by Kimberly Love | Motivation Mindset
Focus on the Benefits, Not Difficulties, to Stay Motivated
Staying motivated when trying to reach a goal is one of the most difficult things to do. The long-term goal can seem too far off and difficult to reach. A better option to stay motivated is to focus on short-term benefits along the way.
We’ve all had them. Goals we set that we never achieve. Over the years, setting and sticking to them has been difficult. You might have tried to write a book. Or lose weight. Or start a business. Or any number of other personal or business goals.
The cause of the failures could be that your motivation wanes when you begin facing difficulties.
Why should you focus on the benefits? Here are five reasons:
- Focusing on the benefits helps you see the reason you are working so hard. For example, after working out, when you’re exhausted, you feel grateful. Your stress levels have been reduced, and you feel cleansed and happy.
- Focusing on the benefits of your goal gives you a sense of accomplishment. For example, a healthy lifestyle is a benefit of eating healthful foods and exercising. The difficulties to this is having to give up your favorite sugary snacks or getting off the couch to exercise more. It’s easier to fall back into the old pattern if it seems that your goal is too far off.
- When things become difficult, you are tempted to quit. By focusing on the benefits of your goal, you can see the reasons you want to continue. Your difficulties will seem less. For example, let’s say you are trying to reach a particular financial goal. Instead of seeing how far you are from the desired amount or how long it is taking to achieve it, focus on the positive net worth changes every week.
- Losing weight is a very difficult goal. Focusing on the benefits of losing weight can help you stay motivated to exercise. For example, you will reduce your risks for certain diseases, and lower your blood pressure so you won’t have to take medication. You’ll be more active and feel better about yourself.
- Focusing on the benefits of your goal instead of the difficulties allows you to focus solely on one specific step of the goal. For example you overall goal is to run a marathon. One of the steps is to run 3 miles a day. The benefit from this individual step is that your resting heart rate has improved, your body has become leaner and your stamina has improved.
By focusing on the benefits, or the way our goals are helping us make positive changes, we are more likely to stay motivated to achieve those goals. Every goal you try to achieve will have difficulties at some point. It can be as simple as not knowing what to do next when you hit a roadblock or as daunting as having technical problems throw a wrench in your work. When these difficulties happen, it’s important to take another look at your goal and look at all the rewards and benefits you will get once it’s achieved.
Tweet: Don’t toss in the towel when a monkey throws a wrench in your goals. Look at the benefits of the end result.
by Kimberly Love | Motivation Mindset
How Daily Reading Helps Your Motivation
No one can change or move forward in their lives without some kind of help. It might be help in the form of a coach or mentor to help you grow. It could be support from friends and family who keep you motivated. Another form of help is reading about whatever you want to change daily to stay motivated.
How can reading about something keep you motivated?
Reading blogs and books about the very thing you want to change helps you learn the way others have overcome that same problem and met their goals. Reading gives you inspiration to continue striving toward your own goal. It gives you the ideas and steps you need to take to reach a certain goal.
Books and blogs are a great way to do some research on what you want to do. Reading about what you want to change or achieve grounds you so you know what to expect. Books about your subject will give ideas about the difficulties you might face while moving forward.
- If you want to lose weight, read about how others have successfully lost weight.
- If you want to build a successful business, read about successful business people.
Knowing what others have experienced in similar situations lets you adapt and try their solutions along with your own. Their stories can help lessen the worries and challenges you might face along the way.
The Types of Reading
Quotes. Reading inspirational quotes daily can motivate you to continue to take action on your goal. Put your favorite quote on your screensaver. Post quotes on your wall or your whiteboard. Have motivational quotes on your smartphone or tablet.
Read motivational books. Books that help you change your way of thinking can be a great source of inspiration when your motivation is failing. Build a library of motivational and personal development books. If you don’t have time to read them all, get them on tape to listen to while driving or walking. Here are a few notable authors with insights on motivation:
Read inspiring stories. Read inspiring stories from others who have already done what you want to achieve, or are in the process of doing it. Read stories on blogs, in magazines and in books. Those who have already achieved what you are attempting can guide you through the pitfalls and give insights on what to expect along the way. You can get inspiration from their struggles and wins.
Reading books about what you want to change daily, or about self-improvement and inspiration, is an excellent way to stay motivated. They can inspire and motivate you to continue.
Tweet: Reading inspirational books and blogs motivates you to continue reaching for your goal.
by Kimberly Love | Motivation Mindset
Smart Goal Setting Success
How many times have you set goals, only to eventually give up on them? Maybe you set a goal to lose 20 pounds this year. But by the middle of the year you’ve given up completely. If this sounds familiar, it might be because you are trying to achieve your goals in the wrong way. Following through with your goals means you need to know the right way to achieve them. In other words, you need a goal setting success plan.
Here are 10 steps for goal setting success to get you started on the right track.
- Focus on one goal at a time. Many people start out with several goals at once and try to do too much. At the end they become overwhelmed and lose energy and motivation. It’s a very common mistake. It is impossible to maintain your passionate energy and focus when trying to reach two or more goals at once. Choose one goal and focus on it completely. You can always go back to the other goals once you’ve accomplished your primary goal.
- Write down your goals and post them someplace you’ll see them every day. Put them on your bathroom mirror, your refrigerator, on your smartphone and on your desktop. Seeing your goals every day keeps you motivated. Having them written down means you won’t forget them or get sidetracked.
- Believe in your goal. Have faith in the process and believe you can accomplish it. Make your thoughts positive and turn your thoughts into reality.
- Visualize your end result. Think about what your want the finish line to look like. What does it feel like, look like, smell like? How do you feel? Be absolutely clear on what you want to happen.
