5 things I have learned about.. motivating myself and achieving my dreams

This is the first in a series of articles entitled ’5 Things I’ve learned about..’ These are (hopefully) useful ideas that I have developed over the past years of dealing with clients and developing myself. I’d love to know if you agree with them or find them useful.

If I have momentum it is easier to continue

It’s a truism but it’s a truism for a reason. Imagine pushing a rock down a hill. The hardest part is getting it going. It may take you many minutes to get it to move at all, but once its going it builds momentum getting faster and faster, until it reaches the end of the journey. If you ran ahead and tried to stop it from moving what do you think would happen? It would crush you. It is going to reach the end at that point whether you move out of the way or not.

It’s the same thing with your success. You are the rock at the top of the hill. The beginning of your journey. You can see it and you know that once you begin you will head towards your goal. Along the way you may hit a few bumps. You may even hit a few barriers that will make the journey uncomfortable, but once you make the commitment and start to move any movement will make you stronger and more likely to succeed. As you go through your journey your achievements will become bigger and faster in the same way that a rock builds momentum and speed so will you as you become accustomed to this new mindset.

If I see a successful future I will focus on it

Focus is one of the three foundations of success. Its so important that I wrote a whole section about it in my ebook ‘The Trinity Success Model.’ The first step to making your goal a reality is to focus on it. See it as though you already have it and you will move towards it. Here’s something else I learned about this though. It’s not enough just to see it. You have to be able to believe it is rightfully yours too. When you build that picture of your future MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN IT!! So many people invent a compelling future where they see their loved ones happy and a big house, new car etc. but they forget to put themselves in the picture. Once you see this vision of your future you will find it easy to focus on it. Once you can focus on it you will automatically begin to work towards its attainment. The world has enough resources for everyone. You just have to claim it as your own.

When I am not committed enough to my own vision I get distracted by that of others

This is a relatively new learning for me. I constantly question my clients on the stories that they tell themselves. Sometimes those stories are not easy to spot for yourself. I am no exception. Once you have spent time (and I mean REAL time) on building your vision for the future you need to commit to its attainment. You will already be moving forward and you should also have developed a plan of action (more about that in the forthcoming book ’10 things I’ve learned about success.’) Once you have a vision and a plan you need to constantly check your commitment to your own vision. If you don’t have faith in your path you will get distracted by the views of others. Sometimes that’s a good thing. It is always better to surround yourself with advisors BUT in the cold light of day YOUR success has to be YOUR responsibility. That means it is your job to decide if you take the advice or not. Does it fit with your vision and your plan? If decision making is something that you find difficult then now is the time to work on it. For years decision making has been one of my weaknesses (hows that for sharing!?!) but you can improve by taking small steps and conditioning your mind to certainty. Process all of the information you have. All of the advice you get and then stick to what you decide. Only then can you review your choices and alter your course if necessary.

If I have faith mixed with belief I recognise the opportunities as they arrive

When I read about faith and belief in ‘Think and Grow Rich’ some 20 years ago I didn’t really understand it. Like many people I assumed that it was a reference to religion. As I’ve learned my craft and become highly successful at helping people succeed what I’ve discovered that this is not the case. The faith that I talk about is an unwavering faith in your own ability to succeed. Without fear of failure. There are so many inspirational quotes about this learning its hard to pick one so I’ll let you go and find them yourself. Our fear mechanisms are out of date. We are taught that to ‘sell ourselves’ is selling out. To be good at something and to know it is something we are meant to keep quiet (or we’ll be put down by those who don’t have the skills we do). Faith in yourself is the ONLY thing that will keep you moving forward when those around you are telling you to give up or do something different. If you are committed to your path and you have a solid faith in your ability (or your ability to learn the skills you need) then you will build momentum and results that much faster.

I am motivated by success and the feeling it brings

What motivates you? Take a few minutes and think about what your favourite thing is to do. What do you really enjoy? Write it down.

Now ask yourself why it’s your favourite thing. What does it bring you? (chances are you will come up with a feeling or a ‘sense’ of something. Write it down.

Now think about that feeling and ask yourself what you get from THAT. What is the underlying feeling you get from it. As an example if you answered ‘satisfied’ you may find that underlying this is ‘security’ or something similar. There is no right or wrong answer to this so take your time. Notice your own reactions and have some fun with it. You can even do it with a number of things you enjoy. Chances are you’ll come down to the same final answer. This is your primary motivator. It’s the feeling that you seek to fulfil in everything you enjoy doing.

The important thing I learned from this exercise is that we are motivated ultimately by feelings and not by happenings. Our motivation doesn’t come from outside events but our reaction to it. This is really powerful. Once you find out what your motivator is and you realise that you have complete control over your own emotions and feelings do you think you can use that in some way?

Thats it for this weeks blog. Watch out for an extra (special edition) blog entry later in the week containing some exciting news! As ever, if you have any questions or comments about this post you can email me: john@positiveimpactpartnership.co.uk

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