Life is full of problems. There is a saying that says something about for every two steps you move forward, you inevitably take one step back. It is a simple fact of life that not everything in your life is going to go perfectly, according to plan, and turn out the way you expect it to.

So, the question arises, how do you keep yourself motivated despite those setbacks? Well, step one is simply realizing that setbacks will occur. Just knowing that can be a big boost to your self-esteem. Next, when you hit one of those setbacks, stop and take an assessment of your situation. So, OK, maybe you did not get that plum job or that key promotion, or your incredible script was rejected by a studio. Ask yourself, is it really that important? Of course, getting a job can be vital to your livelihood, but being unemployed is not the worst thing in the world.

Often, you can make yourself feel better by reviewing all the good things you do have in your life. If your girlfriend or boyfriend just left you, try thinking about all the friends you do have. If you got passed over for that big promotion, be thankful that you have a job. Maybe your house has a broken window and a leaky roof; remember that there are many people forced to live in even worse places, and there are some who are homeless. If you have ever seen the TV show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” you will have seen countless families who are dealing with real tragedies.

Sometimes you may get bad news from your doctor; you have cancer or some other serious medical problem. In such a situation, maintaining a positive mental attitude is not only best, it is actually beneficial to your long-term health.

The next step in helping yourself to stay motivated is to look at ways to improve yourself. If you are a writer, and your latest novel has been rejected by an agent; look at what you can do to improve your chances the next time. Do you need to re-write your book? Maybe the agent you sent it to was not the right one. If you have written a science fiction book and you sent it to an agent who handles romance novels, then your setback might just be the result of poor planning.

Another excellent means of maintaining your motivation is to look at others who have overcome adversity. If you look back at classic Greek history, the Spartans lost three hundred of their finest warriors at the Battle of Thermopylae. This was an enormous setback for them. Yet, they were ultimately successful in defeating the Persians. The British suffered many defeats during the Hundred Years’ War, yet won the Battle of Agincourt by virtue of their archers and their longbows.

Looking for ways to improve yourself can be a key element in keeping yourself motivated; part of that is looking at what things can help you. Do you need to take come classes to help you in your goals? If you are an engineer, and you are seeking a promotion into management; maybe you need to take some business courses. On the other hand, are you an actor looking for roles? Maybe trying out at a local community theater can not only get you roles, but you can meet people with similar interests. Networking will not just keep you around like-minded people who will help to inspire you, but they might be able to open doors for you.

As the saying goes: when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. A positive mental attitude is item number one in keeping you motivated, no matter what life throws at you.

It is a well-known fact that life is not fair. If it were, we would not need laws and courts, or government agencies and promises of rewards in the hereafter. There will be times when you are going to face rejection; whether it is from a company, a boyfriend or girlfriend, a spouse etc. So, you have to look at ways of overcoming the depression that follows rejection.

Staying motivated starts with yourself: your own positive mental attitude. After that, a little self-examination is called for. Look for ways in which to improve yourself. If you were trying to catch the eye of that certain lady (or gentleman), what might you do to make yourself more appealing to them? Do you need to change something about your appearance, your attitudes, your beliefs? If it was a job you were after, are there some classes you can take to make you better suited for the job you are trying to get.

If you wrote a pilot for a TV show, and it was rejected by a network, are there some things you can do to improve the script? It could be as simple as having someone read it to give you feedback, or maybe you need a professional consultant to review and assess it. Or maybe you need to take some writing classes. Another way of boosting your morale is by entering your work in some writing contests. Even if you don’t win, just having more people read your material can make you feel better.

Then look at other examples of people who have been rejected, yet overcome it to ultimately succeed. Richard Hooker, the author of the novel “MASH” saw his book rejected by more than a dozen publishers before it made it into print. One of the greatest children’s writers in history, Dr. Seuss, was rejected time and again by publishers; but he kept at it, and – well, the rest is history!

