10 Action Steps to Motivate Yourself to Great Accomplishments

Let me ask you this question, “Are you motivated to achieve
great accomplishments in your life?” The following are ten
action steps you can apply today to achieve more success in
in your life:
1. Positive Affirmations
Our subconscious mind is a wonderful tool for success or
failure. It will do what we tell it to do. It all depends on what
thoughts we feed it. So why not feed your inner mind with
only positive thoughts. The following are some examples of
positive affirmations you can feed your inner mind for
success:
* “Today, I will win because I have faith, courage and
enthusiasm.”
* “I see failure only as a signpost on my road to success.”
* “When I feel stress, I will relax and release my stress
before I take on my next task.”
* “I always write down my priorities, thinking of my
responsibilities. I may not get everything done, but I will
do the most productive thing possible at every given
moment.”
* “I am a winner, I work for a winning organization, and
because of my contribution and cooperation we will keep
on winning.”
* “Today, I will see opportunity in every challenge offered
to me.”
2. Positive Language
Recent research has come out that 75% of daily conversation
is negative. Whether it is the words we use or the body
language, we need to communicate in a positive manner all
the time.
The following are some examples of how you can turn
negative words into positive communication:
* Instead of saying “problem,” call it “opportunity.”
* Instead of an action being a “failure,” describe it as a
“learning experience.”
* Instead of “I have to,” say “I choose to.” This gives
control for your actions back to you.
* Instead of saying, “There’s nothing I can do,” say,
“Let’s look at our alternatives.”
* Instead of saying, “That’s just the way I am,” say, “I
choose a different approach.”
* Instead of saying, “He makes me so mad,” say, “I control
my own feelings.”
If you notice, by using the positive response, you have
control over your actions and life.
3. Exercise
A Gallup survey found the following among men and women
who have taken up exercise recently:
* 66 percent report a more relaxed life
* 62 percent a new surge of energy
* 55 percent less stress
* 51 percent better looks
* 46 percent more confidence
* 45 percent better love life
* 44 percent greater job satisfaction
* 37 percent more creative on their jobs
These are great motivators to exercise! Next time you feel
demotivated, give your body a workout. Recent research
reports that as little as fifteen minutes three times a week has
profound effects. Get moving. Get motivated.
4. Take Risks
We all live our lives in comforts zones, avoiding risky
situations, avoiding the potential to fail. It’s real safe for us.
But in order to get ahead of your competition and master the
ongoing change in your life, you must go out of your
comfort zone. Start one step at a time. Try that little new
thing, that different approach. It could be as simple as taking
different routes to and from work. Once in a while I like to
“take the road less traveled” to stir up my creative juices.
Then, keep stepping out of your zone. It may seem
uncomfortable at first. But the more you do it, the more it will
seem natural and you will see an increase in your creative
juices and opportunities you never thought about before.
5. Positive Reading
Read about the lives of successful people. Make sure you
read only those people that embrace the timeless values that
make them truly successful through the ages. Not the
“success today, scandal tomorrow” success stories that we
are experiencing today. People like Herb Kelleher of
Southwest Airlines, Fred Smith of Federal Express, Mary Kay
Ash of Mary Kay, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln,
Mahatma Gandhi, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. are good
examples. These are people who overcame enormous
challenges, created real value for others, or changed other
people’s lives for the better.
6. Positive Visualizations
Condition yourself to paint your vision for success. One of
the best ways to do this is the following:
* Go to a quiet place in your home or elsewhere. Turn off
all radios, televisions, etc.
* Find a comfortable chair and get into a relaxed state of
mind.
* Start thinking about one goal you want to accomplish.
Remember, visualize as if you are already accomplishing
this goal.
* Visualize taking all the necessary steps to successfully
complete these goals. The better your visualization, where
you can actually see, feel, hear, and touch your vision, the
more real it is to you.
* Visualize any challenges to your successful completion
of this goal and how you will eliminate this challenges.
* Visualize how good it feels to complete this goal.
Visualize what benefits it will bring to you, your family,
friends, co-workers, etc. Enjoy the moment!
Important: If you don’t take time to see it, it won’t happen!
7. Think Big
See the big picture in everything we do. So much of our time
is wasted dealing with the unimportant things in our lives
(what that person said or did, the driver who cut us off this
morning, and activities which don’t add value to our lives,
etc.) that we forget about the big picture. We were put on
this earth to make a difference. We make a difference for our
families, our communities, our organizations, and for
ourselves. All of our actions must be put into action with
this concept in mind. Think a little bigger today than
yesterday, and you’ll create a better future tomorrow.
Thinking big leads to great actions. Thinking small leads to
small results. So Think BIG!
8. Set Goals
The fastest way to fail in life is to not set clear goals. Set
goals in the financial, family, health, spiritual, and career
areas. Your goals must incorporate the SMART techniques
or else it’s just a “conversation in the park.”
* S for specific
* M for measurable
* A for attainable
* R for realistic
* T for time-based
For example, you might have a goal of achieving $2 million
for retirement in twenty years. After doing your research, a
SMART goal would be the following:
“I will acquire $2 million dollars for retirement by 2024. I will
do this by contributing $20K, or $1667 per month, to my
various retirement funds each year. Of the $20k each year,
$2k will go to my IRA, and $18K will go into my
organization’s retirement program.”
Remember the most detail you can add, the more realistic
your goal becomes.
9. Positive Appearance
Super achievers are very careful about their appearance and
their movements. They know that looking good translates
into feeling good. Billy Crystal, of Saturday Night Live and
movie fame, once played a character that was known for
saying, “It is better to look good than to feel good.” What
he was really implying was the “fake it until you make it”
concept. In other words, if we are feeling down, then think
positively and your mind will tell your body to follow suit
and act positively. Also always dress the part of an
achiever. Model the dress, actions, and behaviors of
someone who is successful and embraces the long term
values of successful people. This will also tell your mind that
I am an achiever.
Don’t let that be the deciding factor on being motivated.
You can easily distinguish those who are motivated from
those who are not motivated just by looking at their
appearance and their movements. The motivated move
forward, onward and upward with confidence.
10. Helping Others
Develop an obsession to help others. Share your special
talents without expecting a reward, payment, or
commendation. And above all else, keep your good deed a
secret.
You know what, it you apply the helping techniques to
others, it will automatically come back to you tenfold in a
number of ways. First, the enjoyment of knowing that a
special talent you had made someone else’s life better.
Second, because you didn’t seek it, word will spread about
you and your deeds. This will be translated into unexpected
riches and opportunities. Third, you will gain a new level of
confidence in knowing that you can make a difference.
Super achievers find motivation and meaning by helping
others.