HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED

Last week on the Powered Life podcast we discussed three ways in which we can stay motivated in our lives; Setting Goals, Visualization, and Going to School.

We examined how important it is to not only set long term goals but to set short term goals; and how setting and accomplishing those short term goals increases your dopamine levels (reward and pleasure centers) in the brain.  We discovered that the brain can not tell the difference between what is real and what is imagined so visualizing and imagining your goals being accomplished can further motivate you to achieve your dreams.  In going to school, we learned that class doesn't end when you receive your diploma or MBA.  The school of life is the hardest and longest school you will ever attend and if you want to pass the course you must be able to learn from the people who are where you want to be in life.

Here are 4 more ways we can stay motivated daily:

Affirmations:  "Affirm" by definition means to declare firmly to be true.  We use affirmations to declare to the universe and ourselves that it's our motive for this to become true.  When you orally affirm your goals and dreams the brain is instantly re-programmed with a reassurance that our inner most ambitions will become a reality.  Research from Carnegie Mellon University has shown that affirmations have the ability to protect against the damaging effects of stress (www.psycologytoday.com).  An affirmation can be a word, phrase, or sentence.  

Quotes:  I like to call quotes the breadcrumbs to success.  We can sometimes forget how powerful words can be; especially from people we respect and admire.  Quotes are great because it brings a relate-able element in knowing that you are not alone.  There have been people before you in this world that have been going through the same issues and being able to see them come out the other end and give their wordily advice helps us to pick ourselves up when we are down.  What amazes me about quotes is that they are timeless.  You can use quotes from Confucius or Jesus and apply them now in modern times.  Here are some quotes I have on my inspirational quotes page.

Surround yourself with positive people:  I love the term "guilty by association".  We usually hear it in a negative sense but here we will bring out the positive.  Positive people will not only bring out the positive in you, but they will bring out the best in you.  We are so quick to become friends with someone just because we are afraid to be alone but you need to ask yourself, "Is this friend helping me become the best person I can be?"  Seeing your positive friends doing well helps motivate you to do well yourself.  I will quote Oprah, "Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher."

Pressure makes diamonds:  There's no pressure sometimes like peer pressure.  Let your friends know of your goal.  Not only are you prophesying your goals to them and to the universe, now you have someone who will encourage and  hold you accountable to what you declared.  If your brave enough, put your goal on Facebook and watch the negative comments you thought would happen actually be people throwing their support behind you and also giving great advice to keep you on track.  Sometimes the pressure of not letting people down and showing you are a man or woman of your word is a great motivator.  

Now that we are armed with the power of motivation and know how to use it, it's time for us to set those goals.  Join me next Thursday, June 12th on the next Powered Life podcast episode.  We will go into more detail about goals and how to create an action plan to accomplish them.

God Bless!