***How To Overcome A Lack Of Motivation

It happens to all of us at some stage - you want to achieve change in your life, but just cannot motivate yourself to do it. You really want to reach success, lose weight, or eat differently, but just do not have the push or willingness to take action. Every time you think about getting started on your desire to change, something more important comes up, like washing the dog or running your mom's errands.

The good news is that every person, including you, has the amazing potential to turn his or her desires into reality. You can achieve your dreams! However, to do so, you have to know how. It is easy to reach a high level of motivation once you know the few important areas to focus on. To increase your motivation, follow the simple steps outlined below:

1. Motivation and Goal Setting
When it comes to living a healthy and confident life, real goal achievement involves much more than good intentions. For example, it is not enough to know you want to eat differently or that you want to lose weight. Motivation can be defined as an impulse to channel energy and action toward a specific goal. This means, 1) you have to know what you want and be passionate about it, and, 2) you have to know how to set a goal. Goal setting is a powerful skill to learn because you give yourself a specific direction and you give your energy a precise focus.

2. Manage Agreements
In business management circles, there is a saying that you cannot manage people you can only manage agreements. Indeed, great leaders are compassionate and attempt to understand the feelings of their employees, but they do not try to manage other people's emotions and personalities. Instead, great leaders get great results from their people by managing agreements. This is also true for self-motivation. Learn to make adult, respectful decisions about the direction you are moving toward. Make specific agreements about your responsibility and commitment to precise actions. Then ask yourself, "Can I count on myself to follow through with this commitment, with 100-percent compliance? Can I count on myself for that?" If the answer is "Yes" then you have an agreement. Now, as you move forward and encounter inner resistance or emotional obstacles, you can manage your agreements without becoming trapped in sticky emotions. Agreements maintain motivation and action.

3. Imagine Success
Instead of constantly worrying and stressing, set aside time each day to envision a new life. Imagine clearly, and with all your internal senses, what it will be like to live your goal. Relish the physical sensations of the anticipation of your exciting dream. For example, the idea of losing weight is not very exciting; however, visualizing a new life of your choosing is exciting. Imagine yourself in your ideal life. Touch your body lovingly, breathe in the love for yourself, and feel the safety and comfort of living inside your body. Imagine your body as healthy and active. Whatever your goal, every day, make the choice to bring your dream front and center. Most of all, feel the excitement your dream generates. Allow that excitement to saturate your body to such an extent that you feel more alive and ready to take the next step of your journey.

4. Take Action Daily
Your goals need to move from the idea state into the physical state and the only way this can happen is when you take action. Action on a daily basis is necessary to make your dream come true. Your daily actions do not have to be big; they just have to be consistent. Follow your heart and choose the steps that you know in advance are the right actions for the amount of energy you have right now. Then follow through. Motivation increases as you become actively dedicated to the process of making your dreams come true.

5. Repeated Success Leads to Increased Motivation!
Helen Keller wrote, "Nothing can be done without hope and confidence." Every day, take a couple of minutes to list all your accomplishments for the day. Develop a tracking system for every effort and success, no matter how tiny. Each step toward your goal deserves recognition or some type of reward system. A checkmark on your calendar, congratulations from your loved ones, a hug from your partner, or money in your success jar all count. Document and celebrate often as you get in the habit of acknowledging what you have done right. Feeling the satisfaction of having achieved something has a snowball effect. With each success your confidence shoots up, you realize your limitless potential, and you gain more energy to take your next step. Repeated success in a particular activity motivates you to want to do that activity often.

6. Practice Kindness
Replace self-criticism with encouragement and motivating inspiration. You easily encourage everyone else in your life with praise and uplifting sentiments. Why not do the same for yourself? Imagine seeing a child looking forlorn because she cannot figure out the puzzle she is working on. You are not going to go over and verbally smack the frustration out of her, are you? Instead, you will probably talk compassionately to her, put an arm around her, see what is so upsetting, and inspire her with words that will keep her optimistic and inspired. Instead of punishing yourself when things do not work our right, begin cultivating compassion for yourself. You must feel deserving and worthy to sustain the motivation needed to achieve your desired outcome.

7. Believe in Yourself
Being motivated is all about knowing what you want and believing in your ability to achieve it. Belief is a feeling of certainty. It is like knowing the sun will rise tomorrow morning. You do not question whether the sun will rise, spend time worrying that it might not, or imagine the worst-case outcome. Believing in yourself requires that you focus energy and excitement on what you want. You form a loving partnership with your dream, even though the dream does not exist yet in your physical reality. You assume your desire will manifest, just as surely as the sun will rise again tomorrow. Believing in yourself requires spending time with what is important to you, and what feels good to you.