How To Increase Your Motivation To Achieve Your Goals

How badly do you want your goals? How motivated are you to be persistent in going after your goals and dreams until they are achieved?

How much you want your goals and dreams determines the strength of your motivation. It is that strength that will steadfastly pursue your dreams irrespective of any challenges, setbacks, oppositions or confrontations.

I recall a friend who set himself a goal that he felt extremely excited about. He talked for days on end about that goal; what it meant to him and how he really wanted to achieve it within six months at the most.

A couple of months later, my friend Bill, took me aside. I could see he was feeling miserable and despondent. He went on to tell me how disappointed he was that his goal had not materialised.

"Goal? What Goal?" was my honest answer. It was not what Bill wanted to hear.

"You know, my goal to get a toned body," Bill answered, with a sense of defeat and frustration in his voice.

"Oh that. I thought you were kidding. We all figured you changed your mind since we don't see you going to the gym anymore," I replied.

What happened here?

In the beginning, Bill was excited about his new goal of getting a firm and toned body; a sculptured chest, arms and thighs. He was full of motivation and determination to achieve that goal.

He consistently went to the gym four to five days a week. He took his protein shakes, his Creatine and chatted non-stop about his training schedule and how pleased he was with his progress.

By the third month, he started to go to the gym twice a week and mid-way through that month it trickled to once a week.

His dilemma was he couldn't understand why his motivation to workout had dwindled to once a week half-way through the third month.

"At the beginning, I was so full of enthusiasm and motivation. I felt nothing could stop me," he explained.

So what went wrong? Where did his incredible motivation go?

After careful examination, it came to light that Bill had lost his initial burst of motivation because he was not really passionate about being toned.

It was merely a passing 'wish'. In other words, he did not want to be toned badly enough. If he did, if he felt passionate, he would have continued his workout routine no matter what challenges or distractions he faced.

Bill was torn between two thoughts. The first said, "Yeah I'd like to have a toned body." But his conflicting second thought argued, "Sure, but you could get along in life without it."

And who won? His conflicting thought had the upper hand. You see, Bill would have 'liked' the toned body, but he did not turn that want into a solid goal. The toned body idea remained just that, an idea or a wish. As such, his once powerful motivation had weakened until it was there no more.

If he had turned it into a goal, he would have sought after it. He would have been motivated to pursue that goal irrespective of how tired or how busy he was.

After all, it was his goal. And goals are meant to be achieved.

Passion ignites the drive from deep within to maintain the motivation to reach all sorts of goals and dreams. Passion provides the fuel to keep you in a highly motivated state of mind.

Once you find out what you are passionate about, boost your motivation to remain persistent regardless of any setbacks and obstacles.

In time , your motivation will increase in momentum regardless of any distractions or interruptions. Motivation pushes you to take consistent daily action to achieve and live your goals.