Woody Allen, Motivational Humour

By Prince Oversol

Humor is indeed the best medicine there is whenever you are. I mean anyone can pay good money to listen to a comedian just to make you wet your pants after laughing so hard.

What's really interesting is that how do people go through the usual part of life when faced with vein-popping stress? I mean, the new age thing like Zen or yoga is one of the good things and it actually works. Is there room for the intellectual side of people who can actually smell the roses-in-a-can while on the move? It kind of had me thinking that there really must be something in this 'mind-over-matter' thing.

Humor is indeed the best medicine there is whenever you are. I mean anyone can pay good money to listen to a comedian just to make you wet your pants after laughing so hard. Despite of what's been happening, and to those who has gone though the ordeal, it's better to just laugh while facing the troubles with a clear mind than anger with a clouded vision. One of my favorite celebrities of all time may have to be Woody Allen. Now this is one guy who gives you the in-your-face bluntness that he pulls out with gusto, even without even trying. You can talk just about anything with a man, and he's bound to mock the subject and you'll end up laughing rather than being upset about it.

Woody Allen has this to say:

1. "Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons." It sounds good to me, I mean the practicality of all things does involve money but it doesn't have to take an arm and a leg to get it.

2. "I believe there is something out there watching us. Unfortunately, it's the government." 'Nuff said.

3. "There are worse things in life than death. Have you ever spent an evening with an insurance salesman?" This happens to be one of the classic ones. I mean the issue about life's little problems isn't all that bad, until 'he' shows up.Sure, relationships can get complicated, or does have its complications that probably any author about relationships is bound to discover it soon. We follow what our heart desires, unless you're talking about the heart as in the heart that pump blood throughout your body.

4. "Love is the answer, but while you're waiting for the answer, sex raises some pretty interesting questions." And if you want more, just keep on asking!

5. "A fast word about oral contraception. I asked a girl to go to bed with me, she said 'no'." It sounds, 'practical', I think.And when it comes to everyday life, he really knows how to make the best out of every possible scenario, and it doesn't involve a lawsuit if he strikes a nerve.

6. "Basically my wife was immature. I'd be at home in the bath and she'd come in and sink my boats." I never had a boat in my bathtub before. Just staring at it while soaking in hot water makes me seasick already.

7. "I am not afraid of death, I just don't want to be there when it happens." If it rains, it pours.

8. "I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose." It could get worse when you're guzzling on beer… or mouthwash, and it happened to me once!

9. "If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans." At least he doesn't smite us with lightning, and I'm thankful for that.And despite of what may happen to all of us in the next ten, twenty, or even thirty years, I guess we all have to see things in a different kind of light and not just perspective. I can't seem to imagine life without any piece of wisdom that could guide us. Whether we're religious or not, it takes more courage to accept your fears and learn how to deal with them is all that matters when it comes to even just getting along.And to sum things up, here is the last nugget of wisdom to go by… however, whenever, and wherever we may be.

10. "The talent for being happy is appreciating and liking what you have, instead of what you don't have."

Thats all for now!

Prince is a Self Improvement enthusiast who enjoys Martials Arts in his spare time. His other hobbies include Online Marketing, Reading and Investment strategies. Contact him at Self Improvement Techniques or view his hottest promotions at Blazing Hot Products!.

Article Source: http://www.articles-hub.com/Article/161851.html

Impact of extrinsic motivation on intrinsic motivation

By Jacob Gan

Motivation can be simply defined as the things that induce us to take certain actions or behave in a certain way. It is the why or the reason that drives a person towards a desired goal. The reasons can be categorized into something that is within us i.e. intrinsic / internal motivation, or something that is external to us i.e. extrinsic / external motivation.

Internal motivation in performing a task occurs when the task in itself is experienced as rewarding and there is no need for any external reward before it is performed. Examples are love of the task, self-satisfaction, sense of achievement, relaxation purpose, etc.

External motivation in performing a task occurs when the task is performed because of an external reward. Examples are praise, recognition, money, stickers, grades, material rewards, etc.

Motivation can be seen as a continuum from being externally driven to becoming more internally driven. All of us start off in life being externally driven. Remember how many children are bribed with sweets or stickers, and do things to get praise from adults. But as we mature and our material needs become more satisfied, we become more internally driven. Though intrinsic motivation is generally accepted as being better as it is within the internal control of the person, external motivation is useful in helping a person initially to get on a task when he does not feel intrinsically motivated to do so.

However, the excessive use of external motivation might have detrimental effects. This has been shown in research or experiments that examine the effects of external reward on an internally motivated task.

The 1973 paper "Undermining children's intrinsic interest with extrinsic rewards: A test of the overjustification hypothesis" by M Lepper, D Green & R Nisbett, reported an interesting experimental observation. During children's free-play time, a fun drawing activity was introduced. They observed the children playing and selected those children who appeared to find intrinsic satisfaction in drawing. These children were placed under three different conditions.

Condition 1: "Good Player" certificate was shown to some of the children, and asked if they would like to draw to win the certificate.

Condition 2: Some children were given the opportunity to simply engage in drawing and the children were given the "Good Player" certificate unexpectedly.
Condition 3: Some children simply drew without expecting or receiving any reward.

Two weeks later, all these children were again allowed to engage in the drawing activity. The result was interesting. It was found that the children who chose to draw for the reward showed less interest in drawing, and also when the reward was withdrawn, these children simply stopped drawing. Children in the other two conditions showed no significant change in their interest in drawing. The result seems to suggest that the external reward of a "Good Player" certificate destroyed the original intrinsic motivation for drawing.

In 1975, EL Deci reported his research findings in the paper "Intrinsic motivation", that when people were given rewards for pursuing intrinsically satisfying goals, decreased motivation was the result. The result seems to suggest that if people already enjoy what they are doing, giving rewards for their engaging in this activity can act as a deterrent in continuing with that activity.

These two reports seem to suggest that external rewards can destroy intrinsic motivation. There is therefore the danger of "overjustification" in our enthusiasm to motivate good performance through rewards.

What are the lessons that we can learn in motivating our children, students or subordinates? Suggestions are:

1. Develop intrinsic motivation for tasks, e.g. by providing a safe environment for them to pursue their own interests without undue interference.

