How to stay motivated and working on your goals and ambitions

Every person on this planet has the potential to do something great. I firmly believe this and it is backed up by a wealth of evidence. Just take a look through history at the unlikely heroes in all walks of life.

William Shakespeare – a lad from the Midlands who became the most renowned playwright of all time.

Coco Chanel – who grew up in poverty and went on to found the most revered fashion house in the world

Louis B. Mayer – who left school at 12 to support his family and never learned to read or write but founded a movie empire

Do you believe that you have the potential to do something great?

We’ve spent the last few blogs and podcasts preparing you for 2020 – creating a vision and understanding the obstacles that may get in your way. You have everything you need to make 2020 your best year yet.

I just don’t feel like it…

It doesn’t matter how great your ambition – finding the motivation to keep going and keep on track is hard. It is for everyone.

You may look at an athlete like Roger Federer and think it is easy for him, with all that natural talent but I can promise you that there are days where he really doesn’t feel like getting up and spending hours training. Endless practice of his backhand must be no more exciting to him that it is to you or I.

So what gets him out on the court day after day?

Thinking big, acting small

The trick to achieving your goals is how you think of them. On the one hand, having that great vision is very important. It gets you excited and helps you map out what needs to be done. On the other hand, you need to focus on today – the very next step you need to take to move forward.

Why?

Let me explain.

Enjoy the journey – don’t worry about the destination

Have you ever done any hill-walking? Perhaps you decided to climb Ben Nevis or Snowdonia. If so, you may have started the walk and gazed up at the summit and thought “I’ll never manage it,” and felt massively encouraged. If, though, instead of going home, you decided just to enjoy the walk: “I’ll get as far as I can, have a nice day, and then, even if I don’t make it, I’ll have had a good day out.”

So you walk for a couple of hours, taking in the scenery, enjoying the company around you, breathing in the air…

And then you look around and you recognise just how far you have come. There is still a way to go but you’ve come miles. You’d never have believed you could come so far in so short a time. Now the summit seems perfectly possible.

Celebrate

The other critical ingredient for staying motivated is to celebrate what you have achieved and this is the perfect time to consider that. We are nearing the end of 2019 so grab a pen and paper and spend a few minutes writing down all the amazing things you have achieved in the last 365 days.

Don’t dwell on the challenges – we all have them. Congratulate yourself for having overcome them. After all, you’re still here.

When you have that list, just gaze at it in wonder for a moment and recognise the truth held in that piece of paper.

You are incredible and you can do anything.

If you want to know more about how to make the daily changes which allow you to achieve your goals in  your business and your life, then take a look at https://coaching.petecohen.com/ to learn more.