Motivation, in and of itself, is little more than a feeling, an urge to move ahead. It cannot bring you the success and happiness you desire. It is the keys to motivation that move you from where you are now, to where you want to be. Without each element taking its place, you will have a difficult time trying to improve you life.
But all hope is not lost! When you know the keys, you are ahead of the game. No longer will you wait for motivation to come to you, you'll go out there and get it.
Some real time facts:
1. Out of the first four stores F. W. Woolworth opened, three failed. When he died, he was worth more than $20 million.
2. Einstein was 4 years old before he could speak.
3. Isaac Newton did poorly in grade school and was considered "unpromising".
4. Beethoven's music teacher once said of him, "As a composer, he is hopeless".
5. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.
6. Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper because he "lacked imagination, and had no good ideas".
7. Thomas Edison's teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything.
Friends, it is always a power of your dreams and a motive to move ahead, which is required to move ahead and to be successful in life. Does it sound, impractical; let me share with you, something practical and real. What you need?
DESIRE
This is the most misunderstood step in the entire process. When I work with individuals and businesses to increase their motivation, the source of the problem usually comes to this: they don't really want what they are working towards. It may sound obvious that you have to want something in order to achieve it, but it is the degree to which you desire that differentiates those who get what they want and those who are left wondering why. The first step is to honestly ask yourself how much you actually want, to reach your target. In some cases, you may realise that the objective you thought you wanted was actually far from the real target.
BELIEF
The next step in the equation is belief. Do you believe in yourself and your abilities? Do you believe that you can do it? If not, then you must stop at this point for a personal Q and A. You must list why you don't think you can do it, and then work to fix those weaknesses. You must be confident in your ability to make it happen. Those who do not understand this step bang their heads against the wall in confusion at their futile attempts at success.When you truly believe in yourself, there is little that you cannot accomplish. A confident mind finds a way around every obstacle, or it simply runs through it. Each problem becomes an opportunity, and each minute that you are awake is fertile ground for new ideas, thoughts, and angles to approach the challenge.
GOALS
This is where you get the thoughts out of your mind and turn them into a working plan of action. A goal is a concrete and manageable blueprint for success. If you do not start with a specific goal in mind, you will be starting with a great disadvantage. Simply stating and committing your goal to paper brings you one important step closer to achievement.
There is no magic in a goal. It is merely a focused view of where you want to head. It adds a bold red line on the map, and points you to the destination. But a goal is like everything else that is worthwhile in life; it only works if you do.
ATTITUDE
Throughout your trip to improvement and success, there will be ups and downs. There have to be. No road is completely smooth and free of obstacles. The way to make this work for you is to bring a positive and winning attitude with you. With the right attitude, you can be handed a failure, see it for what it is, a learning experience, and move on.
I have seen the greatest of intentions fall flat because of a negative attitude. I have also seen the greatest of accomplishments because of a positive attitude. The choice is yours. The power of a positive attitude has been demonstrated again and again in our world. Choosing to be positive is choosing to be successful.
WORK
The greatest plan in the world will not bring you results unless you work. Hard work is the last and most important element of the process. If I buy a brand new pair of running shoes, tie the laces up tight, and read fifty books about the sport of running, it won't mean a thing until I get out there and run.
You have to run. You have to take what you have learned and what you have decided is your goal and do it. Few things that are worthwhile come easy. If you are dedicated to hard work I guarantee that you will win in the end.You now know what it takes to be motivated to live a life that is happy, healthy, wealthy, and wise.
Some Themes
1) Victory Against Cancer
In October of 1996, Lance Armstrong, America’s greatest cyclist, received the news. He was hero both in USA and in other Countries. He was called the “Golden Boy of American Cycling”, and felt like nothing could stop him.
Something did. He was unable to finish a race in 1996 due to excruciating pain. He was rushed to hospital to find the cause.
THE NEWS
That month Lance underwent several tests, and the diagnosis was testicular cancer. The cancer had spread to his lungs and his brain. After undergoing three immediate surgeries, his chances for recovery were 50/50. The man, who had everything, was now hoping to have one thing, LIFE.
OVERCOMING OBSTACLES
With the support of his family and friends, and his unstoppable attitude, Armstrong started to improve. The chemotherapy started to work and he started to once again think about racing. Some thought he was crazy. He was battling cancer, how could he think about ever racing again.