2. Encourage intrinsic motivation for tasks e.g. providing opportunities for sharing of work and of the personal satisfaction gained.

3. Provide external rewards sparingly, and without giving expectations for it.

References:
1. http://www.succezz.com/S2/ForbiddenPsychologicalTactics.html
2. http://www.succezz.com/S2/Confessionsofawebsitecopywriter.html
3. http://www.succezz.com/S2/MotivateYourWayToSuccess.html

Self Motivation Techniques

By Munyaradzi Chinongoza

Self motivation, who has not needed some good techniques to motivate themselves at one point or another in their life. It could have been getting up out of your bed early in the morning to go to school or work, or go for that daily run even though it's a little cold outside. If you want to be able to effectively use your mind power to motivate yourself you have to have patience.

There are many different motivation techniques and of course not all work for everyone. However knowing them is just the first step so that you may then pick the ones that you would like to try and see if they work for you.

The first thing is you must be truly interested in the task you want to achieve. If you don't care about something it will feel like it's impossible to feel motivated about it. A good thing to do would be to connect it to your ultimate goal in the end. If you don't want to do an assignment just realize that the sooner you get it over with, is the sooner you can put it in your list of things completed and you don't have to worry about it anymore.

Another good technique would be to strengthen your desire. If it's about losing weight and you don't want to work out think about that dream body you can achieve if you just put in 20 minutes per day of exercise. Sometimes the biggest problem can be lack of energy and you need to do something that will give you an energy boost. Drink some coffee, the caffeine will give you the energy boost you need. Alternatively, you can go outside sometimes just feeling the sunshine and taking in the fresh air can be energizing.

However the easiest self motivation technique of all would be to have better sleep. If you can manage to get at least 5 hours of sleep a day, the quality of it will be more important than the quantity to help rejuvenate your body.

If you want more FREE self motivation techniques, please visit our blog: www.SelfMotivation4life.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Munyaradzi_Chinongoza

How to Motivate to Massive Action

By Tina Su

"It's the action behind the attraction that makes the wish come true"

Powerful motivation comes in understanding that you can achieve anything you truly desire in your heart. It is the knowledge that you are destined to fulfill your every goal, which drives you to change.

The decision is the first step towards change. Regardless of the decision, every change requires some form of action. Do you find it challenging at times to motivate yourself in taking action? Sometimes, I catch my mind making excuses, and occasionally I 'succeed' in avoiding the action all together. Here are some pointers I have personally found helpful in motivating myself:

What & Why? - "Start with the end in mind." To achieve a goal, it's important to define clearly what that goal is. How do you know when you've achieved it? Define a measurable end. Once you have your goal, it's important to understanding the Why - why you are doing it? Ask yourself what are the motivating factors behind it? For your family? For your kids? Why? Why must you succeed?

Break it down to small achievable tasks - It is very easy, and human, to be overwhelmed by the sheer effort and energy involved in achieving a big goal. Especially if the goal consists of many unknowns or a long-drawn process. We tell ourselves it's impossible or it's too much work, and then we give up even before we take any action towards a goal. I've found it very helpful to always split the main goal into several milestones. Then breaking each milestone into a series of steps to achieve that milestone. For each step, break them down further into smaller, measurable and achievable tasks that can be achieved in a few hours or less. This will make the goal appear manageable. Achieving one task after another builds confidence and momentum, and before you know it, the end result will be in sight. Personally, I feel rewarded and more motivated just by crossing tasks off with a black marker as I complete them.

Take a Small Step - Even the smallest first step will help create momentum towards change. "Start doing the thing to have energy to do the thing" -Bob Proctor.When I heard this, a light bulb went off in my head. So now, whenever I don't want to do something that I know will help me. I would trick myself into thinking 'I'm just gonna start it, it'll only take a few minutes.' And once I start it, I typically will finish the task. I have this quote written on a cue card, taped on the wall across from my bed, serving as a daily reminder.

Rewards & Celebration - Give yourself small rewards for each completed step or task. Then celebrate when you reach each Milestone! I use ice-cream, Chai, reading and internet browsing time as rewards for myself. Look back at what you've done, enjoy it, embrace it, and give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done! I like to exaggerate this step by doing a "happy dance": very silly moves I do, that tend to make other people (and myself) laugh. This way, my body moves, I'm smiling and my mind will create positive associations with achieving milestones to being happy.

Pain vs. Pleasure - Have you noticed that you are more inclined to avoid pain, than to gain pleasure? For example, we all know the benefits of eating healthy and exercising, but this benefit alone often is not enough to motivate us to action. But, if your doctor tells you that must live a healthier lifestyle or in 6 months you will contract a life-threatening illness, you are more likely to make the change. Here's a visualization technique I picked up from a Tony Robbins 'Unleash the power within' seminar:

Visualize yourself in 5 years without taking the actions to reach your goal. See yourself in pain. Do this for a minute, and then intensify the feeling. Feel the heaviness on your back. Do this for a few minutes, and then relax.

Now visualize yourself having achieved your goal. What do you look like? How are you celebrating? See and feel the benefits it's provided. Now, let that feeling intensify. Do this for a few minutes as the feeling intensify some more.

Inspiration - Being around motivating people really helps to inspire us into action. People who are consistently aligning their decisive actions towards their goals. Being around these people can be infectious, and their energy will impact you. If you don't have such people in your life? Get a cd or dvd of a motivational speaker. Just listening to an outstanding speaker's voices, can create enough energy to pump you up. I recommend, "Anthony Robbins", "Les Brown" and "Bob Proctor".

What do you do to motivate yourself? Please share your 'secret' in the comments!

Tina is passionate about Personal Development and Spiritual Growth. She runs multiple businesses and has learned how to do so without any Stress. Visit her website at Think Simple. Be Decisive for her secrets to Productivity, Motivation and Happiness.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tina_Su

3 Keys To Self Motivation

By Bridgette Boudreaux

Have you ever had a day when nothing goes as planned? You've missed deadlines, the car won't start, traffic is awful or you're late for a presentation. You are experiencing anxiety and extremely discouraged but you continue to mask to others that all is well. Hey, we've all been there. When no one is there (or you prefer not to share) you must motivate yourself to go on and get through this mood. Try these three self motivating strategies to get back on track.

