How To Get Motivated
Written by Dave Gannaway The level of all performance depends upon how motivated you are. Do you know how to get motivated or what it takes for you to be full of vital energy? How do you know when you have got it? Silly question? Maybe, but if you don’t know what it’s like to be fully motivated, then how will you know what it’s like to have it? Here's how to get motivated. This may all sound like a conundrum but think about it ... let’s create a scale of 1 through 10, where 1 is feeling yuck and don’t even want to get out of bed. Now that is not too difficult for most since we have been there, had the experience. But what about the other end of the scale, just how motivated have you been? Imagine what it was like when you were at your most motivated, your most empowered, and unstoppable state… Does that click right in to place on demand? Maybe you’ll need to work at recalling this all empowering state. It may have been when you were in love or won a trophy. Whatever it was, you need to access it and create a 10 on your 1-10 scale of personal motivation. Now we have a crude yard-stick that we can use to observe where we are at any given moment. As you work with this concept you will discover that, far from being crude, how amazingly precise it becomes, and will prove to be a valuable tool. As you visualize your scale or just sense it intuitively…you see the number 10. Now imagine a small row of dots continuing on past ten, (ex. 10……) this will allow you to extend your level of motivation beyond where it is at the moment. That is to say, you may think you are at your motivational peak but let us make provision to expand. Without some coaching or prompting most people would stick at their present motivational level. There can be many reasons for this and most commonly it is because your level of friends and associates remain the same and so your subconscious becomes entrained by the group level. This becomes a comfort zone and not really your true, most empowered level. As a group, the level of motivation may revolve around, or be initiated by a rough night out with the boys drinking. Fun as this may be it does not reflect the positive constructive level required for greater personal levels of achievement.
As your personal level of motivation grows, then so will the demand to expand beyond level 10 on your scale. Just as a power weightlifter forever increases the weights on the bar, you will continually need to expand and stretch your levels of self empowerment. So, how can we do that? Since we have just five senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste), we value and calibrate everything in our lives according to the levels we place the five senses at. For example, visualize a picture of a beautiful dinner on a plate in front of you. Now, as you view it in your mind’s eye, change the picture into black and white and notice that it is not as attractive and compelling as it was in color. Take away the smell, and move the picture further away…all these things will probably have the effect of making the dinner less attractive. Now do the opposite. See your lovely dinner and increase the size of it—make the colors brighter and more intense. Move the picture closer, increase the smell, and you will probably find it more compelling even make you feel hungry. This most basic technique of how to get motivated is another powerful factor in creating action. The object, of course is to create the most compelling mental experience possible and then anchor it to be called upon when needed. Now you have accessed and achieved the desired level of inner motivation. You are feeling unstoppable and excited about what you are doing not to mention anxious to get up and do it. Where would you place yourself on this scale right now? You do the “calibrating” of exactly where you want to be. Of course if your motivation was to lose weight or eat less, then use the first example and make the food look less compelling, and less attractive. Add less gratifying aspects such as a feeling of being bloated and uncomfortable and even feeling unattractive. This whole process is open to the individual’s imagination and creativity. Now that we can discover greater levels of empowerment, we need to be able access them, or switch them into our own personal overdrive, when needed. Now we can get “fired-up” when we need to be. There are many methods of achieving this, but generally the empowered state is linked to a simple trigger or gesture, such as clenching a fist. This is known as an anchor. The technique is to simply associate the motivating force with the trigger or gesture of clenching the fist, so that one is totally associated with the other. So, every time you clench your fist it will automatically fire-off the motivation causing you to feel empowered. To take it a short step further (and that little bit more effective), create two anchors simultaneously. For example clench your fist and make the sound ‘YES’ in an empowering voice so that now you even sound like you mean business. Just watch athletes to observe a whole range of techniques for motivation. It’s just a matter of selecting one that suites you. Now you know how to get motivated!
You May Also Enjoy These Related Articles:
All of Our Motivational Articles
Join Motivational Times Our Free Inspirational and Motivational Newsletter
Want To Make Some Lasting Change in Your Life?
Return to Home Page From How to Get Motivated |
In order to know how to get motivated, a little self exploration is called for. It’s like a little personal stretching that will access levels more constructive and empowering than the rest.