Many people understand the basics of motivation but one of the things that I find people still often struggle with is the actual application of these basics to their personal and professional lives. We are motivated in two primary directions. Towards what we do want and away from what we do not want.
Now some people are more inclined to be motivated by what they do want and some more likely to be driven away from what they do not want. Some get out of bed in the morning to be successful and to earn money. Others get out of bed because they have to or need to in order to survive. Some go to the gym because they want the perfect figure. Others go because they do not want to be out of shape. What many people do not understand is that neither of these are better for you. Whatever works, works. The key is to make sure you are driven to achieve what you want in the best way possible.
Applying this is quite simple. You figure out what you want and why you want it. Then, you imagine two scenarios. The first is the best case scenario of what will happen and how you will feel if you achieve your goal. The second is the worst case scenario of what will happen and how you will feel if you do not achieve your goal. When you do both of these things, it will create a powerful sense of drive for you that will help you to keep doing whatever actions are necessary.
The next step is to imagine yourself going through the actions that you need to discipline yourself to do. Imagine vividly, taking all the necessary steps to achieve the goal you have set. When you do this vividly and you plan it all out then it will help you to keep moving forward brilliantly. You can also imagine vividly not taking any of the steps and therefore not achieving the goal and how bad you would feel as a result.
In summary, there are four inner strategies: a) imagining achieving the goal b) imagining not achieving the goal c) imagining taking all the steps necessary and succeeding and d) imagining taking none of the steps and therefore not succeeding. By applying each strategy you will be far more likely to intensify the feelings of motivation and drive that you need.