Mission Statement

Create a personal mission statement to review and remind yourself of what you are working to become, have or create. A personal mission statement defines your core values, goals, visions and what's important to you, the principals by which you choose to live your life. What are you pursuing? Why do you do what you do? Why is it all worth it even on the most challenging days? Your personal mission statement should answer those questions.

Review this personal mission statement: To use my education, experience and God given talents to empower others and to create a six figure salary within three years doing the type of work I love. Imagine having that statement near by to review when you feel like giving up! Your personal mission statement should motivate and inspire you to continue on your course of action until you reach your desired outcome. Create your personal mission statement and keep it within arms reach for those challenging days or read it daily as your personal motivator.

Meditation

If you feel that you are at your boiling point, stop! Sit down at your desk, close your eyes, relax your shoulders, and take deep breaths while thinking of nothing. Although thoughts will come, honor them and then let them go. Try this meditation exercise for 10 - 15 minutes if possible and incorporate it into your daily schedule. Meditation can reduce high blood pressure, help you gain focus and most of all defuse negative emotions. Once you have meditated, you can focus on the positive as oppose to the negative and take care of your physical needs because carrying around stress is not good for your overall health.

Change Your Mindset

Change the way you think about challenges. It may seem as failure to you, however began to view failures or setbacks as challenges and as a learning opportunity. What have you learned about the experience that may help you in the future? If you missed deadlines in the past, what can you now do to your schedule to meet future deadlines? What about creating self-imposed deadlines that are set three to four days prior to the actual deadline? Embrace challenges as a learning opportunity of how not to do it again or how to better plan. Learn, improve and move on.

© 2007 Bridgette Boudreaux

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Business Coach, Bridgette Boudreaux, Teaches Female Small Biz Owners To Get It All Done In 6 Hours or Less Daily!
If you'd like to work less hours, accelerate productivity and double your income while creating more time for family & fun stuff with Bridgette's simple but powerful 5 Step System, call today to schedule a Free half-hour phone consultation at 1-800-373-0797. Learn more now at http://www.yourtime2soar.com
Coach Bridgette also offers Free teleclasses Free articles and other resources to help female small biz owners to get it all done. Learn more now at http://www.yourtime2soar.com
Soaring to Achievements, Inc.7670 Branch DriveNew Orleans, LA 701281-800-373-0797

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bridgette_Boudreaux

Types Of Motivation!

By Max Ng

The type of motivation will determine how strong one can be to overcome obstacles.

Everyone want to achieve financial freedom but why is it only so few people make it? This is the question I keep asking myself. If I can solve the puzzle, then I will be able to become rich. Yes, I have read the Rich Dad's series by Robert Kiyosaki that not everyone is willing to pay the price of becoming rich. But that makes me wonder why certain people are willing to pay the price of becoming rich? What kind of motivation do they have? How do their motivations enable them to pay the price of becoming rich?

To answer this question, let me share with you about the story of three experiments with rats. Please note that I do not know the exact details on the experiments nor the true purpose of the experiments. Maybe the experiments never occurred. Anyway, this is how the story goes based on my memory:

In the first experiment, the female rat is put in one side of the box while the food is put on the other side of the box. There is a kind of electrical obstacle in between the box. The controller can adjust the strength of the electric current. If there is electricity passing through the electrical obstacle, the rat will get an electric shock if it comes into contact with the electrical obstacle.

At first there is no electricity passing through the obstacle, thus the rat can easily cross the obstacle to the other side of the box to eat the food. Then, the controller increases a little amount of current into the electrical obstacle and put the rat back to the origin location. The rat will get an electrical shock when it tries to cross over to reach the food source. But it still can bear with the shock.

The controller repeats the process by increasing the strength of the electric current. It will reach a point where the rat feels that it is too painful to cross over for the food source. It will then stop trying altogether and starve itself to death.

In the second experiment, the female rat is put in one side of the box while its partner, the male rat and the food are put on the other side of the box. The difference is that the male rat is tied up and thus it cannot reach the food to feed itself. The electrical current is adjusted to the strength where first experiment has ended.

Here is the amazing thing. The female rat is able to cross the electrical obstacle to reach its partner and the food. It seems that the female rat is much more motivated to cross the electrical obstacle than before. Again the controller repeats the process by increasing the electric current each time. It will reach a point where the electrical shock is too much that the female rat gives up.

In the third experiment, the female rat is put in one side of the box while its baby rat and food are put on the other side of the box. The electric current is adjusted to the strength where the second experiment has ended.

The female rat performs yet another amazing stun. It manages to cross the electrical obstacle to feed its baby. And the controller repeats the process by increasing the electrical current. Guess what, the female rat will keep trying until it gets electrocuted.

From the above story, I notice that the female rat become more and more motivated in each experiments. When the motivation is to purely to feed itself, the female rat is not that strong and persistent to achieve its goal. When the motivation is to feed its partner, the female rat is much stronger and persistent. When the motivation is to feed its baby, the female rat become unstoppable in its quest.

How is the above story related to financial freedom?

According to my understanding of the Rich Dad's series, financial freedom is achieved when my passive income is more than my expenditure and earned income. If I want to achieve financial freedom purely for myself, then my motivation is like that of the female rat in the first experiment. I am likely to give up when things get tough. For example, I want to become rich so that I can have big house, nice car and luxury items. But when things get tough, I will give up my dreams.

If I want to achieve financial freedom because of my loved ones, then my motivation will become much stronger like that of the female rat in the second and third experiments. For example, if I need the money for operation to save my loved one, then I will definitely more be motivated to succeed.

What if my motivation is to help a lot of people including my loved ones? Then my motivation will become much stronger. For example, the reason that people fight in war is because they believe that they are protecting their countries. In conclusion, the types of motivation will determine how strong I can become to achieve my goal of financial freedom.

* DISCLAIMER * The author, publisher and distributors particularly disclaim any liability, loss, or risk taken by individuals who directly or indirectly act on the information contained herein. All readers must accept full responsibility for their use of this material.

