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The Ultimate Guide to Motivation - How to Achieve Any Goal
zenhabits.net — “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” - Henry Ford
msaleem- 867 diggs
- digg it
- aflusche, on 06/06/2008, -3/+6Time to dust off that to do list and make things happen!
- jhshukla, on 06/06/2008, -0/+2don't start right away though. read #7. plan before you start.
- marcoponce, on 06/06/2008, -4/+3zen habits always coming though with great self development material!
- wiseasgandalf, on 06/06/2008, -3/+4Leo strikes again! More stuff to (hopefully) get my life in gear...
- dacapoalfine, on 06/06/2008, -10/+3this always gets me motivated
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YwKKnVfiBmk- reisrocks, on 06/06/2008, -1/+4what the hell does this have to do with this article??
- shutaro, on 06/06/2008, -0/+5I think we both know the answer to that question...
- ElectricKetchup, on 06/06/2008, -0/+3wow... that was awesome... doesn't seem to motivate me though.
- reisrocks, on 06/06/2008, -1/+4what the hell does this have to do with this article??
- reisrocks, on 06/06/2008, -3/+7say that to Hillary.
- dave122, on 06/06/2008, -5/+9Always remember, trying is the first step towards failure.
- alexanEmpire, on 06/06/2008, -0/+1However, heresy grows from idleness!
- rpgmaker, on 06/06/2008, -1/+1That's why I don't try!
/Jack's life full of regrets..
- s4g4n, on 06/06/2008, -2/+39The article didn't seem motivate me into reading it.
- bdbr, on 06/07/2008, -0/+2No *****. 20 ***** WAYS to sustain motivation? If we had the motivation to read a list that long, we wouldn't need the list.
- TKOtheKDR, on 06/06/2008, -4/+2zombo.com
/if i remember the address correctly - Teku, on 06/06/2008, -1/+7If I could just get over my tendency to procrastinate I could read this article and change my life. Curse you cruel world!
- BryanG412, on 06/06/2008, -1/+4Just remember it's always darkest before it goes completely black.
- DaMarsMan, on 06/06/2008, -3/+2I'm motivated not to read it.
- ConquistadorFor, on 06/06/2008, -2/+2I read better books on the topic
I think http://www.jamesrick.com blog have a lot to offer on the topic
I have even seen him on Oprah the guy knows the business - fitriidayu, on 06/06/2008, -1/+3i lost my motivation waiting for the page to load....
- hokie47, on 06/06/2008, -5/+29My Goal: Have sex with two women at the same time .
- hokie47, on 06/06/2008, -6/+18How about have sex with a women first
- atgmac, on 06/06/2008, -0/+14That reply would have been funny if someone else had written it.
- hokie47, on 06/06/2008, -2/+2It was so obvious that someone would say it so I just did it myself.
/greedy bastard
- hokie47, on 06/06/2008, -2/+2It was so obvious that someone would say it so I just did it myself.
- atgmac, on 06/06/2008, -0/+14That reply would have been funny if someone else had written it.
- yayintertubes, on 06/06/2008, -9/+1I'd work on your spelling first.
- duke1981, on 06/06/2008, -0/+17You just need a Million dollars
- hokie47, on 06/06/2008, -6/+18How about have sex with a women first
- Raphyy, on 06/06/2008, -5/+2Hm, I just listen to some Young Jeezy when I need motivation...seriously. Just listen to the first minute of http://youtube.com/watch?v=YxhPYLPcZTU
'nuff said. Nice article though.- adrames, on 06/06/2008, -0/+7It motivated me to hate rap even more.
- wiretransfer, on 06/06/2008, -1/+1My God. This looks great but I'll just digg it for now and, uh, come back to it later. If I can remember. [Where's my coffee??!?]
Anybody give me a 20 word summary? Maybe keep it to 15? [Who took, -- did you take my coffee??]
What a very long, and I am sure, excellent article. Dugg for hope. - buba1243, on 06/06/2008, -5/+8One of the biggest challenges in meeting any goal, whether it be related to productivity, waking early, changing a habit, exercising, or just becoming happier, is finding the motivation to stick with it.
If you can stick with a goal for long enough, you’ll almost always get there eventually. It just takes patience, and motivation.
Motivation is the key, but it’s not always easy, day in and day out, to find that motivation.
What follows is a guide to motivation using what I’ve learned over the last few years in a series of successful accomplishments, goals and habit changes. I’ve had many failures, but also many successes, and I’ve learned a lot from all of them. Motivation has been a particularly important topic of exploration for me.