The next step in staying motivated despite rejection is finding people who will improve your feeling of self-worth. As an example; if you are a writer, seek out local writing groups or maybe coffee shops that have “Open Mic Nights”. You can attend writing seminars to hone your craft, and then read some samples of your works at the coffee shops. In addition, just being around people who believe in you, and encourage you in your endeavors can be a tremendous help in keeping you motivated despite rejection. If your friends and family tend to be the “glass half empty” sorts, you are going to have trouble getting over rejection. So, seek out more positive people. Now, you do want to be careful; you do not want to be surrounded by a bunch of “yes men” (or women). Just look at some of the people who were rejected from “American Idol”. How many of them just knew absolutely that they were great singers? Why? - Because their friends and family told them so. That is why a little honest encouragement is the most important thing to help you stay motivated.

Then there is another thing to consider. Going back to the “American Idol” example; consider how many fine singers didn’t make the final cut. After all, in the end, there can only be one winner; even in this politically correct world of ours. So, if you get hit with rejection, it does not necessarily mean that you are not any good. If you are up for a big promotion at work and you don’t get it, it doesn’t mean that you are no good. It can merely mean that there was one position available, and maybe the company simply decided someone else was the skills they wanted. You still have your own skills.

Rejection doesn’t have to mean you’re no good; it can just mean you’re not in the right place at the right time.

When you are out in the business world, whether it be as a house painter or a lawyer, you will almost always encounter some form of office politics. If you are lucky, you will find employment with a good, decent firm that has a fine management team, but you have to be prepared for the reverse to be the case.

It is a sad fact of life today that some companies actually like to play employees against each other. Some see it as a means of toughening the workers, or winnowing out the weak. Given the highly competitive nature of business today, that can be understood, to some extent. So, how do you overcome the pitfalls of office politics?

Okay, first of all, there is building good business relationships with your co-workers. This does not mean you have to be best friends; you do not even have to associate with each other outside of work, but it does mean being friendly, courteous and helpful. Sometimes something as simple as noticing their family pictures on their desk and asking about their wife/husband and kids every once in a while is enough, and when they tell you about them, try to pay attention. Nothing can be more counter-productive than you getting glassy-eyed as they are talking. Then there is how you act in the office. Do you waste time chewing the fat and gossiping about other people? Remember, if you talk about employee “A” with employee “B”, employee “B” may figure you are doing the same about them. Then there is your work ethic. Do you play computer games or surf the web when you should be working? Do you promise to do things and then not follow through? Then there is your appearance. Do you dress appropriately for the work you do? Lounging around the office in very tight or revealing clothes is not the best image to present to clients and co-workers.

Now, what about dealing with the office politics of others? If you have a supervisor who constantly “puts you through the ringer”, how do you survive? A boss who says one thing and does the other, or says one thing one day and then denies it the next can drive you crazy. Well, that is where memos and e-mails can save your skin, and your sanity. If you have a meeting with a boss and he / she gives you a series of orders, takes notes on everything you are told to do. Then, go back to your office, write them up as an e-mail, and send them to your boss. Also, print them out and stick them in a file. That way, you are covering yourself and have documentation as to what you were told. Then there are the bosses and co-workers who ask you to do things: create a series of plans, write a report etc. and then want you to turn everything over to them. Then, once they “lose” your work, you get the blame. Here again, documentation is the key: keep a copy of what you give them.

You might wonder, why would a boss or co-worker want to sabotage you? That is where higher level office politics can come into play. It may not be about you at all. Maybe you got hired and put in a position that someone else wanted. Or, partner A hired you, and thus partner B sees you as a threat to the balance of power within the company. From the moment you start work, partner B could be out to get you. That can be a real tough situation to overcome. In that case, aligning yourself with the staff loyal to partner ‘A’ can be the best way of dealing with the problem. It may not be perfect, but short of finding a new job, it’s the best method of overcoming a severe case of office politics.

