motivation Archives - Page 2 of 2

#TBT: Getting Ready To Get Ready

Preparation and being ready is key to becoming great, but sometimes, we can over do it.

Getting ready to get ready is really an excuse to procrastinate. We say things like:

I’ll start on Monday (everybody’s favorite)
When I get $500, then I’ll start saving
When I finish all of the ice cream in the freezer, then I’ll start my diet
When I buy some exercise equipment, then I’ll start exercising

Do you see a pattern? When I do ‘x’, then I’ll do ‘y’.

When Should You Start?

It may be hard to admit, but this is just a fancy form of procrastination. Anything you can do, can be done immediately. It won’t make any difference when you start, but because you are constantly ‘getting ready to get ready’, you never begin.

This is why it’s better to start your ideas soon after you have them. Giving yourself time to ‘get ready’ only prolongs what you are trying to do.

In the above examples, you can start any of those things right away. Most people like to start their plans on Monday. Why not start the following day? Why can’t you start saving money now, even if you don’t have $500? What does eating all of the ice cream first have to do with you beginning a new diet? Instead of wasting time trying to buy the right exercise equipment, why not start with a YouTube workout or go outside and play with the kids?

Stay Ready

Anything you want to do can be done without using the ‘getting ready to get ready’ excuse formula. We have to stop giving ourselves an easy way out. Procrastination only brings about more procrastination – it’s a neverending cycle.

Make up your mind that you will start, no matter what the circumstances are in your head. Don’t hinder your own growth – don’t become your own enemy. Be disciplined and take action. Have the confidence to move forward and create progress. You are more than capable and prepared to start than you think you are.

Hold yourself accountable and take control of your future. Hesitating won’t get you anywhere. You don’t want to be in the same place, a year from now. Be extraordinary and do what needs to be done, even when you don’t feel like it. Embrace those challenges so that you can become the exceptional person you’re meant to be!

#BeGoalden

Failing Is The New Learning

Throughout life, we all have felt a sense of failing. Something didn’t work out the way we wanted or an outside source (such as a test) had labeled us a failure.

The old way of thinking of failing is self-limiting. Society has taught us that failing is bad, that we aren’t worthy of giving it another try and there’s no way out.

There are very few of us that had someone to teach us the real meaning of failing. It’s actually the opposite of what most people think it is. Failing isn’t something to be ashamed of – actually, it’s a push in the right direction towards success.

What Happens When You Fail?

Failing has such a bad reputation, that we have developed a fear of failure. This leads to judgment and overall, not following through with the task that you “failed” at.

People may ridicule you for not achieving a goal that you were working on. They may call you names or tell others that you aren’t as great as you think you are. All of sudden, it feels like the world has lost complete faith in you.

This is what leads to fear of failure. It has such a negative meaning, that we try our best to avoid it. No one wants to be ridiculed if they don’t have to. Your self-esteem is crushed and you refuse to put yourself through such torment.

So, what do you do? In short, suck it up and keep it moving. There are people in this world who are waiting for you to do something wrong, just so they can have something to talk about. The same people aren’t doing anything productive to move their lives forward, so they try to bring you down to their unproductive level.

You don’t have to allow this to affect you.

How Does Learning Happen?

Do you think people learn things the very first time they read or study it? Absolutely not. It takes more than one shot to become a high achiever.

Failing is the new learning – how else does learning occur? The only difference is, is that people who accomplish their task gave it one more chance. That’s the difference between a winner and a loser.

Learning isn’t a perfect process. Mistakes, obstacles and setbacks are promised to happen, but the only way you will make your way to becoming successful is by making constant progress. That means failing and being resilient on a consistent basis.

Failing teaches you what not to do. It gives you a new and improved strategy to implement the next time. Overall, it points you in the direction you should go.

That’s what learning is – doing things until you accomplish them. The only way you can do this is through actively failing.

What Does It Mean?

Words are powerful. We never realize how much they impact the outcome of our lives until we take a closer look at what we’re actually saying.

Any word that is synonymous with failing, isn’t an insult. Setbacks, obstacles, mistakes – all of those words give you feedback for you to create a better plan, in order to move forward.

These are constructive words – there’s nothing offensive about them. It only seems that way when you’ve been conditioned to see it that way. Don’t allow other people to control you with their interpretation of negative words.

Failing is the new path to learning. Every outstanding person has used failing to pave the road to success. You have what it takes to fail your way to success. If it doesn’t work, review what happened and give it another shot – not only will you grow, but you might mess around enough times and accomplish your goals!

#TBT: How To Find The Opportunity In Fear

It sounds impossible, but you can find the opportunity in fear. Depending on your mindset, fear can either hold you back or take you to another level.

We’ve been trained to see fear and hurt as something to avoid. It’s something ‘bad’ that we want to get away from and we don’t ever want to experience it.

Have you ever considered that maybe your fear is pushing you in the right direction? Let’s examine how we normally react to fear.

