Stick With It!!

How to Stick to Your Goals and Stay Motivated

Have you ever been working your way toward a goal that you really wanted to achieve, only to suddenly lose your way? How does that happen?

When you’re working toward a goal, it’s not enough to simply want it. Even if it’s the attainment of your life’s dream, you have to keep yourself constantly motivated or else you won’t stick with it. Here are some tips on how to stay on course and make it happen.

Keep Your Momentum

An object at rest stays at rest. That’s what Isaac Newton discovered and it’s just as true about human beings as it is with physical objects. It’s easy to give up a goal when you take too long of a break from it. The momentum you need to keep going comes from taking action toward your goal daily.

Faltering Confidence

If you have a big goal, the fear of failure might be lurking somewhere in the back of your mind. This can cause problems with your confidence that can result in you falling out of step and giving up. The best way to keep your confidence up is to remember your past successes and achievements. Write these down and keep them handy in case you need them

Consider the Evidence

In just the same way, it helps keep you moving when you can see how much progress you’re making. Keep track of your progress and every time you feel like giving up, look at the evidence. If you’re losing weight, keep records of how much you’ve lost. If you’re saving money, look at the growing pile of cash.

Make It Positive

Positivity is a much better motivator than negativity. If your goal is to get out of your current job, quit smoking, or break your bad habits, try to put a positive spin on it. For example, instead of saying you’ll quit smoking, make your goal to become a non-smoker or to make healthier lifestyle choices. Negative motivators can help, but it’s much better to make the main overall goal a positive one.

Get Around Obstacles

There are always going to be roadblocks along the way and these obstacles can stop you dead in your tracks. It’s easy to let them. But an obstacle is really nothing more than a challenge. What it requires is a change of strategy and that’s all. When you get stuck and feel that you can’t move forward, review your goal and the process you’ve created for getting there. Brainstorm some small changes that you can try out.

Learn from Mistakes

When you mess up and make a mistake (or you’re weak and let yourself slip), don’t beat yourself up about it. Instead, separate yourself from the situation and look at it objectively. Why did the mistake happen? Where did it come from? Look closely at it and use it as a learning experience.

Ask for Help

Lots of people try to do everything themselves and avoid asking for help even when they need it. It’s incredibly hard to achieve a goal without any support whatsoever. When you first get started, identify some people who can help you. When you have tough times, turn to them.

Don’t forget as you work your way to the attainment of your goals that you need rewards. It’s not enough to always anticipate the big day when the goal is reached. Schedule rewards for yourself after you complete your tasks or reach your sub-goals. Rewards are the best motivators. Besides, you deserve them.

In the words of my favorite mentor, Marie Forleo, everything is figureoutable.