The world is filled with a great deal of negativity at times. Negative people are those who see no hope for themselves and because they see none for themselves want to try to take hope from others by discouraging them. Negative people don’t want to see you succeed because they haven’t succeeded. Some negative people want to keep you where they are themselves: in the pit of self-pity and negativity; others are the loved ones that fear for you and don’t believe you can succeed and they don’t want to see you hurt, so they try to dissuade you from trying anything new.

Negative people are practically the most difficult kind of people to be around, especially when things are not going so well. Negative people complain about this or that and see problems or imperfections in almost everything. Negative people are the ones who are rude to the cashier or push their way through the line. They are the ones who don’t have anything good to say about life, even when life has been good to them.

When things are going well, we can generally fend off negativity from within and without fairly easily. But when we hit a problem in life, negative people have a way of making things look worse. Their insight and advice generally make things appear to be worse than they actually are. The statements of negative people are frequently pointed at “you” , as in, “ I told you you couldn’t do it.” The problem is that if you hear statements similar to this often enough you can actually start internalizing it, or believing it.

A really good way to stay motivated despite all the negativity in the world is to take responsibility for your life and your actions. When we take responsibility for our own lives and move forward toward our goals regardless of what others might think, especially those negative others, you can be positive. This movement forward generates motivation. A sense of pride in yourself will follow.

Another way to stay motivated when negative people are trying to discourage you is to know what you want out of life. This is related to taking responsibility for your life. If you really know what you want then no-one can discourage you from accomplishing it. Knowing what you want means knowing who are.

What happens sometimes is the negative person sees you moving forward, but rather than encourage you they will attempt to discourage you. When this happens it has to do with the negative person’s jealousy. If this should be the case you need to separate yourself from that negative person. Don’t listen to their negativity.

Belief is another weapon against the negativity of anyone around you. If you believe in yourself you can accomplish anything you put your mind to, regardless of what other people think. There are always going to be people who will attempt to steer you away from your goals by saying you don’t have what it takes. However, when you reflect upon the belief of yourself you will find the motivation you need to push forward.

Goal setting is another way to overcome negative people and motivate yourself. When we set goals we set markers for ourselves. As we hit each marker we acquire a sense of accomplishment. This fuels our motivation. Negative people can steal your motivation away, if you let them. The key is not to let them do that, by utilizing strategies that keep your motivation intact. We can’t avoid all the negative people in the world, but we can do things for ourselves to maintain our motivation.

Achieving our goals is not always easy. Sometimes we hit obstacles along the way that, at first glance seem like failure. Or maybe we feel we are not achieving our goals fast enough. The reality is that, no matter what our life journey is, life does go on around us, and at times, makes progress seem a little slower. During those times the successful person maintains focus and perseveres in the direction of his goal. Here are some tips that the successful person uses to stay motivated and accomplish what he or she wants.

One way the successful person stays motivated by maintaining balance. The successful person maintains balance in their emotions at every life challenge. When we are in balance we are happy and well-rounded. We react sensibly to all that is going on around us. This balance brings us happiness and happiness motivates us to wake up the next day.

When things don’t seem to be going in the direction you want, re-assess the positives. This means, find those things you did during the day that were positive, no matter how insignificant you think those things might be, whether that is opening a door for someone else, paying that nagging bill, helping an old lady across the street, or mowing the grass. It doesn’t matter how small the positive thing is; what is important is the fact you did something that moved you forward in life and closer to your goals. Focus on the good parts of your day, especially when experiencing the feelings of failure. A large part of staying motivated is focusing on the accomplishments you had. If you focus on failure you will lose motivational energy.

We all fail at one thing or another. Not one of us is perfect, so inevitably we all do experience failure at some points in our lives. However, successful people don’t dwell on the failures they inevitably have; they don’t imagine themselves as failures. Maybe this or that venture they attempted did fail. But when you see yourself personally as a failure and you internalize this, you will most certainly lose motivation. If you want to stay motivated despite failure then do not take failure personally. Failure happens to us all!

