How you see yourself is called your self-image.  Self-image has in important role in building up your self-esteem, confidence, etc.  Self-image is not just about how you see yourself but self-image is also about:

• (how you see yourself, as mentioned)
• The kind of person that you think you are
• How you view your personality
• What you think others think of you
• How much you think others like you or how much you like yourself

Self-image affects our personality, self-esteem, courage, motivation, and most especially, it determines our success.  Having a negative self-image obviously won’t help anyone succeed.  You’ll have lower self-esteem and lack self-confidence.  If this is a way for us to succeed, then why not have a positive self-image?

Think of it this way, if you think that other people thinks that you’re a loser, how would you feel?  You will feel miserable, hopeless, and you might just lose trust in yourself.  But if you think that people thinks you’re good and that they believe in you, you will feel more inspired, confident, and determined to succeed.

See how important a cheering squad in a game is?  They remind the players that people believe in them.  Players get more energized and determined to win because they think that people believe in them.  Basically, you won’t need a cheering squad in your life, right?  But there are those people who support you, think of them.  Think that they believe in you and that you are really good at what you do.  If there are people whom you think doesn’t like you, don’t waste your time on them.  Think positive and go on your way to success.

These are some of the things that one must avoid in setting goals:

• Setting unrealistice goals – this often happens if a person lacks crucial information and didn’t realize his resources and capabilities.  An example on this is when you set a goal of losing 20 pounds in 5 days.  Realistic goals are achievable goals.  So you have to set realistic ones to be able to achieve it.
• Too Many Goals – Most of the time, people would categorize their goals according to their priorities. They would set aside those that they think are not much of a priority to them.  What might happen here is that they do not know what to accomplish next.  There would also have some instances when they would “check” one of their goals off the list even before they have accomplished it.  Too many goals will tend to disorganize you.  Having one goal at a time will give you more focus in accomplishing it and even faster.
• Setting Goals to Impress Others – obviously, this won’t work because the real goal here is not the one you set but rather, the goal to impress others.  They may be impressed with your goals but the question is, is it really what you want to achieve?  Remember that people will be more impressed with your accomplishments rather than the goal you have set.

Goal setting is very helpful in reaching your dreams.  But if you fail on it, it might lead to even negative results.  So be careful when setting your goals.  The three things given above are just some of the causes on why you fail on your goal setting. But don’t let this discourage you.  Just be realistic and follow some guidelines in setting your goals.  Be sure also to be motivated and stay focused on your goals.

I don’t just mean in terms of messy room and messy car. I mean messy plans, too. I would have a general idea of what I wanted to do, but wouldn’t be really sure about how I wanted to make it happen.

Over the years, through watching others and by trial and error, I have finally found ways to come up with plans, organize them and following through with them in ways that are much more manageable than they are overwhelming.

Recently, I have started keeping track of what I do when I first come up with a plan that seems to be all over the place.

Whether the plan involves work, play or anything else, having rules on how to handle this sort or organizational skill can enable a person to become more familiar with their own organizational process and can help them improve on the ways that they already have.

Here are some helpful hints that have helped me create plans that are thorough, orderly, and easy to manage.

1. Write down your plan

Make an outline of everything you need to have and do to make your plan happen. Make a list of all of the steps that need  to be accomplished and think about what needs to be done.

Detail everything thoroughly and read over it so you can start coming up with some mental solutions of how to carry out your plans.

2. Come up with at least three different ways of carrying out your plans

This way, you ensure that if for some reason plan one doesn’t work, you have a plan two and a plan three to lean back on. It’s just a matter of being organized.

This is one of the things that has helped me the most, especially when I’m tackling so many things in my life.

Chances are that there is always more than one way of doing things, and chances are that if one of those ways doesn’t work, one of the other ones will.

3. Commit yourself to finishing at least part if not all of your plan at once

It will show that you not only have initiative to get things rolling, but that you are invested in the results obtained with making the move to get everything done.

If you make a commitment to finish before a specific time, make sure that you carry that out, and be sure to do everything in the way you said you would, within the time-frame you set for yourself.

4. Do one thing at a time

Don’t try to tackle more things all at once. All that does is delay your progress, distract you and make you lose your interest, motivation and energy.

