Staying Motivated...Mission Impossible?

Staying Motivated…Mission Impossible?

Regardless of what we would like to accomplish in life, regardless of who we are, the difficulty in achieving that which we want, is the continuous ‘motivation' required to do so. Where do we find this magic motivation?
This came to me when I decided to sign up for music lessons. I had to commit to every Saturday. My enthusiasm was fine for the first few Saturdays. Then I missed a couple of weeks because I was away and I didn't get the chance to practice. This of course, led to even less practicing and no desire to go to another lesson ‘because I hadn't practiced'. Does this sound familiar? How many of us start out watching our portions, maybe even decide to finally do three or four exercise sessions, then work or illness get in the way and the desire to maintain discipline is gone? What happened?
Well, we got distracted. We got confused. We lost the rhythm of doing the things that were taking us one step closer to achieving our goal. We lost momentum! We lost our dream of losing weight, becoming fit or in my case, becoming efficient at playing a musical instrument.
We all need to maintain the momentum. If we lose it, we must try hard to get it back. You and I have a goal. We must always be doing something that moves us closer to that goal. Every day we must do something that draws us a little bit nearer to what we want for ourselves, from ourselves.
One author I read says: ‘When you take action toward that which you most desire, your self-confidence will soar. Distractions shift you off-course or slow you down: actions accelerate you forward along your chosen curse. Every action strengthens you to take another.”
We tend to be too easily distracted and we too easily give up on ourselves. Also, we make things seem too difficult to accomplish. Is it that difficult for me to find 15 minutes to practice a musical instrument every day? I think not. Is it that difficult for you to not have a mindless snack tonight - when you are not even hungry? Again, I think not. At least not if you have good insight into what you want to achieve. A fit healthy body, less joint pain, less medication to take for your diabetes or as simple as just wanting to feel good about yourself – Focus on what you want to achieve. These daily actions lead to self-confidence and in turn, lead to a sense of empowerment.
So, identify your distractions and move away from them. You will become effective. You will maintain focus on what is important for you. Focus on today. Plan your meals and snacks. Identify your danger times and plan what you will do at those times. If the issue is snacking when you come home from work or later in the evening, identify those times and plan for them. Prepare healthy snacks or promise yourself that you will not snack in front of the TV. It is guaranteed that if you do these small things every day, you will achieve long term success.
Whatever you do, keep the momentum going. Don't give up on yourself. You may have had some sort of distraction, but it's time to get your self back on track.
It's worth the effort! With just a little momentum, people feel good about themselves. Don't ever give up trying. You can do it…

Dr Doug