Self-motivation
People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how
impressive their other talents. Andrew Carnegie
Self motivation is the ability to motivate yourself, to find a reason and the necessary strength to do
something, without the need of being influenced to do so by another person. Working in a careful and
consistent manner without giving up.
Self-motivation is the force that keeps pushing us to go on - it's our internal drive to achieve, produce,
develop, and keep moving forward. When you think you're ready to quit something, or you just don't know
how to start, your self-motivation is what pushes you to go on.
With self-motivation, you'll learn and grow - regardless of the specific situation. That's why it's such a
fundamental tool for reaching your goals, achieving your dreams, and succeeding, in this journey we call
life.
Motivation is an essential ingredient for consistently achieving goals and accomplishing significant tasks.
However, you don't always feel motivated to do what you know you should do. Here are three keys to
maintaining a steady, high level of motivation.
Direction. One of the biggest causes of lack of motivation is an absence of true direction. Set goals which
are clear, compelling, and meaningful to you. Write your goal down and get pictures of it. Make it crystal
clear in your mind. Define your target and never let your attention stray away from it. When you know
where you are going you'll stay upbeat, energetic and enthused about going there.
Action. When you take action you stir up your positive emotions and you rid your self of procrastination.
When you are in motion you worry less. There is less time for it. When you are in the process of taking
action anxiety gets replaced with anticipation. You are working towards a desired end and your focus gets
directed to that goal.
Repetition. Repeat positive statements. Say positive words to yourself over and over again. State phrases
like these:
· With every action that I take I move closer and closer to my goal.
· I am winning because I am doing what it takes.
· Right now I am taking the proper actions and I am getting the ideal results.
The more you repeat these affirmations the more motivated you will be. You will find that the
combination of work and self talk give you the positive mindset that you need to overcome
discouragement. No matter what the circumstances appear to be you will still win. You insure your victory
when you keep repeating the words which keep your mind on the desired results.
Need for self motivation:
1. You cannot always rely on others to encourage you, if you have positive friends who are always
there when you need them then you are indeed lucky and very much in the minority. If you are
lonely or have few friends when you face any difficulties in your life you must rely on your own
motivation to get you through. Lack of self motivation at that time could lead to depression.
2. You need self motivation to achieve because if you don't encourage yourself to accept opportunity
and challenge who will?
3. To plan and find direction in your life
4. To take up a new activity, hobby or challenge
5. To be enthusiastic about life and living
6. To have the courage to see things through despite setbacks or negative comments from others

Essential Skills for increasing your motivation and creating a motivated mindset :
Practice the Creative Mindset over the Competitive one When we focus on our competition it can drain
us of our creativity. It's through accessing and executing our creative impulses that we are able to maintain
a high level of motivation. Examine your competition for inspiration. Don't let your ideas be driven solely
by what your competition is doing.
Cultivate Courage When your locus of operation is from a place of fear your motivation is severely
inhibited. It becomes virtually impossible to do anything. You experience very little if any forward
movement and your feelings of well being quickly sink to an all time low. To cultivate more courage you
have to practice conscious conditioning. Conscious conditioning is being actively aware of what's going
on and strategically selecting a new mindset to replace & repair what isn't working for ya.
Strengthen Discipline You must have good discipline if you're going to be able to stick with the
endurance that a motivated mindset may require. When your discipline is strong you can push through
challenges and stay the course. Strengthening your discipline will increase your motivational aptitude.
Prioritize and Improve Time Management If you don't plan your time well you will very quickly drain
yourself of whatever motivation you started the day with. Setting priorities is a big part of time
management and having a flexible prioritizing agenda is very beneficial when it comes time to manage
your time. Time management is all about planning and you know what they say: If you fail to plan, than
you plan to fail.
Manage Negativity It's when I am in the most positive space and mindset that I'm the most motivated. I
think that applies to most people. When you have a negative mindset or have people in your environment
who spread negative vibes it undermines the foundation necessary to maintain a motivated mindset.
Celebrate Successes Announcing and learning to celebrate your achievements is a big part of increasing
your motivational drive. So many people are shy about sharing their successes because they're afraid that
others will judge their successes as being something that's too small to be celebrated. That kind of thinking
is connected to thoughts of self judgement and not self assessment. You should freely announce and
express the successes you experience. When you do this you are practicing the attitude of gratitude and
also inviting more success to come into our life.