What Motivation Can Achieve
What have I accomplished using these motivation methods? Too much to mention, just in the last 3 years: running two marathons, learning to become an early riser, losing 40 pounds, completing a triathlon, becoming vegetarian, becoming more productive, starting a successful blog, writing a book, becoming organized, simplifying my life, quitting my day job, tripling my income, eliminating my debt, and much more.
That’s not intended to sound like bragging, but to show you what can be accomplished (just to start) if you find the right motivation.
How Does Motivation Work?
Before we get into specific methods, it’s useful to examine what motivation is, what it does, and how it works.
Motivation is what drives you toward a goal, what keeps you going when things get tough, the reason you get up early to exercise or work late to finish a project. There are all kinds of motivations, of course, from positive to negative. Having a boss threaten to fire you is motivation — you’ll likely work harder to complete a project with that kind of pressure. But I find that positive motivation works better — if it’s something you really want to do, you’ll do a much better job than to avoid something you don’t want (such as being fired).
So motivation, in its best form, is a way for you to want to do something. There may be times, for example, when you don’t feel like getting up early, and in those times you may seriously just want to sleep in (not that there’s anything wrong with that). But if you have a reason to want to get up early, something you really really want to do, you’ll jump up out of bed with excitement.
The best motivation, then, is a way for you to really want something, to get excited about it, to be passionate about it. Remember that, as there are many other types of motivation (especially negative), but in my experience, this is the kind that works the best.
There is only so long that you can go trying to motivate yourself to do something you don’t like to do, something you don’t want to do. But if you find ways to really want to do something, you can sustain your effort for much, much longer.
8 Ways to Motivate Yourself From the Beginning
I’ve found that it’s important to start out with the right motivation, because a good start can build momentum that you can sustain for a long time. If you start out right, you have a much better chance of succeeding. Here are some tips for starting out:
1. Start small. I’ve said this before, but that’s because it’s one of the most important tips in motivating yourself toward a goal. Don’t start out big! Start out with a ridiculously easy goal, and then grow from there. If you want to exercise, for example, you may be thinking that you have to do these intense workouts 5 days a week. No — instead, do small, tiny, baby steps. Just do 2 minutes of exercise. I know, that sounds wimpy. But it works. Commit to 2 minutes of exercise for one week. You may want to do more, but just stick to 2 minutes. It’s so easy, you can’t fail. Do it at the same time, every day. Just some crunches, 2 pushups, and some jogging in place. Once you’ve done 2 minutes a day for a week, increase it to 5, and stick with that for a week. In a month, you’ll be doing 15-20. Want to wake up early? Don’t think about waking at 5 a.m. Instead, think about waking 10 minutes earlier for a week. That’s all. Once you’ve done that, wake 10 minutes earlier than that. Baby steps.
2. One goal. Too many people start with too many goals at once, and try to do too much. And it saps energy and motivation. It’s probably the most common mistake that people make. You cannot maintain energy and focus (the two most important things in accomplishing a goal) if you are trying to do two or more goals at once. It’s not possible — I’ve tried it many times. You have to choose one goal, for now, and focus on it completely. I know, that’s hard. Still, I speak from experience. You can always do your other goals when you’ve accomplished your One Goal.
3. Examine your motivation. Know your reasons. Give them some thought … and write them down. If you have loved ones, and you are doing it for them, that is more powerful than just doing it for self-interest. Doing it for yourself is good too, but you should do it for something that you REALLY REALLY want to happen, for really good reasons.
4. Really, really want it. This is essentially the same as the above tip, but I want to emphasize it: it’s not enough to think it would be cool to achieve something. It has to be something you’re passionate about, something you’re super excited about, something you want deeply. Make sure that your goal meets these criteria, or you won’t stick with it for long.
5. Commit publicly. None of us likes to look bad in front of others. We will go the extra mile to do something we’ve said publicly. For example, when I wanted to run my first marathon, I started writing a column about it in my local daily newspaper. The entire island of Guam (pop. 160K) knew about my goal. I couldn’t back down, and even though my motivation came and went, I stuck with it and completed it. Now, you don’t have to commit to your goal in your daily newspaper, but you can do it with friends and family and co-workers, and you can do it on your blog if you have one. And hold yourself accountable — don’t just commit once, but commit to giving progress updates to everyone every week or so.