Article Source: http://www.ArticlesAlley.com/

About the Author: Max Ng helps people who desire success to learn from his mistakes and realizations by sharing his personal struggle for success at http://www.richdadsecrets4me.com. He is the author of "Your Greatest Gift! Why Waste It?" at http://www.yourgreatestgift.com

Lack of Motivation and Enthusiasm

By Remez Sasson

Motivation and enthusiasm manifest as desire and interest, and as a driving force that pushes to take action and pursue goals. Lack of motivation and enthusiasm denotes absence or deficiency in desire, interest and driving force.

Lack of motivation and lack of enthusiasm are two of the main reasons for failure and of living a mediocre life. People lacking in motivation and enthusiasm are usually passive, blame everything and everyone for their circumstances, and often come up with many excuses why they shouldn't and cannot do this or that, while a motivated person will take initiative, try and not give up, and will not even think about such excuses.

Lack of motivation and enthusiasm can manifest everywhere, at home, at work, in relationships, in pursuing goals and in everything else. This often brings indifference, unhappiness and dissatisfaction.

What are the reasons for lack of motivation and enthusiasm?

Lack of faith in one's abilities.

Fear of failure, due to failure in the past.

Low self-esteem.

Lack of enough interest.

Fear of what others might say.

The habit of procrastination.

Laziness.

No awareness of the importance and usefulness of the subject or goal.

The feeling or belief that there are other more important things to do.

Not having the time to delve into the subject or goal.

Being too stressed or nervous.

Absence of enough stimuli or incentives.

The above reasons stifle motivation and enthusiasm, and are only excuses for not acting. However, you learn to overcome and disregard them, by becoming aware of them, acknowledging them, and understanding that you can change the programming of your mind.

Sometimes, people show short bursts of motivation or enthusiasm. They start doing something enthusiastically, but lose interest and motivation after a while, because they find it hard to sustain them.

If you wish to improve your life, you need to awaken motivation and enthusiasm. You need to realize how much you lose by their absence, and how much you gain by having them.

If you are overweight, and you don't have enough inner strength to exercise your body or follow a diet, you should consider strengthening your motivation to lose weight.

If you are a student, and are too lazy to study, you need to strengthen your desire to invest more attention, time and energy in your studies.

If you are lonely and gloomy, but wish to have love and happiness in your life, you need to kindle your desire and enthusiasm to find love. You need to awaken the desire and willingness to put time and effort into searching for someone to share your life with.

You need incentive and drive to follow your big dreams, and also for the performance of minor daily tasks and chores, otherwise laziness and absence of energy will set in procrastination. Instead of suffering, feeling uncomfortable and passive, it would be much better to awaken enough motivation to take action and do things. This will make you feel much better, happy and satisfied.

Procrastination, laziness, indifference and passivity bring unhappiness, weakness and lack of satisfaction, but being enthusiastic, motivated and active bring a sense of joy, strength and power. By getting motivated, you act, do things, take your mind off problems and difficulties and focus on finding solutions and achieving success.

So what can you do to get motivated and more enthusiastic?
Find out where you really need motivation. This means finding out what really matters to you, what actions will bring benefits and improvement into your life and the life of the people around you.

Find what are your real goals in life, but don't forget also to focus your attention on the little things of life, where a little motivation will help too. You will feel better and your life would improve, if you also overcome lack of motivation in small everyday life matters, such as washing the dishes, throwing the garbage, cooking, cleaning, working, reading, writing a letter or just being nice to your neighbors.

This article is intended to bring you general information on motivation and the lack of it. For more information and advice about developing it, I invite you to read the other articles about motivation at this website, by following the links at the top of this page.

Article Source: http://www.successconsciousness.com/lack-motivation-enthusiasm.htm

Motivation and How to Get Motivated

By Remez Sasson

Motivation has become a popular word nowadays. There are motivational coaches and speakers, and motivational books and articles. What is it actually, and why do you need it?

Motivation is a driving force. In order to accomplish anything, you need a driving force, otherwise nothing will happen. A wish is not strong enough to make you take action. A wish is a weak desire. Only a strong desire can drive forward, to act and accomplish aims and goals.

In order to get motivated, you need to know exactly what it is that you want, to possess a strong desire, and to be willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish your goal.

More than often there is lack of motivation or only a short-lived one. How many times have you started enthusiastically a weight loss program, began a bodybuilding or aerobics training program or started to learn a foreign language, only to stop after a short while? Few people possess enough willpower and self-discipline to go through to the end with what they begin (this is one of the reasons I have written the book "Will Power and Self Discipline").

It easier to show motivation in connection with a subject that is dear to you. If you desire something, but you don't feel motivated enough to act, this means that the desire is not important enough. To be motivated to take action and do something in respect to your desire, you need to possess a really strong desire.

Motivation has much to do with the emotions and the imagination, which means that if you want to increase it, you have to work on your feelings and imagination.

Tips to increase your motivation:

1. Think, meditate and find out whether you really want to achieve your desire, and whether it is worth the effort and time.

2. Make your goal very clear. Writing it down will help.

3. Think often about your goal or desire.

4. Visualize your goal as already accomplished, and close your mind to contrary thoughts.

5. Read books or articles about the subject of your goal.

6. Read about people who have achieved success.

7. Think often about the benefits you will gain by achieving your goal.

8. Visualize, and think about how you would feel after achieving your goal.

9. Repeat positive affirmations such as: "I have the desire and inner strength to achieve my goal". Repeat this affirmation often, with faith and strong feelings.

10. Start with doing something small concerning your goal. Success in small matters leads to greater success.

Motivation is the powerful engine that moves you towards success and accomplishments in every area.

Article Source: http://www.successconsciousness.com/motivation.htm

Spurts of Enthusiasm and Lack of Interest

By Remez Sasson

Enthusiasm is the electricity of life. How do you get it? You act enthusiastic until you make it a habit.- Gordon Parks -

Do you sometimes feel enthusiastic, motivated and energetic when starting something new, but after some time lose your enthusiasm and interest? This can happen when practicing a self-improvement program, studying a new subject, dieting, exercising or doing anything else. Though you understand the importance of what you are doing, know that it will help you, still let laziness set in, as well as lack of motivation, lack of enthusiasm and lack of enough willpower. This makes you feel that what you started to do is now like a burden for you.

Often people start practicing concentration exercises, meditation, self-discipline exercises or any other program relating to self improvement or spiritual growth, but not seeing immediate and spectacular results, stop and give up. Everything in life requires some work, effort and time, and self-improvement or spiritual growth methods are no different.

