How To Stay Motivated On Your Wealth Journey

What is motivation?

There is no universal definition of what motivation is, yet all of us
intrinsically know what it is. If you speak to people on the street and
ask them what they think motivation is, you’ll likely get responses
like “it’s what drives you” or “it’s what pushes you” or “it’s what
gives us the strength to get things done” or “it’s your fire inside.”
All these are perfect definitions; however, my favorite definition is “a
desire to achieve a goal, combined with the energy to work towards that
goal.”

Motivation is key:

Without motivation, your chances of achieving success are slim.
Without motivation, you won’t be able to conquer the many challenges
that will confront you on your wealth creation journey. Motivation will
give you the energy and drive to climb the mountain of financial
freedom. It will pick you up when you get knocked down. It will lift you
over the many barriers that you will encounter along the way.
Motivation will give you that “never give up” attitude.

Two of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s most famous quotes are “I’ll be back”
and “Hasta la vista, baby.” It’s easy to forget the man behind the movie
persona. He won the Mr. Universe title four times; he’s the only person
to win Mr. Olympia seven times; he’s one of Hollywood’s biggest stars;
he’s a very successful property investor; and in 2003, he became the
Governor of California. What makes a person excel like this? Well, in
his own words, “…the last three or four reps is what makes the muscle
grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is
not a champion. That's what most people lack, having the guts to go on
and just say they'll go through the pain no matter what happens.”

If you’re lacking motivation, how do you get it? If you lose your
motivation along the way, how do you get it back? Well, the good news is
that motivation is a two-way street. Although you can lose motivation;
you can also get it back.

Becoming and staying motivated:

We are all unique. What highly motivates one person won’t necessarily
have the same impact on another person. The steps listed below will
help you become and stay motivated:

Step 1: Have a vision, mission and plan with clear goals - Your
vision is your endpoint. It’s your key reason for taking this journey.
Knowing where your target is will help you be inspired and stay on the
journey. Your mission statement is short-term, clear and focused. It’s
your “mission!” It’s big enough to inspire and challenge you but small
enough to be achievable in the short term. Your vision and mission form
the grand design of your plan.

Your plan will show you the way and give you a timeline. It gives you
direction. Your plan contains and prioritizes your goals so you don’t
get overwhelmed. Your plan and goals give you step-by-step, day-by-day
focus with clear timeframes and deadlines.

Step 2: Small regular successes - small manageable daily goals, at
least at the beginning, will ensure success and confidence. The higher
your confidence, the higher your excitement and motivation for more
success. Just like small trickling streams quickly turn into a gushing
river, many small, quick successes quickly total up to a large success.

Step 3: Find motivation sources - each of us gets revved up and
inspired by different things. For some of us, it’s an action movie or a
certain song; for others, it’s going for a walk or to the gym. Find what
gets you going, and make it a part of your daily routine.

Step 4: Keep learning - Educate yourself as much as you can about
everything to do with you wealth goals. Knowledge gives you two
essential things: confidence and a higher success rate. Both these feed
your energy.

Step 5: Mix with like-minded people - People tend to be drawn to
like-minded people with similar interests and passions. Your road to
wealth will be a lot easier if you mix with like-minded, wealthy people
who will guide, encourage and inspire you.

Step 6: Reward your success - Success is not all about work. The
bigger the goal you meet, the better you should feel about it. One way
to ensure you associate success with pleasure is to treat yourself when
you achieve a goal. Enjoy a night off from work, take your family out
for a nice meal or spend a weekend away—whatever works for you. Don’t
ever play down your successes. You don’t need to brag about them to
others, but do tell yourself how good you are.

Step 7: Patience - You must be realistic about your vision, mission
and plan. Success won’t happen overnight, but they will in time, with
knowledge, planning, action and determination. Be patient. Challenge
yourself, but don’t kill yourself. You won’t stay motivated if you’re
exhausted.

Step 9: Repeat, repeat, repeat - Repetition of good habits will
engrain success into your subconscious and your personality. Have you
ever noticed that winners tend to excel at whatever they do? That’s
because winning is a part of who they are. They weren’t born winners.
They learned to become winners. You can, too. Start by changing the way
you do and think about things, and then continually repeat these winning
thoughts and processes until it becomes a part of who you are.

There are plenty more ways to become and stay motivated. Take the
time to understand what things work for you and apply them. Constantly
look for new and interesting ways to motivate yourself as old methods
can become boring over time.

The buck starts and stops with you

No one cares about your life more than you. No one has as much to
gain or lose from your life choices. Only you can really motivate
yourself. No one can give you that never-say-die tenacity to succeed,
which can only happen if you take full responsibility for your life.
Take responsibility for your past, where you are now and what you’ll be.
Don’t blame other people or circumstances. The buck starts and stops
with you!