When you develop these 6 areas of your life it will result in increased motivation and a motivated mindset
that will help you achieve all of your dreams.
Building Self-motivation:
If you want to excel in life, self motivation is essential. You must know how to motivate yourself. You
must be able to keep your spirit high no matter how discouraging a situation is. That’s the only way to get
the power you need to overcome difficulties. Those who are discouraged in difficult times are certain to
lose even before the battle is over.
Self motivation can be effectively build as follows:
1. Have a cause
Cause can inspire you to give your best even in the face of difficulties. It can make you do the seemingly
impossible things.
While other causes could inspire you temporarily, a cause that matters to you can inspire you indefinitely.
It’s a spring of motivation that will never dry. Whenever you think that you run out of motivation, you
can always come to your cause to get a fresh dose of motivation.
2. Have a dream. A big dream.
Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as
much as I dream can I be. Karen Ravn
Your cause is a powerful source of motivation but it’s still abstract in nature. You need to make it concrete
in the form of a dream. Imagine how the world will be in the future. Imagine how people will live and
work.
Having a dream is important because it’s difficult to be motivated if you don’t have anything to shoot for.
Just think about people who play basketball. Will they be motivated to play if there is no basket to aim at?
I don’t think so. They need a goal. You need a goal. That’s what your dream is for.
But just having a dream is insufficient. Your dream must be big enough to inspire you. It must be realistic
but challenging. It must stretch your ability beyond your comfort zone.
3. Be hungry
Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling
in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way.
Les Brown
To be truly motivated, you need to have hunger and not just desire. Having mere desire won’t take you
through difficult times since you don’t want things badly enough. In many cases, hunger makes the
difference between the best performers and the mediocre ones.
How can you have hunger? Your cause and your dream play a big role here. If you have a cause you care
about and a big dream related to it, you should have the hunger inside of you. If you think that you are
losing hunger, all you need to do is to connect again to your cause and dream. Let them inspire you and
bring the hunger back.
4. Run your own race
I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself. Mikhail Baryshnikov
Comparing yourself with others is an effective way to demotivate yourself. Even if you start with
enthusiasm, you will soon lose your energy when you compare yourself with others. Don’t let that happen
to you. You have your own race so how other people perform is irrelevant. Comparing yourself with
others is like comparing the performance of a swimmer with a runner using the same time standard. They
are different so how can you compare one with the other? The only competitor you have is yourself. The
only one you need to beat is you. Have you become the best you can be?
5. Take one more step
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. Winston Churchill
When you meet obstacles along the way, there could be the tendency to quit. You may think that it’s too
difficult to move on. You may think that your dream is impossible to achieve. But this is where you can
see the difference between winners and losers. Though both of them face the same difficulties, there is one
thing that makes the winners different: the courage to continue. In difficult situations, just focus on taking
one more step forward. Don’t think about how to complete the race. Don’t think about how many more
obstacles are waiting for you. Just focus on taking the next step.
6. Let go of the past
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Believe it or not, one of the best demotivators is your past. Your past can drag you down before you
realize it. Your past can give you a heavy burden on your shoulders.
The good news is it’s a burden you don’t have to carry. Take it off your shoulder and leave it. You might
make mistakes in the past. You might disappoint others with what you did. But it’s over. It’s already in the
past and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Today is a new day and you have the chance to start again. No matter how bad your past might be, you
still have a bright future ahead waiting for you. Just don’t let the burden of the past stop you
Suggestions for people lacking self motivation:
1. Focus on what you really enjoy doing, maybe on something you want to take up or on a hobby
you've always wanted to devote more time to. What's stopping you? Think about giving it priority
to start doing what you love doing.
2. Make a list of things you'd like to improve on and how you're going to do it.
3. Review all the successes you've enjoyed in every area of your life, totally forget any negatives,
just positive successes here!
4. Start an exercise program - force yourself to do it, it'll make you feel much more positive.
5. Contact a positive friend and have a chat.
6. Read inspiring books that will help heal your mind and improve your attitude