Carrying out an effective plan requires being as organized as possible. You will only achieve this by sticking to the order of the plan and not deviating or trying to do more at once.

5. Finish what you started

Do not abandon things mid-project.

It will only annoy everyone around you including yourself. Unfinished plans are a waste of time, energy and, in some cases, even money.

6. Come up with a follow up plan

Nothing says organized more than keeping a notebook with all of your plans for work, complete with outlines, a detailed description of how each step was carried our and a plan of action.

Plus, following up on the details of an organized plan lets everyone know you are a responsible, involved and thorough individual that has the best interests of the people involved at hand.

Don’t be afraid of organization. The older we get, the more necessary it becomes to have the skills necessary to follow through with confidence and to be able to carry through plans in an organized and manageable way. It pays to be organized, after all.

Unsuccessful ones often thinks about what they don’t want. They usually talk about those things they don’t want and blame other people for their problems. They do not focus on pursuing their dreams or working on with their goals. They are afraid to fail so they are quite busy thinking of the negative side instead of trying hard on getting successful. They themselves don’t trust in their own capabilities.

The difference between the successful and the unsuccessful people is that the former thinks positively while the latter thinks negatively in life. If you want to be successful, you have to think and act positively. Sometimes we may not notice that we are already getting negative, so we have to remind ourselves that we should be positive. Just because a certain job has a certain requirement that you do not have, means its not for you. Personally, when that happens to me, I still go for it until I find the answer if it is not really for me. We also have to be flexible at times. Remember that we can always learn new things everyday.

You then need to split that overall goal into smaller steps so that you are able to see yourself achieving success step by step. That will help to build up your confidence and spur you on. So here is how to put your plan into action through realistic steps, by which you can measure your success.

1. You must have a clear goal. That acts as a signpost by which to direct all your activities.

2. Get your priorities right. If you know what your most important tasks are and what needs to be done first, you’ll be able to more efficiently put your time and energies into things that will help you achieve your aims. You can’t do everything at once so you need to decide what to do first.

3. Targets need to be SMART  – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed.

4. Once you’ve got your targets and you know what steps you need to take in order to achieve them, it’s time to put them in order, according to your priorities.

5. Written lists will be really helpful in allowing you to
put your plan into action.

6. It’s probably best to have three lists

List 1 – Goals -Write down your goals and things you have to do. What do you want to achieve over the next month or year? Will this involve a big purchase or a long-term course to learn a new skill?

Write down all the things you must do, such as appointments etc. It will help you see you what your long-term goals are and decide what you need to concentrate on right now.

List 2 – The week’s calendar – Make this your basic guide to setting aside basic chunks of time to achieve something. This weekly calendar needs to be flexible, as it is difficult to plan exactly what you will do a week ahead. Something new may need to be done urgently; you may change your mind about doing things a certain way etc.

List 3 – The daily “Things to Do” – Write down all the things that you wish to achieve today. Use this list as a reminder. Use it to decide your targets for the day. Be realistic about what you can do. If you’re not, you’re just conning yourself; you can’t magically make things happen just because you want to, but you can move things to your long-term list.

7. Make a new list every morning.

8. Check off items as you finish them and praise yourself for each accomplishment. You’ll see yourself getting nearer to your goals and you’ll be amazed how good this feels!

Making your goals specific in this way, so that you know what you need to achieve each day helps to focus your mind. It helps you ignore distractions – even – or perhaps, especially – the distractions you create for yourself.

Yes there are other things you could do today, but are there things you need to do more urgently? There is always tomorrow for things you can’t manage to do today, but a daily ‘things to do’ list will make you feel less like putting things off, simply because you’ve put them down on paper.

Priorities will enable you to focus your time and energies into your targets and you should see real benefits. You will get nearer to your goals each day and your confidence and motivation will increase as a result.

Usually when a person makes sure they are aiming for a goal which is good for them which they are committed to and they learn how to properly manage their time and workspace, then they tend to suffer less from a feeling of inertia.

These time-management and organization skills can’t be learned overnight as they take a lot of practice, but everyone can find their own way through inertia with a bit of effort.

You just need to find a way that best suits you in organizing your life rather than following someone else’s goals for you.

