18 Ways to Peacefully Motivate Yourself

Most productivity tips boil down to clever ways of forcing yourself to do things you don’t want to do. How exhausting! It’s so much more peaceful – and so much more effective – to motivate yourself instead of forcing yourself.

Think of one goal you’d like to achieve, but you’re having trouble motivating yourself.

You care. That’s why you chose this goal in the first place. Motivation is basically remembering why you care and how much you care.

So read these 18 ideas with your goal in mind, and think about how you could apply one of them today to remind yourself why you care and how much you care.

#1: Create a vision board

Get a piece of poster board, cut up a bunch of magazines, and create a collage of images and words that remind you of why you care about your goal. Then hang it in a place where you’ll see it often.

#2: Create a desktop or smartphone background

It’s like a digital vision board. Find or create an image that reminds you of why you care about your goal, then set it as your desktop or smartphone background so you’ll see it all the time.

#3: Set an alarm as a reminder

Set an alarm to go off every morning with a reminder of why you care about your goal. I use my iPhone for this, and I set it to play nice, peaceful music with a message that reminds me of how I want to feel.

#4: Use an app

There are apps specifically designed to remind you of your goals. For example, there’s Project365 for a goal of taking a photo each day, Gratitude365 for a goal of feeling grateful each day, and DailyWater for drinking enough water each day. See if there’s an app that could help you with your specific goal!

#5: Write a reminder

Write a reminder to yourself of why you care, and put it somewhere you’ll see it every day.

#6: Create a symbolic reminder

If you have a shared space, you might not want others reading your reminder to yourself. So instead, you can create a symbol that reminds you of why you care, and put that somewhere you’ll see it every day.

#7: Leave your equipment out

The equipment you use to help you achieve your goal can remind you why you care. For example, I leave my Dance Dance Revolution dance pad out on the floor where I can see it all the time, to remind myself of my goal to play DDR 3 times a week. Leaving it out has the added benefit of making it easier to do, since there’s less setup.

#8: Jewelry

Buy, create, or commission a piece of jewelry that reminds you of why you care, then wear it. I have a Soul Mantra necklace made by Liz Lamoreux to remind me of my overall goal for the year.

#9: Daily check-in

Find a partner and ask each other these questions every day:

• Why do you care about your goal?
• Is there anything I can do to help you or support you today?

That combination of support and accountability will work wonders.

#10: Daily writing prompt

The introvert’s version of the daily check-in! Write your answers to these three questions every day:

• Why do I care about my goal?
• What can I do today to take one step toward my goal?
• What support do I need?

Even if the answer to the first question is the exact same every day, writing it out over and over helps motivate you.

#11: Trip over your motivation

Put your motivation physically in between where you are and where you need to go. For example, if being outside reminds you of why you care about your goal, put your work station in the shed, so every time you walk between your home and the shed, you get a taste of being outside.

#12: Surround yourself with people who motivate you

If art reminds you of your goal, live with artists!

#13: Bookmark your motivation

If there’s a web page that reminds you why you care, bookmark it and make it your start page. If there’s an email that reminds you why you care, in Gmail you can bookmark that individual email and add it to your bookmarks bar, so when you click to Gmail it takes you to that reminder of your motivation instead of your inbox.

#14: Write a love letter to yourself

When you’re feeling motivated, write a love letter to your future self, telling yourself exactly what you will need to hear to help you feel motivated again. Then, put the letter in a place where you’ll remember to read it when you need it.

#15: Read a book

Read a book that reminds you of why you care.

#16: Watch a movie

Watch a movie that makes you feel motivated.

#17: Visit a friend

Hang out with a friend who reminds you of why you care about your goal.

#18: Get a tattoo

One of my life goals is to open my heart up to love. So I got this tattoo on my wrist (where I’ll see it every time I type) to remind me to ask, “Is love available even here?”

Over to You

How could you take just one of these 18 ideas and apply it to your own life and your own goal?

BY PACE SMITH

http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/18-ways-peacefully-motivate/

7 Reasons successful people have mentors and you should too

Does this sound familiar?

You have a big dream.

It’s what you were meant to do. It motivates you. It has you getting up early and staying up late.

But none of your effort seems to make a dent.

Even though you’re doing all you know to do, at the rate you’re going, you will never get where you want to be.

