Motivation is a hot topic these days. There are countless books, audio, videos, seminars and coaches that all offer the latest strategies in getting you to be laser focused allowing you to achieve your goals.

Let’s face it – staying motivated isn’t always easy even after implementing the latest and greatest strategy heralded by an Anthony Robbins type motivational guru.

I have tried it all – some with success and some without. The results I did I get never lasted and I would begin searching for the next and best quick fix to my problem.

During my quest for the ultimate motivation strategy, it was often claimed that if the goal was big enough, important enough to me and that I could visualise it then that is all the motivation that I needed to get out there and achieve it.

So I documented my big, important goals and created my own vision board that would inspire me to move forward. I had stunning images of everything from my perfect house, the luxury car, the amazing destinations I would visit and more.

I don’t know about you except looking at what I so desperately wanted and had not yet achieved in my life at times made the situation worse. It became a constant reminder of how far I was away from achieving my goals. 

I have found with my clients and in my personal experience that often the ‘big enough’ goal is exactly what causes the motivation to wane because we tend to focus on how far away from the goal we are.

My personal secrets to staying motivated are:

1. Break the vision down into a list of simple tasks: Don’t worry if you don’t know the exact ‘how’. Just write down everything that needs doing that you are currently aware of (you can always add to the list later).  It could be as simple as sending an email, writing a blog post or doing some research.
2. Do at least one task a day: When motivation is high, you can cross off many tasks off the project list and when the motivation wanes, you are still doing enough to move that bit closer to your goal by doing one task.  Doing one task will create positive results (and when results show, it usually motivates us even more).
3. Focus on how far you have come rather than how far you have to go: When we focus on how far we are from reaching our goal it can seem as though we have been spinning our wheels going nowhere. When we look at how far we have come, we instantly realise all that we have achieved, no matter how small or large, that acts as a positive reminder of our current success.

It is simple and very effective. So take a pen and paper and get started today!