The question is what to do when interest and enthusiasm wanes? How to persevere when there isn't enough willpower and self-discipline? The program or goal seems worthwhile, but there isn't enough inner strength to pursue it. Self-defeating habits, negative programming, and lack of inner strength stand on one's way.

This is why people buy and read books, attend classes, courses and workshop, and yet find they are not making enough progress. This is why enthusiasm and hopes are replaced by depression, self-pity and lack of self-esteem.

Often, after reading a book or an article, after listening to a lecture or watching a movie, there is a burst of enthusiasm and a high energy level, but this often does not last long.

So what can you do to keep enthusiastic and motivated? Short spurts of enthusiasm or motivation are not enough to accomplish anything of value. You need to keep your desire and inner flame alive and focused on your goal. So what can you do about it?

# Devote 10 minutes a day to reading about the benefits of what you want to do or accomplish.

# Read every day about people who achieved success by being tenacious and persistent.

# Every day, find a quiet place, and for several minutes visualize yourself acting with enthusiasm and motivation.

# Every success requires dedication, time, perseverance and tenacity. This means that you should not give up quickly. Remember the story about the gold prospector, who, after digging to some depth did not find anything, gave up and went away. Then someone else came, and after digging just a few inches more struck gold. You need to be patient and persistent, even if you see no progress, because success might be just a few inches away.

# Keep repeating affirmations that empower you and inflame your enthusiasm and motivation. Appropriate affirmations can be found at this website, as well as at other websites.

# Never regard what you are doing as drudgery. With some thinking and some changes you can turn it into a pleasurable activity.

# Once you decide about anything, go on with it, even after you lose enthusiasm and desire. Don't give up, even if what you are doing seems to be like a burden and drudgery. Don't give up, even if you feel bored. Just keep telling yourself about the benefits of what you are doing, and keep thinking and visualizing how it will be like after accomplishing what you have set to do.

Remember, this is your own life, and you are responsible for it. Why succumb to laziness and negative programming? This might not be easy, and there might be obstacles on the way, but just think about how happy you would be after you win, and how your life would change, if you disregard laziness, negative thoughts, negative programming and the fear of hard and sustained work, and keep your mind on the goal, no matter what.

Don't rely on spurts of enthusiasm to carry you to your destination. You need to stand up, and awaken the dormant powers that are within you. Never give up, but keep going on, even if the going is tough and you feel the desire to stop. If you keep going, and use affirmations and visualizations, soon your desire and enthusiasm will grow and the progress will become easier.

Article Source: http://www.successconsciousness.com/spurts-enthusiasm.htm

Great Motivation Boosters

By Christopher Swyer

Regardless of what goals you are trying to achieve, you’ve always got to be motivated so that you have the mental boost to work towards those goals. Being motivated is extremely important because even if you’ve convinced yourself that you want to get to certain goals, it might not always be easy to concentrate on them when hurdles start to come your way.

It is essential to have an optimistic mental state to accomplish what you’ve set out to, and self-motivation is an especially excellent way to go about it. You can modify your tactics anytime you think that alterations will be for the better. Your motivation strategy should be flexible so that you feel comfortable with it at all times, and not let it turn into a chore. There may well be unforeseen change in your life and you have to modify your tactics to accommodate any surprises that show up.

The first action for you to take is to map out a plan to motivate yourself and then get it down on paper. Once you’ve wrote it down, you can then split it into smaller tasks which you can do every day and which, at the end of the day, will make you feel much stronger and calmer.

This is an excellent way to do this and you will avoid the feeling of being out of your depth, possibly thinking that you’ve tried to accomplish a goal that is not possible for you to accomplish. Each time you complete one of the tasks on your goal list you’ll get a great feeling of achievement, and this will help you stay motivated to complete the next item on your list.

You’ll be on a psychological high from the feeling of optimism you’ll get when you reward yourself for being able to complete your goals. You can decide your own prize - it could be eating some sweets, or talking with a buddy for twenty minutes on the telephone.

Make sure that you don’t delay doing anything that you can do now. If you procrastinate, you will end up feeling much less motivated at the end of the day. By keeping focused on what you need to do; you can help yourself achieve the goals much easier.

Keeping to the goal lists you create is a good way to fend off procrastination. You can try breaking down the big yearly goals into smaller monthly tasks, and these into weekly ones. Then further break these into even smaller daily tasks which you can do fairly easy, and yet be working towards the achievement your yearly goals. As soon as you’ve got into the routine of doing these daily tasks, you’ll be able to tick them off your list as the day ends and not procrastinate.

Creating lists is an easy simple way to make you work a little bit every single day and therefore contribute to your major end goals. Reward yourself every time you complete your daily tasks and the good feelings will help increase your motivation too.

This motivational article is by Christopher Swyer. To get more great motivational articles by Christopher Swyer and other experts in this field, go to the ChristopherSwyer.com website now!

How To Get Motivated With 12 Powerful Motivational Techniques

By May Chew

How to get motivated- is not as easy as some may say. “Just do it” has gotten to sound to pretty cliche and often does not work as well. Unless it is between life and death. Motivation levels will certainly change then. Otherwise, most times, we find it hard to get ourselves motivated to do things that we know we need or ought to do. Here are 12 tips to get you motivated and create the life of you deserve.

1) Be a bum. Take time off to dream, enjoy and bask in the glory and enjoyment of this earth and of nature. Bask. Take the time to discover inner peace and appreciate yourself.

2) Write your own obituary. Think of what would be written if you had to write it right now, 6 months from now and if you had to write it when you are at 100 years of age. How different will they be? This can be quite revealing. 3) Know for a fact that you are extremely valued and loved. That you have the right to dream and explore. No one is going to take that right away from you. Tell yourself “ I am loved and valued. God loves me. Everything is conspiring to make me better and better. Even though I may make a few mistakes, it only makes me wiser and stronger.

4) Realize that you have a destiny to fullfil. You were created for a purpose. The world will be different without you. You do and are here to make a difference.

5) Love yourself. Tell yourself that you love yourself. Say “I love myself” a hundred times. Love your entire self. Tell every part of your body, spirit and soul that you love it. Say: I love my head, I love my body, I love my hair, I love my eyes, I love my toes, I love my toenails, etc. Because our Creator did not create anything less than excellent. Every part you is a masterpiece of love and genius. Accept it. Embrace it. Love it.

