What is your motivation to get out of bed every day?
Firstly, what is motivation?
If I asked you, you would probably tell me it's a reason for doing something or give me a motivational quote from a movie right? But what is motivation? What does it mean to you?
I could walk down the street and ask 100 people what motivates them to do things and the general answers I would get are;
- To make money
- To be healthy
- To have a good body
- To be fit
- To travel the world
What people fail to understand or think about is what specifically about their reason do they mean when they say it motivates them?
What are you going to do with that money?
Why do you want a good body?
Where/why do you want to travel?
There are 3 steps to remember when figuring out what drives you; Knowing what you want, understanding why you want to do it and figuring out how you're going to get it. Motivation is just a concept, it doesn't last, it's the initial feeling you get when you find something to work towards but it's the deeper reason why which will make overcome anything to reach it.
For example: you could ask me what my motivation to get out of bed is? I would say to be the best version of myself. What do I mean by that? I want to get out of bed with a smile on my face, give everything I can into my day and help people change their lives and grow my career.
Why am I trying to be the best version on myself? I want to be a role model to those around me in my industry but also to my family and friends, I want my niece and nephew to say some time in the future they have a successful uncle in Melbourne or wherever I might be. I want my parents to say they are extremely proud of how far I have taken my life from where I came from, because that's the greatest feeling in the world, taking what little you have and making something great from it.
This is me knowing my why and not only knowing what I want. How will I get there is the next step!
Getting up out of bed is only the first step, I can't just go to work and go through the motions and expect to excel, I must do extra learning, extra training, improve my skills, enhance my knowledge on my craft. Only by doing the work will I achieve what I want. Seeing the results of my work gives me more motivation to keep going.
What do you need to do? What is your next step you need to take in reaching your goal?
What? When you think about where you are five years from now, where do you picture yourself? What do you see yourself doing? Are you happy?
Looking into the future and putting yourself in place where you want to be is a good way of establishing what your goal Is. Having a vision of what you want your life to be is the perfect way to find motivation to take action.
Why? When you have that vision of where you want to be in five years, think to yourself; why am I there? What makes me happy being in that position? Is it the people around you? Is it the places you've been? Is it the stuff you own?
The reasons you find for doing what you want to do are very important. They must be for you, to make you happy! If you spend your time doing things for other people and nothing for yourself, you will never truly be happy.
How? Once step 1 & 2 have been set and you figure out what your goals are and why they are your goals. The last step is to work out a plan on how you are going to reach them. Creating a plan for between now and when you pictured your yourself is key to achieving success, because "failing to plan is planning to fail". Creating good habits and sticking to them is a great feeling and has been proven to be very effective when achieving a goal or dream.
Establishing the steps, you're going to take and setting out a solid plan to achieve what you want very important. Setting short term, mid-term and long-term goals all based on your "why".
The last factor in realising your goals and going through the steps is what we believe to be your circle of influence. Your circle of influence are the people around you that you see on a regular basis and who have a big impact on the choices you make (positive and negative). They play a very crucial role in how you go about your journey to success as a lot of the time people tend to act and do the same things as those around them. Are the people around you supportive of your goals or are they having a negative effect towards them? The people around can make all the difference, especially if you find yourself in hard times and want to give up.
Find the right people to have by your side and it will make your journey 100 times easier.
Sounds easy enough right?
Finding your what, why and how are important but sticking to it through the tough times and having the mental fortitude to push through and remember why you began in the first place is the most important part of a goal. Having something you look at every day that reminds you what you're working for and why you're working for it is a great way to keep on track and makes the tough times a little bit easier to get through.
Appreciation…. Though you may not have reached your destination yet but appreciate that you have the motivation to do something and appreciate where you are now. Part of the journey is the end, but that's no reason not to enjoy the journey itself. Reflect on how far you've come already to remind yourself of all the hard work you have done so far, looking back at everything you've been through and knowing your still here and working towards that end goal is a great feeling,
Some say, "thank God it's Friday", I say "thank God it's Monday", that way I know I have a brand new week to work on myself and my goals, because I have a deeper reason why!
Now I ask you, what drives you to get out of bed?
*Disclaimer: Individual results vary based on agreed goals. Click here for details.
