The A to Z of Motivation

Pain may sometimes be the reason why people change. Getting bad grades make you realize that you need to study. Debts remind you of your inability to look for a source of income. Being humiliated gives you the `push' to speak up and fight for yourself to save your face from the next embarrassment. It may be a bitter experience, a friend's tragic story, a great movie, or an inspiring book that will help you to get up and get just the right amount of motivation you need in order to improve yourself.

With all the people trying to pull you down and waiting for you to fail, how can you stay motivated and positive? Try this A to Z of tips for motivation

A - Achieving your dreams. Avoid negative people, things and places because they will only drag you down. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

B - Believe in your self, and in what you can do. Believe in your possibilities and your dreams. Every advancement of humankind has taken place because someone believed in themselves.

C – Consider all of the angles and aspects of everything you encounter, whether it is people or situations. Motivation comes from strength of purpose. Being able to see both points of view will give you more chance of being successful and keeping those around you motivated too.

D – Don't give up and don't give in. Every successful person from J K Rowling to Walt Disney to Sylvester Stallone to Thomas Edison had multiple failures before being successful. Sometimes their failures or rejections ran into the hundreds before they achieved success.

E – Enjoy. Work as if you don't need money. Dance as if nobody's watching. Love as if you never cried. Learn as if you'll live forever. Motivation takes place when people are happy.

F – Family and Friends. Use your family and friends to help you stay motivated. The big football teams have cheerleaders and fans to encourage them. Your family and friends can be your cheerleaders and fans. Use them to keep you going when you feel your motivation drifting.

G – Give that little bit extra. Self improvement happens everywhere all the time, whether you are at home, at work or at school. Anthony Robbins tells us that the difference in effort between excellent and outstanding is miniscule, yet the difference in rewards is massive. Giving that little bit extra can put you into the outstanding.

H – Hang on to your dreams. There may be times when it looks bleak, but hang on to your dreams. The night is darkest just before the dawn. It is at this moment that you are closest to success and 95% of people will give up. Push through this moment and you'll achieve your dreams.

I – Ignore those who try to destroy you. Don't get involved in their dramas or toxicity – just walk away. Surround yourself with people who will encourage and support you. Remove those who want to pull you down and watch you fail from your life. You'll find it much easier to stay motivated.

J – Joy and gratitude. Perhaps two of the fundamentals for motivation and success is to be joyful in what you do and grateful for what you have.

K – Keep pushing forwards no matter how hard life may seem. In the toughest moments you can choose to move forwards or to run away. It's your decision – one path brings you closer to the success, the other takes you away from it. Which do you want to follow?

L – Learn to love your self. This isn't as easy as it sounds for most people, but by loving yourself you will be happier and more motivated because you will believe you deserve what you achieve.

M – Make things happen. Motivation and success doesn't come from sitting in front of the television drinking coke and eating pizza. Take action and you'll achieve your dreams.

N – Never lie, cheat or steal. Always play a fair game. At the end of the day, if you live a dishonest life, it will come back to you. Living an honest, fair life allows you to be proud of what you do.

O – Open your eyes. Everyone has a set of blinkers that they wear and see everything through them, i.e. how they would like things to be. Look at life with open eyes and see things how they are, and see them how you want them to be. Then take action to make it happen.

P – Practice makes perfect. The more you practice, the better you become. A top sportsman doesn't reach their status through a single practice or game. They practice harder and longer than anyone else, and as such, are rewarded more than anyone else.

Q – Quitters never win. And winners never quit. So, which do you want to be?

R – Ready yourself. Always be ready to take advantage of the opportunities and situations presented to you. Prepare in advance, and ignore the voice telling you to put it off until tomorrow. Remember, it wasn't raining when Noah built the ark!

S – Stop procrastinating. You can put it all off until tomorrow, but one day there will be no more tomorrows. Start procrastinating about procrastinating and do tomorrows jobs today.

T – Take control of your life. Discipline and self control are synonymous with motivation. So many people believe their lives are out of their control. Look at your life in detail and you'll discover you have more areas under your control than you think.

U – Understand others. If you know very well how to talk, you should also learn how to listen. You have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Understand others and strive to be understood.

V – Visualise it. Your sub-conscious knows no difference between your imagination and reality, so if you rehearse your success in your mind, then your sub-conscious will believe in it and make it happen.

W – Want it more than anything. Every successful person has had a burning desire to achieve their goals. The Wright brothers didn't invent the aeroplane because there was nothing on the television. They had a burning desire to succeed and kept going, even in the face of setbacks.

X – X Factor is what will make you different from the others. When you are motivated, you tend to put on "extras" on your life like extra time for family, extra help at work, extra care for friends. This X-Factor sets you aside from the crowd and marks you out for success.

Y – You are unique. No one in this world looks, acts, thinks or talks like you. Value your unique gifts, whatever they are and use them for your success.

Z – Zero in on your dreams and make it happen!!!