Ten Ways to Increase Motivation to Make History

'If you can dream about it, you probably can do it' makes a lot of sense in forcing yourself to achieve anything in life. The rule book of success does not define that only people who know the theories and practical of subjects should succeed in life. It is not necessarily a college certificate that makes a person great but having the right amount of motivation and passion to do something plays a mightier role in pushing a person to achieve great things and to create history. Steve Jobs, a college dropout who founded and headed one of the richest Software companies, Apple is an excellent example of achieving unfathomed greatness all because he was driven by the correct motivation and the right level of passion. If you have motivation to achieve something, you are bound to achieve the goal overcoming the frustrations, hurdles, rejection and resistance you may face on your way to success. “Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.” This is what motivated Steve Jobs to do what he did based on his Stanford Commencement speech. Here are 10 ways to boost your motivation level.

1. Follow your Heart. A friend of mine who is a professional chef has this cliché “If you know how to cook but don’t want to cook, do not cook as the food would not taste good.” I conjure this cliché is applicable for executing any type of work. If you have the passion of doing something, that itself is the first and most important step towards executing the task to successful completion. You need to love what you are about to do. That is the first motivation you’ll ever need to have a smooth sail all the way.

2. Set Achievable Goals. Breaking down the main task into smaller tasks and setting achievable goals makes the main task appear less strenuous. If your goal is to plant fruit trees in one acre, the objective is best achieved if you plan out how much trees you should plant and how much ground you should cover per day.

3. Laugh at yourself when you fail. When you face failure, learn to laugh at yourself heartily without losing hope. There cannot be success without facing failure. By laughing at yourself in good faith, you make a mockery of the failure in order to achieve self realization.

4. Learn to praise yourself. Even if others fail to ascertain the greatness of what you aim to achieve, this should not be the reason for you to sulk and feel dismayed. In such situations, the best thing you can do to motivate yourself is to praise yourself. If necessary, shout out some of these phrases loud “I am good at this, I am strong, I can do this.”

5. Be optimistic. Most of us have the tendency of visualizing only the cons side of things even before starting a task. This is a real killer towards achieving the final goal. ‘Be optimistic’ is the code word for achieving your objective.

7. Let someone know of your commitment. If you have made a commitment to execute something, it is recommended that you should let someone know about it. This way you have an observer who will know the outcome of your venture. You’ll have someone who will laugh at you when you fail and celebrate with you when you succeed.

6. Follow routine and rituals. For successful execution of any work either small or big, following a routine and rituals is a good habit that aids in systematic execution of work. This adds discipline to what you are about to do and gives you the much required confidence.

7. Overcome your fears. Fear of failure should not be allowed to lurk in your mind. For this you need to be well organized in your thinking and action.

8. Reward yourself. Whenever a milestone is achieved, celebrate in style to boost your spirit. Let others also know of your achievement. 

9. Visualize obstacles and find solutions. It is a very healthy practice to visualize the pros and cons of everything that you do. For the cons, you need to be prepared with the most suitable solution. Well planned works are less likely to fail because of the preparedness in solving the problems. When possible problems are detected before hand, it is more bearable dealing with the unforeseen ones.

10. Always give your best shot. Most of us have the tendency of categorizing work using some unseen yardstick taking into account the level of importance and criticality of the task. While it is good to prioritize work, it is detrimental to define the level of concentration for executing tasks depending on their importance. Make it a habit to give your best shot in everything you do and you’ll never regret the outcome.