Instead, imagine yourself as being successful. Visualize your goals; see them in your mind. Watch yourself accomplish those goals. Make a mental movie of it! Make it as detailed as you like. The more detail the better. By doing this you are reinforcing your mental processing which will certainly contribute to your motivation.

Oftentimes, after hitting those moments of failure, we tend to become absorbed in the “what ifs”. Reflection has lessons for us to learn, undoubtedly but to mull over failure for too long can become a mental cobweb. It can trap you and stop you moving forward.

A very important point is this - the feeling of failure is a choice against oneself and nothing more! Failure is a situational word, not a personal one, unless of course you make that choice. When you see yourself, personally, as a failure you are compromising your motivation. When your motivation is compromised, accomplishing your goals becomes even more difficult.

A key factor to staying motivated is to see failure as an opportunity. It could be an opportunity to learn a new skill or an opportunity to try something which you had not expected before. Most of the time when failure knocks on our door it is to teach us something about ourselves, the situation, and those around us. An apparent failure which forces us to take a path we did not intend can actually lead to great happiness. Failure is actually there to help us, if we use it right. By thinking of failure in this way, you will find motivation.

Staying enthusiastic while going for your dreams can be difficult at times. The events of life, at times, have a way of interfering with our goals and can discourage us. However, if you are to achieve your goals, remaining enthusiastic and motivated is vitally important, especially in moments of discouragement. If you lack enthusiasm, you will give up, and your dreams will come to nothing.

Enthusiasm originates from the Greek word ‘enthousiasmos’, which basically means to be inspired. Enthusiasm is inspiration and is a powerful way to create momentum and motivation. Enthusiasm can generate the energy and willpower to help us accomplish those things in life we have set out to do. Enthusiasm also can create within us a feeling of well-being and happiness.

Throughout our lives we are constantly bombarded with messages of fear, tragedy, and pessimism, especially from the media.  Newspapers and periodicals abound with bad news.
Moreover, the negative people around us discourage us even further. With so much of it around us we have a tendency to adapt that input into our own ways of thinking, allowing this negativity to taint our own thoughts and behaviors.

Enthusiasm is a skill that is learned like any other skill. Enthusiasm is seldom a natural development, but rather a result of conscious effort. Enthusiasm takes practice and with continual exercise you can stay excited and motivated to accomplish your goals, even when unfortunate circumstances do arise. But how do we create enthusiasm within ourselves?

First and foremost you must become passionate about your life and your goals. Most people can become temporarily excited about practically anything, but to maintain a sustained enthusiasm can only be achieved by becoming passionate about something. When we talk about passion we are taking about having a deep care for something. If you are not interested and don’t care about something you will not be able to create enthusiasm for it.

All successful people are passionate about something and they spend minimal amounts of time on things they have no passion for. Don’t waste your valuable time pursuing things you are not passionate about. You will feel little satisfaction from those endeavors and then you will wonder why your motivation is diminishing. It’s because your energy is being applied in the wrong direction. Passion is the fuel of enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm and energy are very closely related. If you come home tired from a hard day’s work you are likely not be too enthused or excited. Maintaining a high energy level will help you be more enthused. And the more enthusiasm you have the more energy you are likely to have. Both enthusiasm and energy work hand in hand. You can’t have one without having the other. Proper diet and the right amount of rest can help you maintain a higher energy level, which of course will increase your enthusiasm.

Maintaining enthusiasm also requires you to build motivation. Motivation is intrinsically related to energy. Energy is required to move and motivation generates movement. This means taking action, moving, and doing something toward accomplishing your goals, even when you might not be so enthused. By tapping into motivation you will become enthused. If you just sit around and wait for life to come to you, you will eventually lose energy and then motivation becomes nothing more than something you talk about. Moreover, when you lose motivation you also run the risk of losing passion.

