6. Steps to self motivate and keep momentum

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!

Positive Affirmations for Success

Supercharge yourself with this affirmation.  Enjoy!

6 Tips To Improve Your Personal Growth

During your transformation journey you will encounter many challenges along the way. In the moment they will seem like massive struggles. In hindsight they will turn out to be small in comparison to what you may have already concurred during your journey. The real important part of managing personal change is to identify those around you that can truly support you. You may often confuse support as being comfortable or relaxing, but in the moment of challenge this support will seem like your mentor is being insensitive or does not understand. To be mentored through a period of change you must have people that will keep driving you towards the goals. It is completely natural that during a time of big change you will have an urge on some level to want to stop. Having mentorship around you that cares is crucial to moving forward. As I said, it may not seem as you are being supported and progressing but you are.

I recently had the opportunity to work with a team that is embarking on this same challenge. The organization has been working with external mentorship for a few years now. They have experienced a massive change in the leadership team. The overall business performance is higher than it has been in the past 6 years and profits are up. Levels of company engagement are increased and general moral is moving forward. Things appear to be headed in the right direction. In order to take the organization to the next level it was time for the leadership group to begin to dig deep and create a higher level of personal engagement and strengthen the leadership team dynamics. This is where the challenge begins.

In my experience as a mentor, coach and having gone through this type of change, once you begin to reflect on your contribution to the situation you become massively challenged and lose focus on reality. You forget all the positive change that had occurred and focus only on the discomfort and pain you experience by having to make real personal change. Making this type of change is the most difficult that can take place in anyone's life. The decision that all the work you have put in and all the achievements up to this point are the new norm. This can be daunting. There are not many people that desire to lay out a transparent plan and be held accountable to achieving it.

It is a skill to be able to move through these ever occurring stages of personal change with some level of grace and maturity. Here are 6 TIPS you can use when going down the path of personal growth.

1. Identify Your Mentor. Have a team or individual that you trust and can get you through the period of change. This person must be someone who has experienced a level of personal change you are about to go through. They must also have the skills and ability to model the behaviors you admire and be able to be honest even when you may lie to yourself.

2. Document Your Vision. Before you even begin the process of embarking on change, document who you see yourself being once the transformed state has been reached. Share the vision with your mentor and post it where it can be referenced when times are difficult.

3. Identify Your Obstacles. With your mentor, identify where you are likely to go off track and get yourself into a challenging state of personal integrity. Define and document what these might look like so you and your mentor can easily identify the situation when it occurs.

4. Know The Consequence. Share and document the consequences for when you are in the situation. What will go off track and how it will negatively affect you? You must understand what the price will be if you stay in a negative state. The key in this is not to avoid beginning in the situation, but rather to take personal responsibility for making it through.

5. Lay Out Your Plan. Document a plan of action that includes milestones, periods of celebration and rest. Anticipate when the obstacles you identified may come up. Know your plan and monitor your progress with your mentor. There is no better way to feel success and build confidence in your abilities then by understanding how easily executed a good plan can be.

6. Celebrate Success. In your plan include a major celebration event for when you have achieved your goal. This is important to plan to give you a reason to keep going when times get tough.

When embarking on any change it is important to find a strong mentor and create a solid plan. Without a plan for you and your mentor to use as a triangulation piece, your progression will be left to personal interpretation. As discussed, you will lose perspective during the change. This is a given when learning skills to effect change. Without a good plan you are only setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. When it comes to change, document, plan, monitor and celebrate. This routine will lead you down the path of a lifetime of personal growth and success.

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