Motivational Monday

Over the weekend, I had some thoughts cross my mind that I wanted to share. I'll start by asking a couple of questions.

1. What is motivation?

2. How do you get and stay motivated?

3. Why is motivation important?

First of all what is motivation? There is motivation that is used to make someone else do something, and that isn't what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about self motivation. In Merriam-Webster dictionary online it gives these two definitions: "the condition of being eager to act or work : the condition of being motivated." and "a force or influence that causes someone to do something."

So now we know motivation is something that makes us act or do something.

How do you get and stay motivated? Well, if we look at the definitions above it seems like we need to have a goal in mind that is big enough to keep our attention through thick and thin. This is where most people (in my humble opinion) fail at staying motivated. Here's an example to prove my point. "this year I am going to lose 50 pounds, and being happy with myself in the mirror is my motivation." Problem is, losing weight is difficult and it typically is a slow process. So what happens is you get motivated and work out for a week or two. Then you get on the scale and see it hasn't dropped as much as you'd like and you don't notice any difference in the mirror....and you give up. Having a solid why or goal is vital to getting motivated and more importantly staying motivated.

Why is it important to have motivation? This is a pretty straight forward question, with a pretty straight forward answer in my opinion. If we don't have motivation (for any aspects of life) it seems to me that is when depression, sadness, etc. creep in. If you can find a goal that is powerful enough to keep you motivated, it helps keep your mind focused on something and keeps your mind busy. A bored mind, is something that is not great for anyone.

With all of these thoughts in mind, I would challenge any or all of you to find a goal that keeps you motivated and focused on something larger than the day to day. Don't be afraid to change up the target some as you progress, but there should be a solid end goal in sight for the long haul. Goals and motivation are something that everyone needs to learn to set and create in their lives. The challenge is finding something that is powerful enough to keep you going in the right direction. Share if you'd like, because it makes it more powerful when you put it into the world. Stay motivated everyone!!