You can create enthusiasm just by acting enthused. You don’t necessarily have to have an external stimulus to create enthusiasm within yourself. In fact, enthusiasm is something that comes from within and can be encouraged to develop just by the practice of acting enthused and doing something positive toward your goals.

Quitters never win and winners never quit.

Quit true.  There the way to success is not that easy but rather difficult.  Personally, I’d enjoy success more if I’ve experienced difficulties.  Even just with simple little goals in life.  There are sometimes hindrances to the things we want.  To pursue this goal, put in mind that it is not yet the right time for you.  With this, I even become more motivated with this goal because I didn’t acquire it that easily.  This is because I am afraid of things that I easily acquire and that it might also be gone easily.  The more I struggle to achieve that goal, the more I become motivated.

Quitting can be tempting sometimes.  But don’t fall into it.  Those are just trials in your way.  When you face these situations, just smile and think of these trials as your opponents wanting you to quit.  Then you’ll be more eager to move on and continue achieving your goals.
So if you want to achieve a certain goal or dream in life, be sure not to quit.  Once you quit, its the end of it.  You’ll never win if you quit.  Those failures are not failures itself.  Those are just test to your strength and perseverance over your goal.  Think of it as normal things in your way to success.   For me, it would be better to lose a game than quit on it.  Being named as a “Quitter” is something shameful.

Lack of motivation is a big hindrance in accomplishing our goals or in reaching our dreams.  It makes us feel hopeless and even weak, not knowing how to get going with things.  Worse is you quit with your goals.

Knowing how it feels like to lack motivation, be kind enough to help others get motivated.  Not that you’ll really dig in to their lives and help them with their goals.  Just have them influenced with your positive attitude or mood.  You can write about your success stories and share it with others.  One good way is through a blog where it is easily accessed by people around the world.  In talking with people or having quick discussion with a friend, be positive always.  Especially when giving advices, be in the positive tone so that they may be enlightened or hopeful with their goals or dreams.  Share your ideas that might keep them motivated.
You are blessed if you feel positive and motivated, so share it with others.  Helping others to have motivation will also keep you motivated.  Like with this blog,  I  get new ideas  about motivation.   Writing about motivation, goal setting, success, and  positive things in this blog keeps me a positive person as well.

There are a lot of people who have a problem in waking up early.  Well, it feels good to sleep.  There are also people who are blessed enough to wake up early in the morning, some don’t even need an alarm clock.

The hardest part could be rising from your bed.  The clock has alarmed but yet, its hard to rise from bed.  Then there is the snooze as well.  Even if you have snoozed the alarm clock several times, you’re still in bed staying idly.  Maybe you need to place the clock far from your bed so that you won’t be able to put it off or snooze it easily.  But what do we benefit if we wake up so early?  A lot!

Waking up early can give you more time to do things you need to do and finish some tasks.  The early you wake up, the sooner you get things done for the day which means you will have more extra time for yourself.  Rising up few minutes after you’ve awaken will help you avoid procrastination.  You get more motivated if you wake up early.  The longer you stay in your bed awake will lose you some energy that may lead to procrastination.

All it takes is to make it a habit of yours to rise up early.  Once it has become a habit, it will be easier for you to do it.  Practice to do it everyday and you will eventually be an early riser.

Often, we get influenced by other people easily.  We go with the flow, do what the society dictates or believe on what was already set on our minds.  It would be of great advantage if we are influenced positively.  But there are instances that we are influenced with the negative one.  Here’s an inspiring quote from Oprah:

“Surround yourself only with people who will lift you higher”

- Oprah Winfrey

If you are surrounded by people with negative outlook in life, you’ll be more likely to be influenced by them.  Surround yourself with positive people.  Those who believe in you, believe in themselves, motivated people, those who sees your strength instead of your weaknesses, and especially those with the positive aura.  If you are surrounded with these people, you will become more positive that will lead you to success.