“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing—that’s why we recommend it daily.” — ZIG ZIGLAR
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There is a big difference between being “motivated” and actually carrying through with goals, ambitions, dreams. And as the quote says, achieving your goals is basically a daily thing.
I made a list of what I wanted to achieve when we made the huge decision to sell everything we owned and move to Thailand to be close to our son.
- I wanted to really retire – as I hadn’t been able to even THINK about, much less DO in the states. My responsibilities just continued to grow even though I was no longer employed by others outside my home..
- My husband and I were sick as dogs. I wanted to do everything possible to regain my health so that I could enjoy my new life in a new country.
- I wanted to learn about Thailand – try to learn as much as I could of the language, culture, geography, etc., so I could fit in as much as possible, showing the people how happy I was to be here.
- I wanted to live each day as if it were my last. I had been surprised in February when I COULD have actually breathed my last, and almost did. I wanted to do everything in my power to make my second chance count.
- I wanted to celebrate being close to our son.
There is more, and there are subsets to the list above, but you get the idea.
So I had a list. I had the WISH to make this stuff happen. I was ‘motivated,’ but how do you actually get started? How do you keep the motivation going strong? How do you change wishes to actions?
There are external and internal motivations.
I used to do good work in grade school because my teacher gave us gold stars. Even when I became older than dirt, I bought some gold and silver stars from Amazon to reward myself when I met a small goal. Silly, maybe, but whatever works!
I made lists and checked things off as I did them. It still motivates me to some extent, but when the list length becomes overwhelming, it can make me throw my hands up and decide getting everything done is impossible.
The best motivators, to my mind, are internal. I still have my list of what I would like to accomplish, but I find a strong push from way down inside to make each day count. And that means accomplishing something on my list each day for each of my goals.
I feel satisfaction when I’m making progress, and that means a lot to me. I feel more calm and peaceful because I’m using my time well – INCLUDING deciding to do something completely fun and maybe useless in the grand scheme of things, but makes me smile.
I’m taking 5 minutes each evening to sit and FEEL gratitude. I may think of one thing and just feel the ‘good’ fill me. I may think of more than one thing or several on a given night. One of the things for which I am grateful is my strong motivation to accomplish things on my list.
My motivation also remains high because of comments from YOU on something I said or did that resonates with YOU. Compliments, kudos, kind words are deeply motivating.
This is a complex subject, but I wanted to get started – to share what’s keeping ME motivated in the hope that it might help YOU in some way to stay motivated, as well. We’re all in this world together, you know.
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