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Feelings matter more than we would probably like to admit and this is very true when it comes to motivation. Most athletes will tell you that they need to have the right mood if they are going to perform at their best. This mood is not one of anger or stress (as many people would have you believe) but is instead a feeling of readiness, of energy, of success.

How you feel is more down to how you think than your circumstances.

You see your brain is a wonderful thing and capable of some amazing achievements but when it comes to emotions it is usually pretty stupid. Any signal can trigger off a feeling – good or bad. For instance about a week ago I was stuck in a traffic jam with my family for over 5 hours (don’t get me started on the cause). We had to travel that same bit of road a few days later and although I thought I’d done pretty well in the jam all kinds of bad feelings started to bubble up when we reached the same spot we had sat at for so long. Simple things can trigger emotions.

Use this to your advantage

But this simple thing can be used to your advantage. To get motivated you need to feel right about what you are trying to achieve. By remembering other times you were very motivated for something and applying those same emotions to the new situation you can start to feel the motivation. There is a simple technique known as anchoring which you can use and is explained elsewhere on this site (anchoring). If you anchor the feeling then you can use that feeling to get you motivated to achieve your ends.

Feelings are very powerful

If you feel that you can’t be bothered guess what? That’s right you won’t be bothered. If you feel excited about something then guess what? That’s right you will work hard to achieve it. The problem is that so often we start excited and then go to can’t be bothered and so we give up. The trick is in keeping excited.

So to get motivated you need the right feelings.

I want to add my own tribute to the people who worked on the moon landings – not just the people who got to walk on the moon but everyone else as well.

This is one of those stories that should fill every person (regardless of nationality) with pride in the achievements of people. Those who made the landings possible were just ordinary men and women who found themselves in the position of being able to work on this incredible adventure.

We would be wrong to assume that they were somehow superhuman and different from ourselves, they were people just like us. They had been to school just like us, had been told off by parents, just like us. No doubt they had fallen in and out of love, been excited and disappointed just like us. They faced big setbacks and made some amazing advances but all with the same brain that we have. They even had the same kinds of tools that we have – in fact we probably have better ones today.

It is amazing what people can achieve when they apply themselves and work hard to overcome all obstacles. I often hear people comment on how amazing the animal kingdom is but I want to say how amazing people are. This is a day to celebrate being a person and then to allow ourselves to dream of what might be possible for us.

Go on have some dreams and then make some plans to bring them about – after all people have been to the moon so is your dream really that impossible?

This is one of those months where everything seems to get tough: the weather is bad, summer seems a long way off, winter colds are hitting you hard. It would be easy now just to give up. This is why it is so important to keep going.

What really makes the difference between a success and a failure often comes down to simply keeping going.

At that very moment when you feel like giving up, others on the same journey will feel like giving up as well. What makes you different (and hence a success) is that you are not going to give up. Let other people give up but not you. Walk past those who are sitting down and giving in. You feel the same pain and experience the same feelings of doom that everyone else feels but you are not going to give up.

If you must then plan in a time of retreat or relaxation but make sure you have a plan for afterwards.

Now is the time to dig out all those dreams you once had and to renew them. Feel the power of them again.

Come on it’s time to get going. It may be tough and hard. Just take one step at a time. Slowly are carefully push your way forward and keep going. You are on your way to success!

This is just the poem to read if you are struggling with your new vision. Keep going and learn that the best things in life are hard won. I’m intending to do a series of posts based on this poem over the next few weeks so please check back regularly to see where things are going. It was written for a son so it talks about becomming a man but it applies to you whatever your gender. It is really about growing into maturity.

The poem follows …

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Quote:

The softest things in the world overcome the hardest things in the world.
Lao-Tzu

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There have been many models of change over the years and they all seem to offer something different. More recently a model has come to the fore known as TTM or Transtheoretical Model. It’s used in the treatment of addiction. This model offers us a way that anyone can use to make changes in their life.

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Quote

I demand more of myself than anyone else could ever expect.
Julius Irving

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Taken from the book 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People this list represents what scientists have discovered about successful people.

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Quote

“If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes.”
St. Clement of Alexandra

Sometimes it is very hard to keep believing in what you are doing.

Some days are just plain tough and then those days turn to weeks and weeks can turn to months – perhaps even years. You keep slogging away and seem to be getting nowhere. During these times it would be very easy just to give in and live like everyone else.

Are you going the wrong way?

When you start to feel this way then you need to stop and think. Think about what you are trying to do. You need to be wise because just occasionally you might start down a path that is going to a deadend. If you can see a deadend looming then make sure you plan a new route. It could be all you need is a simple change of direction to keep going.

Why did you start this?

Now is the time to think about why you started on this journey or took up this project. What were you trying to achieve? Is it still worth trying to achieve it? Remember as much as you can the feelings of what made you start in the first place.

Sometimes the going just gets tough

There is a part of Dartmoor (an area I like to walk in) that is filled with bog and tough walking, I hate it. Whenever you get to this part of the moor you just know that the going will be tough. There will be a period of slog. The only thing is that to get to some parts of the moor you just have to go through this part – it can’t be avoided.

Life is similar in that sometimes to gain success you just have to go through the slog.

Mot people give up at this point

This is the place that most people give in. This is why only a few people ever succeed. The ones who succeed are those who are willing to go through the slog.

Don’t give up just because things are tough – you should only ever give up because something better is somewhere else.

Keeping hopeful is critical to success

Many others have been where you are now. Many famous and successful people have feaced exactl the same problems that you are facing now. The reason you now know their names (Eddison, Ford, Lincoln, Churchill etc) is because they did not give up.

Come on. Pick yourslef up. Remember why you are doing this. Have hope and press on towards your goal.

Quote:

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”
Henry Ford

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