- Create a plan of action to achieve your goal. Write down a list of the action steps you need to take. When you have a goal, but no plan of action, you aren’t sure of what to do next. It’s like driving without directions of where you want to go. You miss deadlines, don’t have priorities and are unorganized. You eventually get frustrated and your goal fails.
- Know your “why.” Knowing your purpose or the reason why you want to achieve a particular goal keeps you motivated to take the steps needed to reach the goal. It helps you recognize that the goal is worth working towards.
- Commit to your goal. Write down why and how you are committing to your goal and why it’s important. What does the finished goal mean to you, and why is it necessary for you to make it happen? Write down the steps you need to take to make it happen.
- Hold yourself accountable. Get outside help like a coach if you need to have someone else hold you accountable. They can provide valuable feedback when you need it.
- Stay focused on your goal. There will be times when you get sidetracked or you won’t know the next step you need to take. It’s easy to give up on your goal when this happens. The key is to remain focused on your goal. Take out your “why” and remind yourself the reason you are reaching for this goal.
- Review your goals every day. Then take action on them. This keeps your goals fresh in your mind. It also allows you to see which steps you still need to take, and to make any adjustments that you might need to.
To succeed you need a good goal setting success plan. By following these steps and taking action on your goal every day, you have everything you need to succeed.
Tweet: Motivation without vision is like a boat on a dry land. Visualize for goal setting success.
by Kimberly Love | Empowerment
How Do You Define Empowerment For Yourself ?
What do you think of when you think about self-empowerment?
Many imagine a person that speaks up for themselves; others see a person who sets both personal and professional goals and works toward achieving them. Both of those definitions would be correct, yet they’re only part of the story. Self-empowerment is a broader concept that encompasses all areas of a person’s life, from the physical to the spiritual.
1. Physical Empowerment
How do you feel about your physical self? Do you like the way you look and feel? Do you have the energy, vitality, and wellbeing that you desire or is something missing? Physical empowerment is about both loving yourself as you are right now and seeking to improve your health and wellbeing.
There’s a balance to be found here and personal responsibility to take. If you don’t feel physically well, you have to be empowered to seek answers about why you don’t feel well and to make changes. It may be something as simple as drinking more water each day or getting more sleep and it can be much more involved like losing weight, exercising, or going to the doctor. Pay attention to your physical body and take initiative to make changes when it’s required.
2. Emotional and Mental Empowerment
Do you have control over your emotions or do they have control over you? What about your thoughts? Can you control them? Are you able to achieve a sense of calm, happiness, or focus when you need to? If you’re not in control over your emotions or thoughts, why not? What triggers affect you? Stress is often one area that throws emotional control out of balance. Learning to manage and reduce stress can help you feel more in control over your emotions and your mindset.
3. Professional Empowerment
Are you happy with your professional life? If not, why not? Many people find themselves feeling burned out, dissatisfied, or even angry about their current professional path. You are the only one who can change your professional situation. It may not be easy and it may take time; however, as soon as you begin on the path to professional empowerment, you’ll begin to feel better. Take charge of your career.
4. Financial Empowerment
Do you control your money or does your money control you? Ask most people and they’d say that they live paycheck to paycheck and their finances are totally out of their control. This often comes from feelings of lack or limiting beliefs about money. If you can shift your mindset and your habits, you can begin to feel financially empowered. A simple budget can really do a lot to help you feel in control over your finances.
Every aspect of your life can be empowered – you can be in control over it. Take some time to assess the various areas of your life. If you don’t feel empowered and in control, it’s time to make a change.
by Kimberly Love | Empowerment
Self-esteem is an important element of success. It’s also an integral component of self-empowerment. Without a belief in yourself, it’s difficult to accomplish your goals. In this article we’ll explore definitions of personal empowerment and self-esteem and then talk about how they overlap.
What Is Self-Esteem?
Many people feel like they intuitively know what self-esteem is. They know when they have it and when they don’t. However, it’s a bit more difficult for most people to actually define self-esteem. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines self-esteem as a feeling of having respect for yourself and your abilities.
That’s a surface definition. If you look a little deeper, self-esteem describes your sense of self-worth and value. It’s generally considered to be a personality trait that can involve your experiences and beliefs about your appearance, behaviors, emotions, and skills.
Your self-esteem runs deep into the thoughts you have about yourself daily. For example, there’s a difference between thinking, “I’ll never get this right” and “I can do this”. Self-esteem doesn’t necessarily lead to self-empowerment but it sure does help.
What Is Self-Empowerment?
To be self-empowered means that you have the strength to do something that that you believe to be in your best interests. For example, if someone asks you to join a club and you don’t want to, you are able to say no. Conversely, if you want to achieve a goal that others perhaps don’t support, you’re able to stick to your thoughts and beliefs and follow your own path.
Self-empowerment means having knowledge about your own skills and abilities and confidence in them, so that you’re able to set appropriate goals and reach your potential.
The Self Empowerment and Self Esteem Overlap
If you don’t believe that you can follow through on your goals, or you don’t believe in your skills and abilities, then you may struggle to be empowered. How can you have the strength to follow through on your goals if you don’t believe that you can?
So where do you focus your attention first?
Do you focus on building your self-esteem or your self-empowerment?
The great thing is that by taking steps to improve your self-empowerment you will also improve your self-esteem. As you start to set goals and take small steps to achieve them, each small success will help increase your self-esteem. You’ll begin to see that you can in fact make positive change in your life and that you’re capable of more than you initially believed. While self-esteem and self-empowerment are separate characteristics, the overlap can be powerful and life changing.