6) Take responsibility. There is no other reason for what you are at your present state than what you have allowed into your life. Admit it. Law of Attraction or not, you are responsible for creating your life and your future. After all, there is another law: the Law of Cause and Effect. Once you realize You have control over more areas than one, you will have the freedom to explore, discover, change and move on. Motivation increases by leaps and bounds.

7) Set goals, and find strong reasons for your goals. Think of the three most important goals you want to achieve in the next year and pick out the single most important goal. Think of 20 different reasons why you want to achieve these for each of the goals. The more reasons you can give for your goals, the more you will want to achieve them ( the last few reasons may take some creativity but the exercise is well worth it).

8) Find a strong enough reason and Take Action Right Now. Know that your action makes a huge difference. Imagine the worst case scenario if you had not achieved what you’ve set out to do. For example, if you did not act quickly enough, a life would not have been saved. Or if you did not earn a certain amount by a certain date, you and your family will starve and will have to live on the streets. Your action NOW will make or break the day.

9) Fuel the reason with passion and emotion. Feel repulsed, disgusted for example, if you still have not lost weight after a designated time. Feel exhilarated when the outcome is reached. Act as if the outcome has been achieved. Belief with emotion and action is extremely powerful.

10) Tell someone. Tell a friend of family member what you intend to do. Grab a mentor, a coach. Anyone. Just by being accountable to someone will do wonders to your motivation level.

11) Fill your mind with your successes, positive thoughts. Yours and others who have gone the same path. Learn fear busting techniques, techniques that fuel your passion, techniques for personal excellence. Tell yourself you will not aim low. Tell yourself you will multiply your value a hundredfold. Visualize the imagined outcome and believe it will come true.

12) Finally, ( this is the best) in gratitude think of how you can give back to the world. Love what you are doing. Love your surroundings. Love - your family, your neighbors, the poor, the needy. You come from a position of abundance. You have been given much. Give in return. In so doing, you will achieve real happiness and great satisfaction. The love you give will return a hundred and thousandfold. Your motivation will skyrocket and multiply. And you will become unstoppable.

May is passionate about helping people achieve the life of their dreams. Live fully, love, be, do and have. In abundance. http://www.successinspired.com . Get your free report on attracting success and wealth at: http://www.wisdomofgettingwealthy.com/rights/attractionaccelerator.pdf

Greatest Gold-Mine Of Easy

By Chris Sullivan

The most important brainstorm you will ever experience about motivation is to realize that you can’t do it for people. As an Owner, manager or coworker, no matter how hard you try, people choose whether to experience motivation at work. You can’t motivate others. You can only choose motivation for yourself. I recommend it. Days speed quickly by and you are engrossed in activities you enjoy. Challenges multiply because you are excited. You set and achieve challenging goals. You feel good about yourself and your self-esteem swells, on and off the job.

Motivational experts get paid big bucks to tell professionals, striving for success, that they must constantly examine these factors. How do you do that? Follow the 5 tips that follow, and watch the changes.

1. Maintain a Positive Attitude – Let’s realize that life is only 10% of what happens to us and 90% how we react to it. You are responsible for our own actions and attitudes, and altering them when needed. When you’re around people/things that are uplifting and positive, you feel that way. You have more confidence in yourself, and know you can change whatever needs changing. If you can make your workplace such a place you’ll find happier workers and higher production. You might even find your employees look forward to coming to work!

2. Everyone has problems, but they don’t belong at work, so leave your personal troubles home. Focus your attention and energy completely on your daily tasks. This will actually be good for you because you’ll get a mental break from your troubles.

3. Create Positive Affirmations - The reason for writing goals for your business is the same as creating positive affirmations on paper. What your eyes see and ears hear, your mind will believe. Try it! After you’ve written them down, read them aloud to yourself – and do it every morning when you get into work. You’ll be blown away at what happens. Come up with a set of new ones every month. Statements such as, “I’m an important and valuable person,” or “I know I’ll make good use of my time today.” Repeating them out loud everyday at a set time will help reinforce positive actions.

4. Make Sure Break Times Are Really Break Times - This is an area where most bosses/entrepreneurs fall down. You become so intense about the project or situation you’re working on that you don’t ease up. Thinking that it’ll be solved in the next few seconds, and then you’ll get a cup of coffee can lead you right up to quitting time. Regularly adhering to a specified break schedule, even if you’re the boss, releases the tension. If you work on a computer this is even a greater problem because before you realize it – you’ve been working in that same position for hours. The best answer to this is to set yourself a reminder on your appointment calendar for every 2 hours, and let the computer reminder chime send you the alert to move around.

5. Exercise, Exercise, Exercise - I know that lately it seems that “exercise” is the cure-all to every physical ailment or your love life, but despite that there is some truth to that ugly word. By “exercise” I don’t mean that you should go out and join a gym and spend your lunch-time, 3-days-a-week there working out. What is really beneficial and workable is that at those chiming alerts from your computer, get up and walk around your desk or room. Maybe go outside and get the mail and enjoy the sunlight (if you’re an entrepreneur that has a home office), or just get up and do a few stretches. Concentrated, tense thinking – typing - plotting plans - or whatever your work, makes all those muscles tighten up and knot up. Then when we move we “ooh” and “ouch” because we’ve knotted up into a ball of tension. Periodic stretching, even at our desk, or just getting up and walking over to the window and getting a different view can help. One of the greatest disservice modern business d้cor has done to us, is making our offices pristine, sleek, unencumbered spaces. There is nothing more relaxing than getting up from your desk and walking over to a peaceful, serene, seascape or pastoral painting and just drinking it in visually. Momentarily transporting your mind out of work and into that place does wonders. A few good paintings and less shiny chrome in offices would benefit us all.

It only takes a little concentrated effort on our part to keep motivated and productive, which leads to success. I know you’re going to hate hearing this, but it’s true anyway – and that is, “WHEN LIFE GIVES YOUR LEMONS – MAKE LEMONADE!”

