THOUGHT OF THE DAY:
Sometimes, a lack of confidence can come from neglecting what one already has, instead of appreciating it. In other words, viewing life's triumphs in terms of what one
wants to accomplish verse what's
already been accomplished. Past failures, bad breaks in life, and personal weaknesses can dominate a person's thinking, convincing them that if they try again, they are doomed to fail. Lack of confidence can be a motivation killer.
Of course, it's perfectly healthy to want to build yourself up as an individual and accomplish your own personal goals. Perhaps you wish to become a doctor, or a teacher, or a historian -- or you may simply wish to work for yourself as a writer, an artist, or small business owner. Either way, all life-goals take time, patients, trial-and-error, and a lot of motivational drive. We all get depressed and lose our focus from time to time, but the key with highly successful people is their ability to move past failure, learn from it, and turn those failures into strengths. Here are some tips that I've learned in life and have applied to my own goals. I hope they will inspire you to succeed as well.
First, it's important to establish what your goals are and to follow-through with them. For example, if you have it in your mind that you need to create four pieces of art to display at a gallery, you must motivate yourself to create those four pieces of art within the amount of time you've allotted yourself (or a prospective client has allotted). So, you plan out your time, get your materials ready, and go to your studio to begin working on your project... then, your motivation falls flat. You become overwhelmed by how much work you have to get done and how little time you actually have to do it. You procrastinate as you think about all the other things you could be doing with your time at that moment: going to the beach, playing with your children, taking your dog for a walk. You go out to get a cup of coffee, thinking that will perk you up and get you going. Then, you pick up the paper on the way back to the studio and catch up on the latest news. Then, you realize you've forgotten a very important bill that has to be paid and become flustered, so you return home to be sure the bill is paid because you can't get it off your mind. Then, you look at the clock. Before you know it, half the day is gone and you haven't started work at all. This is your mind playing tricks on you and causing you to lose focus. Focus is exactly what you need in order to gain motivation, and then confidence.
How do you do gain focus?
The answer isn't easy. You have to decide what your own driving forces are. In other words, what's the reason why you're doing what you're doing? Do you want to earn a certain amount of money per week, per month, or per year. Do you want to do something good for the world, like raise money for cancer research? Do you want to make your children or parents proud of you? Do you want to make
yourself proud of you? Once you have decided what your motivational factors are, you can start to build yourself up from there. Your focus comes from wanting to achieve your goals because of your driving force
more than wanting to procrastinate. You won't put your goals on hold if you want to complete them badly enough, and for a good enough reason.
Next, you must get out of that old habit many of us have of speaking negatively to yourself. I'm talking about that little voice inside your head that tells you, "You can't do this because....". Are any of those reasons legitimate (such as financial or legal) or are the reasons something inside yourself that's saying, "I won't succeed, so I won't try"? That's the type of thinking that must leave your mind, if you're ever going to get motivated and gain confidence in your abilities.
How do you get rid of negative thoughts?
Set some time aside to focus on all the good things you
already have in your life, and how many successes you've
already attained thus far.
You are a survivor. No matter the circumstances, if you're reading this, chances are you've survived
something in life in order to be where you are now. Just being alive, in itself, is incredible. Now, it's time to do something with that life. Make a mental list of your strengths, your knowledge, and your abilities. By making an effort to feel grateful for what you
already have, you'll realize how competent and successful you
already are.
This is the basis for meditation and self-inspiration; taking just a few minutes each day to breathe, relax, and remember the joys your life has brought you. Failures don't have to be a weakness. Think about the reasons why you failed at certain goals in life. Were you told that you couldn't do it from an outside source: a friend, relative, or other individual? Were you told that your work wasn't good enough by someone who enjoyed belittling others, but you received compliments from those who honestly loved your creations? Did you not apply yourself to the tasks involved in completing your goals? Did you simply give up because you fed into your own negative thoughts?
None of that matters anymore. Realize where your failures were and learn from them. Focus on how you can make yourself stronger in that area, so your failures become learning experiences, not additional reasons to assume all of your life efforts will always end in disaster. When you truly believe that you deserve success, your mind will generate ways to achieve it.
Now, pick yourself up, gather your materials, and accomplish your goals for today -- just today. It doesn't matter if you're a shut-in who hasn't seen the world outside your door in twenty years or if you're starting your first day of work as CEO of a large company. If today is the day you plan to look outside your front door for the first time with new eyes - if even for
one minute - go for it. Put the failures of the past behind you, imagine yourself succeeding.... and step outside.
Even the hardest of goals are never accomplished over night. Taking smaller steps to get to the larger ones, measuring each success along the way, and learning from your failures to become stronger, starts with your desire to simply
move.
FUN FACT OF THE DAY:
The first
coast-to-coast telephone line was established in 1914.
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." ~ Lao-tzu
PICTURE OF THE DAY:
Deep in the Woods
Photo taken by me in New Hampshire
YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE DAY:
"Landscape Escape" - a meditation video set to bird calls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuDgmY4HH3s&feature=plcp
This video was created by me using my own photos and bird calls I recorded.
Thank you for viewing my blog. Please feel free to leave a comment or subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Wishing you peaceful thoughts,
~Roseann Houser