6. Get excited. Well, it starts with inspiration from others (see above), but you have to take that excitement and build on it. For me, I’ve learned that by talking to my wife about it, and to others, and reading as much about it as possible, and visualizing what it would be like to be successful (seeing the benefits of the goal in my head), I get excited about a goal. Once I’ve done that, it’s just a matter of carrying that energy forward and keeping it going.
7. Build anticipation. This will sound hard, and many people will skip this tip. But it really works. It helped me quit smoking after many failed attempts. If you find inspiration and want to do a goal, don’t start right away. Many of us will get excited and want to start today. That’s a mistake. Set a date in the future — a week or two, or even a month — and make that your Start Date. Mark it on the calendar. Get excited about that date. Make it the most important date in your life. In the meantime, start writing out a plan. And do some of the steps below. Because by delaying your start, you are building anticipation, and increasing your focus and energy for your goal.
8. Print it out, post it up. Print out your goal in big words. Make your goal just a few words long, like a mantra (”Exercise 15 mins. Daily”), and post it up on your wall or refrigerator. Post it at home and work. Put it on your computer desktop. You want to have big reminders about your goal, to keep your focus and keep your excitement going. A picture of your goal (like a model with sexy abs, for example) also helps.
20 Ways to Sustain Motivation When You’re Struggling
The second half of motivation is to keep yourself going when you don’t feel the same excitement as you did in the beginning. Perhaps something new has come into your life and your old goal isn’t as much of a priority anymore. Perhaps you skipped a day or two and now you can’t get back into it. Perhaps you screwed up and got discouraged.
If you can get yourself excited again, and keep going, you’ll get there eventually. But if you give up, you won’t. It’s your choice — accomplish the goal, or quit. Here’s how you can stop from quitting, and get to your goal:
1. Hold yourself back. When I start with a new exercise program, or any new goal really, I am rarin’ to go. I am full of excitement, and my enthusiasm knows no boundaries. Nor does my sense of self-limitation. I think I can do anything. It’s not long before I learn that I do have limitations, and my enthusiasm begins to wane. Well, a great motivator that I’ve learned is that when you have so much energy at the beginning of a program, and want to go all out — HOLD BACK. Don’t let yourself do everything you want to do. Only let yourself do 50-75 percent of what you want to do. And plan out a course of action where you slowly increase over time. For example, if I want to go running, I might think I can run 3 miles at first. But instead of letting myself do that, I start by only running a mile. When I’m doing that mile, I’ll be telling myself that I can do more! But I don’t let myself. After that workout, I’ll be looking forward to the next workout, when I’ll let myself do 1.5 miles. I keep that energy reined in, harness it, so that I can ride it even further.
2. Just start. There are some days when you don’t feel like heading out the door for a run, or figuring out your budget, or whatever it is you’re supposed to do that day for your goal. Well, instead of thinking about how hard it is, and how long it will take, tell yourself that you just have to start. I have a rule that I just have to put on my running shoes and close the door behind me. After that, it all flows naturally. It’s when you’re sitting in your house, thinking about running and feeling tired, that it seems hard. Once you start, it is never as hard as you thought it would be. This tip works for me every time.
3. Stay accountable. If you committed yourself publicly, through an online forum, on a blog, in email, or in person … stay accountable to that group of people. Commit to report back to them daily, or something like that, and stick to it! That accountability will help you to want to do well, because you don’t want to report that you’ve failed.
4. Squash negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. This is one of the most important motivation skills, and I suggest you practice it daily. It’s important to start monitoring your thoughts, and to recognize negative self-talk. Just spend a few days becoming aware of every negative thought. Then, after a few days, try squashing those negative thoughts like a bug, and then replacing them with a corresponding positive thought. Squash, “This is too hard!” and replace it with, “I can do this! If that wimp Leo can do it, so can I!” It sounds corny, but it works. Really.
5. Think about the benefits. Thinking about how hard something is is a big problem for most people. Waking early sounds so hard! Just thinking about it makes you tired. But instead of thinking about how hard something is, think about what you will get out of it. For example, instead of thinking about how hard it is to wake early, focus on how good you’ll feel when you’re done, and how your day will be so much better. The benefits of something will help energize you.
6. Get excited again! Think about why you lost your excitement … then think about why you were excited in the first place. Can you get that back? What made you want to do the goal? What made you passionate about it? Try to build that up again, refocus yourself, get energized.
7. Read about it. When I lose motivation, I just read a book or blog about my goal. It inspires me and reinvigorates me. For some reason, reading helps motivate and focus you on whatever you’re reading about. So read about your goal every day, if you can, especially when you’re not feeling motivated.