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How To Keep Motivated And Achieve The Life Of Your Dreams

By May Chew

How to keep yourself motivated is an issue everyone has to cope with. Especially when the going gets touch. The motivated person will be able to ride the difficulties and make their dreams come true. “ Ah great it is, believe the dream As we stand in youth by the starry stream. But a great thing is to live life through, And say at the end the dream came through.”

Keeping yourself motivated is the key to long term success and worthwhile accomplishment. Here are some reasons behind achieving sustainable motivation, that will fulfill dreams and make goals a reality.

1. Have a strong reason why. Know why you want to accomplish what you are doing. Examine the consequences if you did not do, and attach a meaning behind what you are doing. The reason why high school dropouts, when they finally turn around, is because they have tasted and experienced the consequence of lack of motivation in their lives. It is because they want to achieve a turnaround and experience success that they are motivated to achieve. A strong emotion has been attached to ie- perhaps pain, and they have a strong reason to change. Victor Frankl, agreed with the philosopher Nietszche that he who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how. At the heart of his theory is the belief that whatever personal circumstances, what keeps us going is the meaning we find in living. Frankl noted that people who had hope of being reunited with loved ones or who had projects they needed to complete or who had great faith tended to have a better chance at survival than those who did not have a reason or had little to keep them from going through the difficulties. The belief and the meaning and the reason for living on belief helped him survive the camps against all odds when millions others perished under the harsh conditions. To keep yourself motivated therefore, create a strong reason for yourself.

2. Set yourself up for success. As human beings, success breeds success. And nothing is sweeter than the taste of accomplishment. We need to experience and know that we can succeed. We get about the same boost from small as well as from big accomplishments. This phenomenon is strange but true. Small victories are often the most fulfilling. The spirit is nurtured by accomplishment. Whether we win big or small does not matter- the fact is, you have accomplished and achieved something significant that we have set out to do and you have tasted success.

3. Contribute to something significant. Most of us have a need to create something positive, to contribute, to pursue a cause in which we can see that that what we are doing is worthwhile. That it is not wasted effort. There is value in what we are doing. And that fulfills the need to contribute to something significant. This is an inherent need in all of us. Fill that need. Motivation will soar when it is seen that there is something positive to give.

4. Create your own goals.If you are leading a group and they are not really motivated, let them create their own goals. It could be students in classroom, employees, your children, your family, your group in the community. By creating and being part of the goal-setting process, you and each individual will have a sense of contribution and have ownership of the goal. When the goal, no matter how small, becomes a reality there is a sense of personal achievement. The future is shaped and a difference is made because they have created the goal and the outcome. This goal setting exercise with personal involvement then also enhances morale. Within the team, it and builds team spirit.

5. Be positively dissatisfied. Dissatisfied people are highly motivated people. Why are so many high school dropouts motivated to achieved great success? Because they have experienced and tasted the need for immediate change. They become highly motivated when they awake to the realities and become dissatisfied with being high school drop out and they become motivated to change. On the other hand, dissatisfaction can lead to negative change and one must beware of letting it lead to discouragement and criticism. Dissatisfaction which leads positive action is the key.

6. Appreciate your own efforts – and appreciate the efforts of others. The need to be appreciated and recognized is deep. Although it is not a prerequisite for internal motivation, when you are recognized for your talent or effort, motivation level certainly increase and makes you want to accomplish more. Do give your employees, students, friends recognition. It will certainly go a long way.

7. Have clear expectations When you are clear on what you have to accomplish, responsibilities clearly defined, then there will be more sense of control over what can or needs to be accomplished, less confusion and disappointment.

Start now to take steps towards increasing your motivation for life, for your work, your current project. Remind yourself of the reason and meaning behind what you are doing. Create a mission, a reason, a vision. Give yourself a reason strong enough, that touches them at the core, if possible. Be positively dissatisfied with the current situation. Set your own goals, recognize your efforts and set yourself up for success. Work becomes play, when there is a mission to be accomplished that is worthwhile, achievable and recognized.

May is passionate about helping others achieve the life of their dreams. Get your inspirational resources at http://www.successinspired.com . Live, love, be, do and have. Get your free report on attracting success at : http://www.wisdomofgettingwealthy.com/rights/attractionaccelerator.pdf

Motivating Yourself When You're Creatively Self Employed

By Mary McNeil

Self motivation is a well known challenge for the self employed. And never more so than for creatives. Why so? Well creative types very often choose to become self employed precisely so that they can exercise their creativity and flexibility in their work. Not for them the tedium of a regular nine to five office job!

But when you’re self employed, YOU become the boss. And the employee. And this dynamic sets up a whole set of inner relationships and rebellions that need to be handled with care. Particularly when it comes to managing your motivation so that you can achieve successful outcomes for both your business and for yourself.

Assuming that at least part of the reason you’re in business is because you want to make money, your inner boss will be need to be in a position to make strategic decisions, undertake planning activities and dictate hours of work.
And assuming that you’re creatively self employed because you want flexibility and creativity in your working life and don’t want to be dictated to, your inner employee will need a certain degree of freedom and leeway on the job.

So how is your relationship between your inner boss and your inner employee?
Recently I asked this question of a creative coaching client who was struggling to run her home-based creative business. She surprised herself with her reply! She’d expected to respond that her inner boss was terrorizing her inner employee and that what she needed was more freedom to work flexibly so that she could enjoy her working time more. What emerged, though, as she thought about the question, was that the roles were reversed… her inner employee was rebelling against her inner boss to such an extent that she despaired of ever producing any meaningful output.

To motivate yourself happily and successfully, it’s clearly important to nurture a supportive relationship between these two parts of yourself. And that means engaging them in regular dialogue with each other. Your inner boss needs to appreciate the working style and form of flexibility that your inner employee resonds best to. And your inner employee needs to understand what the boss reasonably requires in order to produce results that both will find satisfactory and rewarding.

Both your inner boss and inner employee will sometimes need to understand the principle of the delayed reward. Your inner boss, for example, is more likely to allow your inner employee to take that luxuriously creative hour for writing in the middle of the afternoon, if there’s an understanding that the employee will work, and work far better, in the early evening as a result. And likewise, your inner employee is more likely to let your inner boss lay down some plans for future ambitious projects if there’s an understanding between the two of them that the plan includes an allowance for creative travels and time out on completion.