Blaming And Complaining

Fear gets the best of our emotions. As soon as something makes us fearful, our feelings kick in and take over.

For some of us, that means we automatically become defensive. We create different excuses as to why we haven’t done something. The excuses are portrayed through blaming and complaining.

We say things like, “I couldn’t make the speech because they didn’t give me the right microphone…” or, “The lights were so bright, I couldn’t see the audience.” That’s fear consuming your mind and your attitude.

Those may be somewhat legitimate reasons (to an extent), but they’re still excuses. Sometimes, you will have to get things done, whether you are comfortable or not. Everything is not guaranteed to happen to your personal satisfaction. The end goal is to make it happen, the best way you can.

Practicing Fear

Some of us actually practice the fear within us. When you have pity parties and feel sorry for yourself, that’s being supporting of a negative emotion.

We say things like, “They said I’m no good at singing. I never was and I guess I never will be…”, or “I flunked the test twice already – I guess it’s not meant for me.” You’re indirectly inviting negative energy to take hold of your life.

If it’s something you really want to overcome, don’t feel bad because it didn’t happen the first time around. As long as you breathe, you can make another attempt.

There will always be people who are critical of whatever you’re doing. Never allow what someone else thinks, to interfere with what you’re doing. It’s their insecurity, not yours, so don’t claim it.

The Pity Party

The pity party is the ultimate setback. Some of us were raised to think and be fearful of things we’ve failed at. We’ve been taught to accept that we’re not ‘good enough’ and that’s not okay.

We’re used to reacting to obstacles by putting ourselves down. “Why me? What did I do to deserve this?” Then, you begin playing all of your failures from the past, over and over in your mind.

This is not the ONLY way to respond to fear. Yes, it hurts when challenging situations happen, but have a mindset of power and opportunity. Stop practicing fear by having a “woe is me” attitude and thinking that you’ll never succeed.

Be Proactive

All of our lives, we’ve allowed fear to steal valuable moments from us. We’re so used to believing in a negative, emotional power, that it literally takes up our most important asset – time.

Reclaim your time and take advantage of your fear. Be productive by turning it into an opportunity to become better. Make it a personal project that you must successfully complete!

Instead of letting fear control you, take control of it. See the benefits of what fear has to offer and use it in your favor. On the other side of fear is improvement. See through it, then, see it through.

#BeGoalden

When Motivation Becomes A Distraction

I know you’re thinking, “How can motivation become a distraction?” It sounds impossible, but there are ways people allow motivation to interfere with their goals.

Motivation is inspiring. It is the catalyst that creates motion. It gives us that mental push we need to move forward and accomplish our dreams. Without it, the world would move a lot slower.

We all have those things in our lives that help us take action, but what happens when that thing holds you back and causes inaction?

Motivation Is Like A Drug

For the most part, drugs are addictive. People become slaves to a substance that controls their minds and eventually, their actions.

Motivation is like a drug. Everyday, you consume motivational content, in one form or another, and it becomes addictive. It becomes hard to put it down because you want more and more.

Like drugs, motivation gives you a high. Although it’s not fatal, it can stop you from taking the action needed in order to get to your destination.

Social Media

If motivation is like a drug, who’s the pusher? Social media.

It’s great when you discover new content on social media that inspires and invigorates you, but in the end, that’s all you end up doing – scrolling through content.

Motivation feels good. You can picture yourself being successful, just like the person in the post. When you wake up in the morning and you start scrolling down your timeline, it feeds you with more and more. It gets you pumped up to take action. You’re ready to go, but then, you crash before you even start.

How many times have you (or someone you know) attended a seminar and you leave fired up and ready to take on the world, only to get home and follow up by doing nothing? The motivation is there, but you feel like you need more in order to move on.

The Distraction

This is when motivation becomes distracting. Your energy is there as long as you’re reading or looking at the content, but you never actually get around to putting one foot in front of the other and making it happen.

You become stuck and figure you need more motivation. Back to social media you go and consume more content. The more encouragement you can get, the harder you think you’ll work towards your goals. Day by day, it steals your attention and you become more sluggish.

Yes, your intention is to grind and hustle like the content says, but you only put in a little work and you’re back to needing more motivation. How can you turn this around?

Action Over Motivation

Like a drug addict, you have to go cold turkey when it comes to consumption. Yes, that means taking a break from social media and other forms of inspiring content.

Let’s not make the mistake of thinking that personal development is bad, because it’s not. Personal development has given people a positive way out of negative situations. It has transformed many destructive mindsets into thinking of productive possibilities.

At some point, you have to put in the work and take more action. Yes, it helps get you on your way, but nothing will happen unless you get to work!

Less Is More

Flip the script. Put a time limit on how you consume content. Put that extra attention towards taking action and making progress with your daily plan. Use that motivation to push you forward – it doesn’t take much.

It will be difficult, but make it simple: less consumption, more action. Create your own encouraging ideas to post for others to become motivated. Be the example.

But it won’t get done unless you put down the device and start taking action.

#BeGoalden