3 Ways to Stay Motivated and Keep Moving Forward
Stop rationalizing, stop stewing. Get up
out of your chair and start doing.
We too frequently become adept at
pointing out our flaws and identifying
failures. We need to become equally
adept at citing our achievements. We
have to be willing to say to ourselves,
I'm on the right road. I'm doing OK.
I'm succeeding.
How do we change our mindset from
fault-finding and uninspiring to one that's
positive and motivating? Here are three
ways to stay motivated:
1. Chart your progress.
Identify things you are doing now that
you weren't doing one month ago… six
months ago… a year ago. What habits
have changed?
Doing well once or twice is relatively
easy. Continuously moving ahead is
tough, in part, because we so easily
revert to old habits and former lifestyles.
So give yourself regular feedback to
monitor your performance and reinforce
yourself positively. Don't wait for an
award ceremony, promotion, friend or
mentor to show appreciation for your
work. Take pride in your own efforts on
a daily basis.
2. Keep the end result in
sight.
Always see the big picture of the
ultimate goal you're working for and the
benefits that come with it.
During World War II, parachutes were
being constructed by the thousands.
From the workers point of view, the job
was tedious and repetitive. It involved
crouching over a sewing machine eight
to 10 hours a day, stitching endless
lengths of colorless fabric. The result
was a seamless heap of cloth. But every
morning the workers were reminded that
each stitch was part of a life-saving
operation. As they sewed, they were
asked to think that this might be the
parachute worn by their husband,t
brother or son. Although the work was
hard and the hours long, the women and
men on the assembly line understood
their contribution to the larger picture.
The same should be true with your
work. Each thing you do benefits
someone, something—the lives and
well-being of adults and children
throughout the world, not just generally,
but specifically. These are the visions
that drive us through tedious details to
the top.
3. Set up a dynamic daily
routine.
Getting into a positive routine or groove,
instead of a negative rut, will help you
become more effective. Why is the
subway the most energy efficient means
of transportation? Because it runs on a
track.
Think of the order in your day, instead of
the routine. Order is not sameness,
neatness or everything exactly in its
place. Order is not taking on more than
you can manage, without still being able
to do what you really choose. Order is
the opposite of complication; it's
simplification. Order is not wasting a lot
of time trying to find things. Order is
avoiding a lot of recriminations because
you didn't do something you promised.
Order is setting an effective agenda with
others so neither of you is disappointed.
Order is doing in a day what you set out
to do. Order frees you up. Get into the
swing of a healthy, daily routine and
discover how much more control you'll
gain in your life.