Maybe you are called to be a great parent or spouse.

Or, maybe you aspire to create a successful business that kicks money in your direction while you travel the world.

Either way, some of you will forever dream and some of you will be successful.

Ever wonder if there is a tool or technique that could bridge the gap between dreaming and living the dream?

Luckily, there is. It’s called mentoring.

Athletes, actors, business people, celebrity chefs, singers, authors – if you know their name, they likely have a mentor.

Ask a professional blogger if they have one.

According to The Mentor Hall of Fame, Elvis, Mick Jagger, Bill Gates and Winston Churchill all followed mentors.

If you want to be successful at anything – marriage, business, personal growth – you need a mentor.

Still not sure? Here are seven reasons why successful people have mentors and you should too.

1. They want success more than they want to be right

Have you ever been asked “Would you rather be right or would you rather be happy?”

This is something my mentor asked me when my husband and I were arguing too much. I was in the right. But I sure wasn’t happy.

Successful people want to be successful enough to let somebody more experienced guide them on how to move forward.

They aren’t set on feeling like the expert. They are set on becoming an expert at their own success, so they will take the advice of someone who has proven their expertise already.

2. They know the value of respectful copying

Successful people recognize what it takes to be excellent, even if they haven’t made it yet.

They know that most hurdles have already been solved.

Someone has poured their blood, sweat, and tears into inventing the lightbulb. A successful person is not going to waste their own sweat trying to do the same.
They ask how it’s done and then, apply those steps to their own goals.

They know they have blind spots that only someone outside the frame can see

“You can’t see the forest for the trees.”
“You can’t see the picture if you’re in it.”

These sayings cliche, but they’re true.

3. Successful people know they have blind spots.

They are humble enough to ask someone to look for the flaws in their thinking.

Successful people want to reach their goal badly enough that they’re willing to change.

They’re willing to work on their weaknesses so they can move forward.

4. They don’t want to fall for the Principle of Least Effort

Even the most motivated people are subject to the laws of life.

The Principle of Least Effort says that humans will try to get the most for the least, if the results are ‘good enough’.. That means that even the best will, sometimes, give mediocre effort if no one calls them on it.

One of your mentor’s jobs is to call you on it.

People who desire success let their mentor hold them accountable. They don’t want their own inclination to slow them down on their quest to reach their goal.

5. They know they need higher thinking to move forward

“We can’t solve problems by using the same level of thinking we used when we created them.” Whether Einstein really said this or not, it’s true.

Successful people carry themselves as far as they can on their own understanding.

Then they need someone else to point them to the next step. And, similar to not needing to be right, they don’t even need to understand why a strategy works to implement it. They want to understand so they can apply the strategy in other areas of life, but they don’t need to understand before moving forward.

I once heard a successful businessman and professional speaker say: “If you understood what I understand, you’d be where I am.”

6. They know a mentor can make general advice specific to their goal.

Have you ever read a personal growth book and come away knowing what you need to improve but having no idea how to actually make the change?

You’re not alone.

Of sixty arbitrarily chosen complaints about some of Amazon’s best sellers in the self-help and personal development categories, a full thirty-nine sited some version of ‘not enough practical techniques/how-to’s’ as their only disappointment.

Successful people know that someone with experience will be able to apply general success principles to their specific situation. Just like a mentor can see their blind spots, they can also see where a new principle will fit and have the best effect.

7. They know they need unbiased, consistent encouragement

To become successful, a person needs a certain amount of self-confidence.

That doesn’t mean that they never get discouraged in the face of challenges. And it certainly doesn’t mean that they don’t need encouragement.

Even the most successful need someone who knows where they are to remind them that they have what it takes to get their dreams.

I’m not talking a ‘Yes-Man’ telling them they’re awesome even when they foul things up. They need someone who will acknowledge their mistakes and remind them that they have overcome other, similar, challenges.

They need the coach who will stand over them yelling: “Again! You can do this. Get up and go again!”

Can you be mentored?

There is no doubt that successful people have a certain something.

That something is the willingness to be mentored.

Do you have the humility and the drive to ask for help in achieving your dream?

If you do, then it’s time to find a mentor, follow their direction and buckle yourself in.

Mentoring will change you, if you let it.

http://www.dumblittleman.com/2015/02/7-reasons-successful-people-mentors.html