I must admit starting your personal development journey is not an easy plight, but just tell yourself you are climbing a hill and once you get over the slope things will get better. The real enjoyment is your goal which is at the top of the hill. Focus on what is at the top of your hill.
You have to really want to change and you’ll find that it can become easier to find the strength to keep pushing.
First and foremost you must know what is at the top of the hill that you must have then write it down and commit to it. You will find setting a target date makes it very exciting and encourages you to do something everyday. I personally recommend this..... If you want it badly enough you must make it time bound!
How do you self motivate while you are climbing the hill? Here are my top 6 strategies.
1. Always stay positive. Having a positive mind sets you up to have a positive attitude to face your challenges and weather the storm.
2. Never stop learning. Try to read at least one hour a day, if you can’t do one hour then at least start off with trying with 1/2hr a day. As you get going you will find how easy it is to read for an hour a day. If you drive to work you could listen to self development audios. If you take the train like myself, make use of the opportunity aboard to read something while travelling.
You will gain confidence and learn to trust in your ability and makes it easier for you to find opportunities that helps you to achieve your goal.
3. KISS - Keep It Sweet and Simple, use tiny little reminders of what your goals are, maybe little stickers at your work desk or your bedside table. Just something to remind you daily of your dreams and goals that you are working towards. I use the little reminder function on my iPhone. So everyday at different times of day my little goals pop up on my phone screen.
4. Monitor your progress
You should set a side sometime for yourself to simple just see how you are doing. There is no point doing something and not having any idea if you are making an head way or not. This gives you a chance to assess where you are and evaluate whether any changes should be made to your current actions. You may choose do this one a week or once per month but in my opinion this is something that is required.
5. Try to help others, in helping others you end up learning more than the person your help. In other words the more you teach, the more you learn.
6. Do something different sometimes. In climbing your hill sometimes the zeal you had at the start of the journey begins to wear off. Take some time out, go with friends, take a day off, or a week off. This down time can give you the energy you need to continue climbing the hill. Take a look at some marathon runners, you will find mid distance they stop to get water to refresh, splash a dash of water on their face, cool down then keep going.
Oh well, maybe its actually 7!
7. Just don’t lose sight of the top of hill. Take your goal(s) seriously, whatever that is!