8. Find like-minded friends. Staying motivated on your own is tough. But if you find someone with similar goals (running, dieting, finances, etc.), see if they’d like to partner with you. Or partner with your spouse, sibling or best friend on whatever goals they’re trying to achieve. You don’t have to be going after the same goals — as long as you are both pushing and encouraging each other to succeed. Other good options are groups in your area (I’m part of a running club, for example) or online forums where you can find people to talk to about your goals.
9. Read inspiring stories. Inspiration, for me, comes from others who have achieved what I want to achieve, or who are currently doing it. I read other blogs, books, magazines. I Google my goal, and read success stories. Zen Habits is just one place for inspiration, not only from me but from many readers who have achieved amazing things. I love, love, love reading success stories too.
10. Build on your successes. Every little step along the way is a success — celebrate the fact that you even started! And then did it for two days! Celebrate every little milestone. Then take that successful feeling and build on it, with another baby step. Add 2-3 minutes to your exercise routine, for example. With each step (and each step should last about a week), you will feel even more successful. Make each step really, really sm - spenny, on 06/06/2008, -0/+1Lots of content there - will have to pick the rest up later - my motivation faded after a while waiting for the page to load - but good read none the less.
- leerayIG88, on 06/06/2008, -1/+2My motivation, masturbate before things get stressful at work. That way, I feel more calm and I can concentrate.
- Carnage6669, on 06/06/2008, -2/+1way too many sick ***** these days.....
- dnields, on 06/06/2008, -0/+1Is it just me, or does the person in the thumbnail look like they're dropping a log on that log?
- diggdong, on 06/06/2008, -0/+1Somewhere someone is taping this article to their wall under black and white photos with pictures circled in red ink.
- Calculon, on 06/06/2008, -1/+2I'll read it later...
- mrraven200, on 06/06/2008, -1/+1What the U.S. needs it not motivation but ethics. Surely the people that planned the evil war against Iraq were highly motivated, but were they ethical? I think not...
- mrraven200, on 06/06/2008, -0/+1Another drive by digg down, cat got your tongue?
Hint motivation is not always good, the world certainly could have used far fewer "motivated" Maoists, or Stalinists, or Nazis, or SUV pushing American auto execs for the matter. Here is a quote from the great poet Yeats for y'all to reflect on:
"The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity. "
http://www.potw.org/archive/potw351.html
One would hope sometimes that the worst, most cruel, most ambitious type A people would take time out from their "busy" 12 hour days analyzing spreadsheets calculating how many people they are going to bomb today, or layoff, or falsely market to, and instead took a quite useless walk in the woods to reflect on all their "sound and fury signifying nothingness." (Shakespear).
- mrraven200, on 06/06/2008, -0/+1Another drive by digg down, cat got your tongue?
- cambob76, on 06/06/2008, -0/+3I know, just let me get a little high. I know I can get motivated if I just get a little high.... I have know idea what's going on.
- Klak, on 06/06/2008, -0/+1i have know idea lol
- Pstmann, on 06/06/2008, -0/+2"quitting my day job, tripling my income, eliminating my debt, and much more."
Waiting for the " AND NOW YOU CAN TOO" speech before getting suckered into a pyramid scheme. - libertao, on 06/06/2008, -0/+3Why does every article to do with motivation/procrastination have 18 comments making a hilarious joke about not being motivated enough to read it?
- liuite, on 06/06/2008, -0/+1any goal does not imply relationship with someone in particular. there are many things you can accomplish if you set a goal, but not every goal is obtainable.
- nichooton, on 06/06/2008, -2/+0Wow. Zen Habits. The most unoriginal, blatantly repetitive piece of crap blog out there. It hurts me to know that it's taking up valuable webspace and bandwidth. And here we are again. Why do these keep getting dugg?
- ThinkRad, on 06/06/2008, -0/+1Looks great. Am very interested. Will bookmark and read after fapping, playing GTA IV and taking a hard earned nap...probably.
- TheMachine1, on 06/06/2008, -0/+1Motivation = (confidence - anxiety + value of task) / impulsivity
- llama5492, on 06/06/2008, -1/+1Sounds like a guide to winning the NBA Finals.
- chickcomedy, on 06/07/2008, -1/+0This is the end-all complete guide to achieving a goal. If you follow this, you are golden!
- MRCAB, on 06/07/2008, -0/+1not motivated enough to read it.
- MRCAB, on 06/07/2008, -0/+1hmm.... typical liberal.
it's everything you probably already know, outlined as if you don't.
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