it’s not really a goal; it’s a dream.

Envision success

Some people think vision boards are a bunch of hocus pocus, but the truth is, being able to truly visualise yourself experiencing success will really help you to actually create success in your life. There are people who are good at seeing it in their mind and believing it, but others need more belief. Try making a vision board so you can see your dream down on paper and then you can decide on your S.M.A.R.T. goals.

Follow a schedule

It can’t be stated enough. Doers do. Successful people do. A ‘to do’ list isn’t going to cut it; you’re going to need to make a schedule and stick to it. If you want to write a 10,000 word eBook to sell to your target audience, you need to start at the end. Then work your way backwards making a schedule that’s realistic for you to get the work done. Then let nothing stop you.

Experience success

Set some smaller goals, so that you can feel what success is like. Getting a mini win will really keep you going. If you’ve never once stuck to anything, you can’t know what success feels like and so you have nothing to push you forward. People who experience success like to experience it again, and the more success you experience, the more you’re going to realise that you can. It’s a self-fulfilling phrophecy.

Repeat everything

Finally, keep doing it over and over again. With anything you want to achieve, set the goal, track your success and do something every single day toward achieving that goal. Again and again. It’s really that simple.

Motivation is a figment of our imagination, and not something that most people have. Most people get up in the morning by hitting the snooze button a few times, and most people do not feel especially happy about doing certain things. What they feel happy about is the end result, the deliverable. Place your focus there and you will not need any motivation because you will be successful. I hope this has given you some insight into the need for motivation to achieve your goals.