30 ways to stay motivated

by www.evancarmichael.com

It's summer and for many people its holiday time. It can be hard to get back in the groove after a break, so here are 30 ways to get yourself motivated.

1. Make sure you are working towards something that you are passionate about and want to achieve.
2. Create a compelling vision, by imagining your business at a time in the future, when it is successful. What will you be doing, thinking and feeling at that time?
3. Develop a habit. It takes 28 days to form a habit so keep at it, knowing the more consistent you are in the beginning, the more fixed your new activity will become.
4. Prioritise your "to do" list every day to ensure that you will make time to achieve the ones that will help you move forward towards your goal.
5. Don't let others lead you astray so inform those you trust and wish to support you in what you want to achieve.
6. Be patient with yourself. Some days you will be more motivated or have more time than other days. When possible, do more. When you can't, do less, or do something different and back off without guilt.
7. Plan ahead. Set up your plans and create some milestones to record progress to date.
8. Team up. If you are able to find a “buddy” or someone who can support you it can be inspiring to work together.
9. Set achievable goals. The more easily you accomplish your goals, the more likely you are to sustain them. Set goals that emphasize the process (for example, making 3 sales calls a day) as well as the result (for example, winning one new client a month)
10. When you achieve a goal, reward yourself. Decide on a reward ahead of time to spur you on.
11. Have fun. Make working towards your goals fun. Come up with some imaginative ideas for introducing an element of additional interest to your goals.
12. Keep a success diary. Your behaviour is determined by your thinking, so keep a note of successes every day and monitor how you were thinking when you achieved the success.
13. Listen to your body. If you are overtired or not eating properly your body may at times be less than helpful. Take the hint.
14. Review your plans regularly and perhaps shift to a longer timescale or a more achievable goal or take a break. A respite may inspire you to come back with renewed vigour and determination.
15. When you are feeling down, read your own marketing literature to inspire you.
16. Don’t underestimate the value of role models. Read about successful people that you admire and learn how they think and behave.
17. Enthusiasm is infectious. Make an effort to attend networking events where you know there will be people who are enthusiastic about you and your business.
18. Use your intuition as well as gut feel to make decisions, as it is amazing how well it works and can keep you motivated.
19. Success is about enjoying the journey not just getting to the destination. Think about what you enjoy whilst working even if you do not make the progress you desire towards your goal.
20. Focus on what you do have control of, rather than what you do not have control of to minimise your stress levels.
21. Be aware of what motivates you. Is it positive encouragement (you can do that) or negative criticism (you’ll never be able to do that)?
22. When you feel de-motivated, think about someone you admire and what they would do in this situation. It helps in looking for creative ways to re-energise you.
23. When fear threatens to quash your motivation, remind yourself why you are taking this particular action.
24. Work hard and play hard. You will enjoy work and leisure time more if you keep a good balance between them.
25. Become aware of what you are telling yourself when you are successful. Do you say “I caused that to happen, and it will happen again”? Or do you say “it was nothing, it was really someone else”?
26. Make sure you keep focused on work activities during the day, and avoid being diverted into doing the laundry, cleaning etc.
27. People are motivated when they are improving performance, enjoying their job and learning. Check if you are achieving all of these.
28. Set up your office in a shared environment, to ensure you meet other people. If you can’t afford it, then arrange to meet business acquaintances for coffee regularly to get you out of the house.
29. Read Kickstart your Motivation to inspire you.
30. If nothing else works then buy a bar of chocolate and indulge!