From Building a Dream to Celebrating Your Accomplishments, Here’s Motivation’s Big Picture

A simple game plan to become and stay at peak motivation.

Motivation is intriguing stuff. Sometimes, you need big things — life events that have the power to turn you around. Sometimes you only need those tiny motivators — a cute saying on a poster — to make you feel like you have the power to call your own shots.

Here’s a look at motivation’s big picture, from building a dream to celebrating your accomplishments. The recipe for motivation is easy, all that’s missing is you.

Build a dream and fuel it.

Big dreams or small dreams, it really doesn’t matter. So long as you have a dream, a goal, an objective, something you can hold on to, something to work for…that’s good enough to get you started.

Once you have identified that ‘thing’, that something you want to achieve, hook yourself firmly into it.

Own it. Believe in it. Fuel it, and keep the fire inside you burning for it. Give all you can for that dream to be achieved.

As Napoleon Hill points out in his book, “Think And Grow Rich,” “singleness of purpose is one of the chief essentials for success in life.”

Oftentimes, it becomes easy to bargain your dream away for something less. Like things that can immediately provide us with passing, but instant gratification. But don’t fall easily into that trap.

Be wary of shortcuts or easy ways to avoid any discomforts along the path. If possible, don’t buy into it at all. I have to be very aware of such traps as my confidence builds in a project.

I start thinking I’m getting the hang of it. Then what looks like an easier, more efficient, and streamlined way to do things ends up being a sidetrack that takes me off my goal, and my dream.

Just get on with it.

Or, in the advertising slogan of Nike — Just do it!

Don’t feel like getting out of bed? Don’t think this is the best time to start a new project? Don’t quite feel ready yet?

Shut these negative ideas out, and shut them out quickly. Feel that you truly are ready for something. Embrace it.

It’s your time, and your time is now.

Realize that every day is just as good to start new things as any other day.

Bill Gates started Microsoft from his garage, during a recession. Milton Hershey created his chocolate empire after being diagnosed mentally ill and written off by his own mother.

Always make yourself feel ready about everything and ready for anything.

Even when it is tempting to have a few more minutes of snooze time.

If your dream isn’t enough to get you out of bed in the morning, it might be time to reexamine your ‘dream’.

The most critical part of dream building is always the beginning. It is always harder to get the boulder sliding than to keep it sliding. Momentum and effort are everything.

The beginning is where hesitation, self-doubt, and all those nasty ideas that hold you back creep in. Refuse to listen to these. Instead, keep gaining momentum as you get on with it.

Start with simple things and tasks. Things that can be accomplished quickly and easily. Build success upon success — build those success muscles.

Take baby steps.

It is easier to be continuously motivated when you know that you are achieving something every time you try. Afterward, it is much easier to push yourself to finish the task or goal you are trying to pursue. Only then can you start to shoot for far larger stars.

Keep on believing.

The Universe knows how to deal with us. It can sense whether we are hot or cold towards our dreams. When we are on fire, it throws at us experiences that will shake our beliefs in ourselves, and in the dreams, we are trying to pursue.

As Dr. Joe Vitale points out, the Universe likes speed.

Act now on that intuition, that idea from the Divine. Take that first step, and take it now!

When we are scared, the Universe wants to mellow us out to lessen the doubts we are feeling. It is a gentle-handed defense mechanism for when, and if we were to crash and burn.

It is when you are already very near the achievement of your goal that you should be careful.

Because it is during times like this that you will have to prove to yourself that you truly are serious about pursuing your dreams. Are you thinking of quitting (again) as soon as it gets a little tough?

In this critical moment, don’t back down, no matter how strong the urge to forget about everything you have worked for.

Keep a positive outlook. Let your momentum help carry your through.

Reward yourself.

Motivation can be and must be rewarded in many ways, on many occasions. Constantly keeping your nose to the grindstone just gives you a flat face.

A better way of looking at this would be to not only reward yourself — but also stop beating yourself up!

There will be times wherein you just don’t feel creative, You won’t feel motivated. We all go through that! But if you burden yourself with the need to constantly be producing, you will not allow yourself time to plan, recover, or reward yourself.

Famous YouTube coach and head of Think Media, Sean Cannell teaches that for each hour of physical work that you do in your creative endeavor, you need three hours of planning, imagining, visualizing, and mentally preparing the project. One hour of physical, and three hours of mental planning.

Throughout your journey, you will have little successes.

Again, don’t beat yourself up. You will do things right, You will have accomplishments. You will indeed have success.

And in the end, you have that one huge success.

Whenever you realize each of these successes, big or small, reward yourself!

It is easy to keep on moving and to keep your head in the game and on the right path when you know that you are getting one step closer to realizing your dream. Big steps, little steps, maybe even a step backward on occasion.

If you can reward nothing else, reward yourself for the fact you are moving towards the goal.

Here’s the Motivation Game Plan in a Nutshell:

1. Build a dream and fuel it.
2. Just get on with it.
3. Keep on believing.
4. Reward yourself.

I use this formula regularly. It is interchangeable, they don’t necessarily need to be followed in a specific order. But don’t overlook any of the steps, they all are important.

These may seem simplified, maybe even oversimplified.

That’s because the fluff has been taken out and the list distilled down to the basic elements.

And it works. It works for me and can work for you.