Written by By: Craig Satterfield, ECCS
Like many of you, I am constantly fighting the battle to slim down. I have gotten to the point that I totally ignore all of those stupid weight loss advertisements on TV and tell myself I will do better tomorrow. Tomorrow never comes for some of us when we discover we haven’t seemed to have lost an ounce. What is missing in our lives is motivation. Motivation is what moves you to do the things you do, especially the things you want to do to improve your life, build your health, business and income.
By creating a realistic image of yourself, you can fire yourself up to get what you want. Sounds so easy doesn’t it? I think that it just might be if you use a motivation strategy. A motivation strategy is a simple way to create a successful outcome by setting up the steps you need to get there. Again sounds easier said than done!
If it is so simple then why do most of us fail at self-motivation? The secret lies in mental rehearsing, the process of imagining your future and preparing yourself for various situations. This strategy is to help you inspire to do what it takes to move toward success.
Let’s give it a try: Imagine yourself having achieved the goal you set out to accomplish, like losing those 25 pounds, setting up those cruise groups, being a success with social media or keeping your house and office clean.
Ask yourself: What are you seeing? What are you hearing? What are you wearing? What are you saying to yourself? What are you doing?
Now, experience the good feelings you get from having already achieved your goal. Getting into those smaller pair of pants, having a great selection of group cruises to market, being a social media guru and imagining your house and office clean as a whistle.
What does that feel like? Bet it feels really good. It is important to keep these feelings as close to you as possible as you move toward all of your real goals. This is the closest thing to motivation I can think of.
Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge for whilst knowledge points to all there is, imagination points to all there could be.”
Working from home can be a lonely profession sometimes. The phone doesn’t ring; you have no interaction with people in an office environment; and your mind wanders on to things that need to be taken care of around the house. Your mind can be a powerful enemy in distracting you from dedicating your time to your work and it can get in between your goal during your imagined success.
An idea I have used for years is positive self-talking to get me into a positive frame of mind. I try to do it when I am driving in my car alone or taking a walk since most of the time if somebody doesn’t have a cell phone in their ear, talking to yourself is seen as a fast pass to the looney bin. I have always felt that words were power and getting them out into the World, even if you are the only one that hears them, is a way to identify what we want to achieve. What you say has power to set you up for a positive frame of mind.
Here are two simple thoughts, “My job is a pain in my side,” or “My job is fun and I love the people I interact with.” Which one do you think you should be saying out loud to yourself? Which one is more likely to help you achieve what you set out to accomplish?
The words we think about and say to ourselves repeatedly help create a positive frame of mind. Speaking and thinking positive to one’s self sends that positive message to your subconscious brain. It is also important to be aware of negative thoughts. Think about what you are saying to yourself. Beware of words like should (as in stop shouldering all over yourself), ought, must, always, never and the big one, can’t!!
Give yourself a reality check if you fall into negativity especially if there is any evidence to back these negative feelings up. Am I being realistic? Do I have everything in perspective? Is there another way I should be looking at this?
If not, develop new positive thoughts to replace this negativity. Repeat these positive thoughts over and over. Have three simple positive thoughts to fall back on that you can repeat when you need strength.
Hopefully you have a support system in family members and friends that can help you achieve your goals. Some people are afraid to ask others for help, especially in a more psychological way so they try to go it alone. Support is out there everywhere from friends, family, agent chat sights, travel agent social media sights and business associations.
I am in the middle of changing the way I eat by using suggestions from the Mayo Clinic, which I am finding very successful and rewarding. One of the things that is important in this program is to trade old habits for new ones. We can do the same thing in gaining more motivation in our careers by switching habits to more beneficial ones. We all need habits in order to get thru life but the unhelpful ones can keep us from achieving our goals and stand in the way of our happiness with success.
First thing is to identify a habit that you want to change. Make a vision in your mind of the success you are seeing just before the unwanted habit begins. Now clear that picture totally out of your mind. OK, now create a new picture of how you would rather have it. Make it compelling and full of positive, bright energy. Clear this picture out of your mind.
Now return to the first picture and hold that thought and at the same time think about the second picture, which is now down in the corner of your mind’s eye. OK now switch pictures! Keep doing this and after about 6 times you will see the new picture growing stronger and the old weaker. Be aware of what you will do to keep the new picture in the center of your habits and eventually that old picture will dim and die.
Give yourself a small reward (not necessarily a sweet treat) when you have broken an old habit; be proud of yourself for it. Cut yourself some slack if your goals don’t materialize in the time you think they should but don’t give up. If you feel failure, remember to repeat your mantra of positive feelings to combat it and realize that you are only human. Mentally lock away anything that is getting in your way of completing your goals to combat procrastination. If you are finding that you are having difficulty, get up from your desk, take a walk, get some fresh air and at the same time have a gentle but positive talk with yourself.
If you find that your goals are too overwhelming, break them into small pieces and take them on one by one. It is amazing how far you can go dealing with goals in bite-sized chunks instead to tackling an entire project and worrying about failure.
To break up monotony, be more unpredictable. Take your lunch to a park, listen to some music while you work, change your look, and basically be a little different in your everyday life.
Staying motivated and positive for some is a full time job. This column was not written for only those that think life is all gloom and doom, but for those that want to build their business, develop their personal brand, break out of their old shells and live personal and business life to the fullest.
Have a great time. If you don’t you only have yourself to blame!