TAKING ACTION
He did more than just thinking about it. He did it. Armstrong began training only five months after his diagnosis. He did not feel cursed, but lucky. He was given a new viewpoint on life. Armstrong realized how lucky of a man he really was.
Now that he beat cancer, Lance Armstrong took on the next biggest challenge, the Tour de France. Not only did he race well, he won.
Some were unsure if could survive cancer. He did. Some were unsure if he could train again. He did. Few thought he could win again. He did.
2) The Dream Behind Wendy’s
As a young boy, Dave Thomas didn’t have the easiest childhood. He was an adopted child, and was never able to meet his birth parents. The relationship he had with his adoptive father was difficult to say the least. This didn’t stop the young Dave Thomas from dreaming. At the age of eight, he dreamed that one-day he would own the best restaurant in the world. Despite his surroundings, Dave Thomas had a dream, and knew it would be realized, someday.
PERSISTENCE
Through hard work and persistence, this young boy learned much about the restaurant business by working in restaurants at a very young age. He was passionate about his goal, and worked diligently to assure its attainment. As opportunities presented themselves, Mr. Thomas jumped. He was able to start his own restaurant and take a giant step closer to his dream and that was the foundation of Wendy’s chain of Restaurants. This did not, how ever, come to him on a silver platter.
TAKING RISKS
Dave Thomas invested everything he had into the first Wendy’s restaurant, not knowing whether or not it would be successful. He could have lost it all, but that didn’t stop him.
A DREAM REALIZED
Today, Wendy’s is a $3.5 billion dollar company, and Dave Thomas is a man who had a dream, and did everything possible to make it come true.
A boy with a dream is a powerful thing. Add to this equation persistence and passion, and you have an unstoppable force.
3) They Said It Couldn’t Be Done
They said it couldn’t be done. Many scientists also agreed that it was physically impossible. No one could ever run the mile in less than four minutes. No one ever has, they said, and no one ever will. Roger Bannister must have been absent that day in class, because on May 6, 1954, he ran the mile in 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds.
This feat ended the world’s nine-year quest for the four-minute mile. After Bannister’s sub four-minute mile, other’s also added their names to the list.
Once someone proved they could accomplish the impossible, other’s found they could also. Could this be happening today? Many people today can tell you this or that will never be done. They may even tell that your dream is impossible.
Roger Bannister proved them all wrong, and so can you.
4) Successful people do it in spite of, and not in absence of, problems.
FACTS
Wilma Rudolph was born into a poor home in Tennessee. At age four, she had double pneumonia with scarlet fever, a deadly combination, which left her paralyzed with polio. She had to wear a brace and the doctor said she would never put her foot on the earth.
DREAM
But her mother encouraged her; she told Wilma that with God-given ability, persistence and faith she could do anything she wanted. Wilma said, “ I want to be the fastest women on the track on this earth.” At the age of nine, against the advice of doctors, she removed the brace and took the first step the doctors had said she never would. At the age of 13, she entered her first race and came way, way last. And then she entered her second, and third and fourth and came way, way last until a day came when she came in first.
HARD WORK
At the age of 15 she went to Tennessee State University where she met coach by name Ed Temple. She told him,” I want to be the fastest women on the track on this earth.” Temple said, “ with your spirit nobody can stop you and besides, I will help you.”
REALIZATION OF DREAM
The day came when she was at the Olympics and at the Olympics you are matched with the best of the best. Wilma was matched against a woman named Jutta Heine who had never been beaten.
The first event was the 100 – meter race. Wilma beat Jutta Heine and won her first gold medal.
The second event was the 200-meter race and Wilma beat Jutta a second time and won her second gold medal.
ALWAYS KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE GOAL
The third event was the 400-meter relay and she was racing against Jutta one more time. In the relay, the fastest person always runs the last lap and they both anchored their teams. The first three people ran and changed the baton easily. When it came to Wilma’s turn, she dropped the baton. But Wilma saw Jutta shoot up at the other end; she picked the baton, ran like a machine, beat Jutta a third time and won her third gold medal. It became history: that paralytic women become the fastest women on the earth at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
This story teaches us that successful people do it in spite of, not in absence of, problems.
Conclusion
At the beginning, everything appears to be impossible, but those who are dare enough and bold enough to take that first step, they have done well in their career as well as in life. It is very easy to blame external factors. I can only say, live your life, as if it is your last day and work or do things, in a manner as if the whole world is watching you.
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—About our writer:
Sanjeev Sharma is a self help expert who writes for Chillibreeze.
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