How to Become Motivated to Get What You Want

How to Become Motivated to Get What You Want

Do you know anyone who says “I really need to lose weight”, after opening up a bag of chips and adamantly proceeding to consume the entire bag? Or what about someone who says they really need to finish an assignment, or do the laundry, or apply for a new job, and continues scrolling through TV channels?

The list could go on forever. The point is, we all know people like this, and most likely, you and I are some of those people. 

But why do we continue to do these things when we know we shouldn’t? Why do we do them when we know we’re going to be filled with nauseating guilt and regret as soon as we’re finished?

This, my friends, is mainly caused by one thing: lack of motivation.

Now, we obviously know to some extent that what we are doing is not only unproductive, but also harmful to ourselves. Otherwise, we wouldn’t state that we should stop. 

But why isn’t knowing what we should be doing enough to make us do it?

Because: knowledge doesn’t mean anything if you are not applying it.

What does this mean? This means that unless you are taking said knowledge and applying it to your situation, it will not be any more use to you than not knowing at all. 

Let’s look at it this way:

If you need a job, but you don’t know that you need a job, you’re not going to find a job.

If you need a job and you know you need a job, but don’t look for a job, you’re not going to get a job.

In the same way…

If you need to get more sleep, but you don’t know that you need more sleep, you are not going to try to sleep more.

If you need to get more sleep and you know need more sleep, but you aren’t changing any of your habits to make it easier to get more sleep, you are not going to get any more sleep.

On the other hand…

If you need a job and you know you need a job, and you apply for jobs every day until you find one, you will eventually find a job.

If you need to get more sleep and you know you need more sleep, and you start cutting down your caffeine intake and going to bed earlier, you will eventually get more sleep.

But what’s the difference between knowing but doing nothing, and knowing and doing something?

Motivation.

What is motivation?

Motivation is what makes you want to eat healthy badly enough to put down the bag of chips and grab an apple.

Motivation is what reminds you of how crucial it is that you work on your assignment now and it is what makes your body turn off the television and get working on it.

How do you find your motivation?

Motivation branches off of reason. In order to gain enough motivation to do something, you have to have a good enough reason to do it.

Now, finding a reason shouldn't be that hard. If you really want something, you should be able to clearly identify a reason why you want it.

If you are unable to come up with a good enough reason right off the bat, try coming up with several reasons and writing them down.

For example, a list of reasons for wanting to eat healthier may look something like this:

Reasons to Eat Healthier

• I will have more energy
• I will be able to maintain a healthy weight
• I will be treating my body with the love it deserves
• I will be able to focus better
• I will feel less sluggish at work

There may be one specific reason that is a bigger motivator than the others, but having more than one reason can be very helpful if you are having trouble maintaining motivation by just a single reason.

What you have to do next is take these reasons and blow them up. Blow them up and tower them above any conflicting thoughts you have that could cripple your motivation and distract you from your purpose. 

The key to staying motivated is being so dead-set, having such a laser-sharp focus on what you want, that any conflicting purpose that tries to snatch away some your attention is immediately tuned out into a fuzzy blur in the background.

Motivation doesn't come easy. You have to take your thoughts captive and arrange them in order of importance so that something of little importance does not dominate your thoughts, thus guiding your actions.

The mind can be a hard thing to control.

But you can control it.

It just takes a lot of time, a lot of hard work, and a lot of burning passion, or reason- to keep working on it. 

To sum it all up, gaining motivation requires:

1. Knowing your purpose.

2. Prioritizing these purposes in your mind.

3. Pursuing these purposes until you get what you want.

Take back control. Don't stop until you win.

Sometimes it feels like something's impossible to do when it requires so much consistency and maintenance of motivation. Sometimes when I feel this way, I want to give up.

But then I remember that anything of any value, anything that I really want in life, should be worth all the time, effort and repetition necessary to obtain it.

And then I try one more time.

And then I fail one more time.

And one day, I will try one more time but I will not fail.

And that is why I do not listen to the voices in my head telling me I don't have to keep trying, because it's too hard.

The more you try, the less hard it will become.

Just don't stop.

Time is Money

Our lives are ending one minute at a time...

This moment you're living right now? It's going to end.

Your time is not infinite,

every minute you live through will pass, and you'll never get it back.

...so make it a good moment.

Make your moments ones filled with passion,

keep your mind at peace despite what the current circumstances may be.

Do something with each moment that will make future moments better, for you and for others.

....do something, be someone.

Go chase your dreams, because they're not going to come chasing after you.

Go apply for that job you want even though you think you don't stand a chance.

Go ask him/her for their number, don't wait around for them to ask you.

Learn how to play that one instrument, write that one book you should've started months ago, learn that one HTML coding, that one foreign language.

Time is money.

Make use of this time you were given because it is valuable.

It's (beyond) time to stop wasting it because IT CANNOT BE REPLACED.

Go. The clock is ticking.

...The world won't slow down for you just because you can't keep up.

"I'm stupid, I'm fat, I'm annoying, I'm useless."

Maybe so. But guess what?

You don't always have to be that way.

Life is good.

Did you read that?

Life is good.

Read it again.

Remember it.

Believe it.

Embrace this truth.

Work on changing the things in your life that you CAN change.

You do have some control in your life. Take it.

Stop complaining about your lack of skills if you don't devote time to perfecting them.

You're not good at drawing?

Of course you're not, you never draw.

You don't have a good job?

Of course you don't, you never applied to any.

Stop lying to yourself. No one believes your bullshit.

Go out and get what you want out of life.

Get Inspired

What is it about coffee shops that motivates me to write and draw?

Maybe I shouldn't question it.

I think it's all about the environment. Different environments inspire different people. 

The vibe I get from coffee shops are so comfortable and poetic. And that is the environment I am the most inspired by.

That along with parks, the beach, and basically anywhere between the hours of 12am-3am.

The peace and quiet makes it so much easier to listen to my own voice.

This makes me wonder what different kinds of environments inspire different types of people. And what determines whether we're inspired or not?

Seriously though, where ever it is for you, go find it. It's such a motivating feeling and it helps me push myself so much further. Search for it. Don't stop until you find it. You'll be doing yourself a huge favor.

Go get inspired to change the world with all you have to offer it.

Stop making excuses. It's not that hard.

Why Are Celebrities So "Perfect"?

All the people I see on the internet who say how depressed they are and how much they hate themselves always talk about how perfect all of these television stars and models are.

But am I the only one who's noticed that the only difference between these people and these celebrities is that the celebrities are being positive? 

You see them with smiles on their faces, laughing, being confident and sticking with their beliefs and standing up for things they think are important. 

But we worship them like they're some kind of higher form of human being when really, they're us, except for instead of feeling sorry for themselves and wanting to be someone else, they go out and be that person.

Your thoughts about how you're so ugly and stupid and hopelessly shy is all in your head. Get it out of your head and actually make an EFFORT to be these things you envy others for being.

If you don't go after these things no matter how hard it is, no matter how many times you fail, no matter how many weeks or months or years it takes, then I don't feel bad for you for not having them.

I don't feel sorry for you if you don't put in a no-excuses effort to achieve what you want to be in life.

Decide what to be and go be it.

IT'S NOT IMPOSSIBLE!

Wanna know the only things in life that are impossible?

The things that you do not try to do.

You've got a world of knowledge right in front of your fingertips right this second.

You can literally search ANY topic you want to learn in a matter of seconds. 

What excuse could you possibly use now?

I don't wanna hear it. Go figure out how to do whatever it takes to get where you want to be.