So as you think about your conflicting motivations when it comes to work, creativity, self employment, money and flexibility, take a moment to be aware of the different parts of yourself that have a stake in the process. If you can involve each part in a way that allows it to have a say and to negotiate with the other parts, you’re likely to achieve a much higher overall level of motivation in your work. And, of course, the corresponding success that comes along with it.
If you're brimming with creative ideas but struggling to develop them into tangible output, the practical support of a coach can make all the difference.

Mary McNeil of Create a Space is an experienced, ICF-certified life coach, natural born planner and declutterer extraordinaire! She works with artists, writers and musicians, coaching and supporting them as they make creative output a practical reality.

5 Must Know Steps To Motivation

By Shannon Graham

Many of us have read all about how to set goals, how to make plans, and get pumped up. Yet time after time people talk to me about how they need to be more motivated. Motivation seems to be like this cruel joke because; a lot of the time we all know for the most part what it takes. We know the tips, the tricks and everything in between. So why is it that we for some reason knowing all these things find our motivation falling by the way side? It is because we use all these tips and ideas but we never really own them, that is make them part of who we are. Take it upon yourself to learn and own these 5 steps that follow and motivation will be yours.

1. Success and Fear

It seems to me that one of the largest issues that will hold people back in their pursuit of happiness is fear. To be more specific it is the fear of failure, let’s face it no one wants to feel like a failure. So then why is it that some of us are willing to move toward that which may bring failure and some of us avoid it like the plague? It comes down to our evaluation of success and failure. Try looking at failure as a learning experience a way for you to gain more information and more power, and then be willing to take that new knowledge and power and use it in your next attempt. Think of it like narrowing down your options until all you are left with is success.

2. Forget the list

How familiar does this sound; it is New Years Eve and everyone is running around being jolly, stuffed with a little too much turkey and eggnog. You sit down at the end of the night and decided GAD NAB IT!! This is going to be the year that things change. So what do you do? You set a goal! Then because you read in some trashy magazine that you should make a list of all the benefits you’re goal will bring, you do you make a list that is two miles long. The trouble tends to be that the list is made up of logical items. Human beings as much as we may not like to admit are not logical, we are emotional. The solution? When you are examining the benefits of you’re goal make totally sure that they draw from you a deep emotional feeling. This will guarantee some extra fire in your engine!

3. Negative is not bad

When you are collecting your thoughts and stacking the deeply emotional benefits of your goal do not to forget to ad in the deeply emotional negative consequence that you will face if you do not go along with or stick to your goal. You would not believe the amount of motivation you can have by creating a crisp clear image of what it would feel like to fall short of you’re goals. To miss out on all the glory that comes with attaining them. So get out there and think negative! (But do it with passion!)

4. The View from Above

Another habit we often carry with us that can keep us from our motivation is our vision. I am not talking about literal vision, rather our ability to see the future. It becomes extremely difficult if not impossible to become motivated if we do not have a crisp clear picture of what our life will be like once this goal is ours. We tend to be very moment oriented; don’t you find this to be true? We generally are more interested in what will make us happy in this moment and not what will make us happy a week, a month, a year from now and sadly far too often we pay the price because of it. So use you’re gift of imagination to paint a vivid picture of the future, and all the splendor that comes along with it, do not be content with the present and you’re improvement will be never ending!

5. Act for the Sake of Action

There will be a time when you use all these tools and ideas, and even start to make them become a part of who you are and still will see your motivation shrinking. Now this is when you’re personal power matters more than ever. It is at this moment when you are really making an effort to improve and you are on the edge of break through that your old lazy self will fight with all it’s got to ensure things do not change. So what do you do? You would do what any person that has a cause would do; you fight back with all of your soul, all of your heart, and all of your might. When you feel like you just can not take another step or get out of that bed when the alarm goes off that is the exact moment whether you want to or not that you must act. You must trump you’re your negative thoughts with positive action. Just do it, do not think just make your body do what you know it needs to. Do this and soon you will completely own your new habit and motivation will seep from your pores.

Keep in mind all great things take time. But if you are willing to use these steps and commit to owning them and not just using them then I can say with certainty that you’re life will improve. Thanks for reading and always remember to live like a champion!

Shannon Graham is a professional life coach that works with people to help them reach higher levels of confidence and empowerment. At only 25 years old he has been studying success principles and personal improvement strategies for over a decade. For more information visit: http://www.success4rlife.com

Self Motivation, a Brief Guide

By Claude Faucher

For any homeworker, it is the most important factor which will lead to success of failure. You wake up, the sun shining through your window. You have no boss except for the international internet market place, and she doesn’t tell you off if you’re late, she doesn’t let you know you’re not being efficient.

So wake up and get to work on your list of stuff to do, that you made yourself the night before. Make the list you made your boss and follow it, each and every day, and remember to be realistic. If your list will take twelve hours to complete, chances are, you won’t do it, each day the tasks will pile up upon the old ones until you’re buried under a veritable mountain of dull monotonous tasks. Self motivation is the most strenuous part. So take it easy, schedule a mini cigarette break for every time you complete a task if you smoke, or a tea break if you’re healthier then I am.

It’s all about commitment, persistence, being realistic with yourself, you’re not a machine and if you’ve spent your life being used to being told what to do by your boss, your school teachers, your friends, which surprise surprise is true of most people, then making the changes to your self that might make your work from home feasible requires a journey of self discovery and you will find yourself much more likely to know yourself and your weaknesses.

Why is self motivation difficult? I would put it down to the nature of the species. We’re herd animals, designed to gather in groups for safety, designed, in evolutionary terms to hunt in teams. Hermits have never been the most productive of people.

But the advantages may be huge. You cannot rely on others to encourage you all the time, you need to be self motivated to achieve in any aspect of life.

The devil of the solitary worker, whether you’re a writer or an internet marketer is procrastination and a good way to defeat it is to divide your tasks into manageable portions, and to consistently analyze your self. Why didn’t you complete step four of the list you made? Was it because you were distracted by the latest episode of your favorite TV show, was it because you spent too much time surfing and emailing? Be reasonable with yourself. Be hard towards yourself

Claude Faucher is a top internet marketer and business coach. He specialises in helping others create significant incomes working from the comfort of home. Website: http://www.wealthymarketeralliance.com