Have you ever given thought to what is driving you? Why are you trying to reach your goals? Do you want to do better for your children? Are you focused on getting a promotion or going back to school and changing careers? Have you taken the time to write down your specific goals and the steps that it takes to get there? How would you feel if it didn’t happen on your timeline, or if it didn’t happen at all? Learning what is driving you and focusing that drive and energy can be critical to your success. You want to be driven by positive emotions and feelings and not negative ones. Having a positive drive will keep you feeling good and motivated even when work gets hard. Here are some of the questions you need to ask yourself.
Have You Written Down Your Goals?
Writing down your goals is absolutely key to success. You want to be able to see them each day. Write them in a notebook, or in your phone, or perhaps put them in a list on your wall. Seeing your goals written down will help bring your drive to the forefront. That can help to keep you motivated and energized all day. For example, if you want to change careers to better the lives of your children, write down that goal and all the steps necessary to get there. When you see that goal each day, you’ll visualize your children and the kind of life that you want for them. That will only motivate you to work harder.
Are You Motivated By Positivity or Negativity?
Some people are motivated to reach their goals by negative emotions like hate, jealousy, and revenge. Embracing that negativity can feel good for a bit after you’ve felt wronged. But negative emotions are unstable and unsustainable. You can’t rely on them for a long time, and they often just make you feel worse. But when you are motivated by positivity, such as helping others or wanting to build a better future for yourself and your family, you can achieve your goals and more. Positive emotions are easiest to draw on and use when things get tough.
If you are motivated by positive energy and emotions, you can really achieve a lot. When you are motivated for the wrong reasons—negative emotions like revenge or jealousy—it gets easy to quit when the going gets tough. Make sure that you write down your goals, but also write down the reason you want to achieve them. Keep that positive drive and energy centered in what you are doing. If you know and understand what is driving you, then you’ll be able to draw on that when you run into tough situations. Your drive can help keep you on the right track when you feel down or want to give up. Make sure you put yourself in the best possible position to succeed by fully understanding your drive.
* Free Road image credit goes to: Sergey Pesterev.
* Fresh Start image credit goes to: Danielle MacInnes.