However, the following tips should help you to find your motivation again and get over your inertia.

1. Take control

No matter who you are, everyone suffers from inertia sometimes. Never fear – you can turn that around.  Do it before inertia takes over your life you need to act.

Take control of the tasks that need doing.  There is no magic wand; there are no magic pixies that live in your office or kitchen and will help you in doing this.

That might sound negative, but it’s best that you face up to this realization now.

Make up your mind to take action today. Right now. Those tasks you’re trying to avoid won’t go away so you may as well face them now.

2. Be Positive

Only by turning around negative words and actions to positive words and actions will you cure inertia.  You need to take personal control of the tasks that need doing no matter if they’re at work or at home.

3. Recognize self-defeating behavior and its associated thinking

Try to work out why you actually lack motivation and ask yourself what you gain from the inertia: probably nothing, so now is the time to change all that: right here, right now.

If you’re honest with yourself, you are the only one preventing you moving forward toward your goals.

4. Own up

The first step toward overcoming inertia is to admit that you have a problem and try to determine its cause.  One of the best ways to achieve this is to look at yourself in the mirror and formally state what it is that is holding you back from accomplishing the task that you are in fact delaying.

It could be that you’re scared you’ll fail; it could even be that you’re afraid you’ll succeed. There is always a reason for inertia if you’re honest with yourself.

Remember, when you say your reasons out loud you own them and they become real.  Honesty is the best policy and in order to resolve inertia in your life you need to be honest and avoid the trap of negative self talk.

5. Be realistic

You may have convinced yourself that the people who seem to get everything done and never fall behind are superhuman beings, but they’re not. They’re just better organized and more focused than you.

6. Set goals

If you’re going to get over your inertia, you need to make realistic goals. Identify what tasks you need to do.  Make your goal something realistic.

What can you really do?

Also ensure that you have the right equipment to complete your tasks; don’t set yourself up for failure where you know you can’t succeed without the tools.  Keep in mind that you need to keep lists of when the deadlines are due and how you’re going to finish them.

These few pointers should help you to overcome inertia and get on with what needs to be done.

Sometimes, it doesn’t matter how long it takes to achieve your goal.  See a turtle cross a street?  It walks very slowly but it keeps on walking until it gets to its destination. It may encounter some challenges along the way but and its steps may be short, it keeps on walking because each step, no matter how short, still leads to its destination.  Their hard shell is the one that protects them from anything that may do them harm.  For us, let our attitude be our hard shell.  Focus, motivation, and determination will protect us from anything or anyone who wants us to fail.

We should not pressure ourselves of how fast or how soon we achieve our goal.  But it doesn’t mean that we just take it for granted.  Just keep in mind that we should not quit in any challenges we face and do not rush things up because we might overlook some important steps.  Taking one step at a time will still lead us to our goals.

Let’s consider an ordinary athlete.  It all started with his interest, fondness, or love for the sports he is into.  As an athlete, you begin with nothing but your skills or maybe talent.  His love and passion for that game drives him to win it.  He trains hard, masters his skills, focus in winning, and he is highly motivated to win the game because of his passion.  As an ordinary athlete, you don’t get much money in winning the game.  But can you see the fulfillment and happiness in their eyes when they win?  Its not the winning that we can call success but his feeling of happiness and fulfillment.

This is not to say that we should forget about fortune but this is to remind you that you should do the thing you love to do and not just because you get a fortune out of it.  Success comes with your love for your work.  What’s with the money if you don’t love the thing you do?  You won’t succeed if the thing you do does not feel good to your heart at all.

A woman came out of her house and saw 3 old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them. She said “I don’t think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat.” “Is the man of the house home?”, they asked.”No”, she said “He’s out.” “Then we cannot come in,” they replied.

In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had happened. “Go tell them I am home and invite them in!” The woman went out and invited the men in. “We do not go into a House together” they replied. “Why is that?” she wanted to know. One of the old men explained: “His name is Wealth,” he said pointing to one of his friends, and then pointed to another one,”He is Success, and I am Love.” Then he added, “Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home.”

The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed. “How nice!!,” he said. “Since that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth!” His wife disagreed. “My dear, why don’t we invite Success?” Their daughter-in-law was listening from the other corner of the house. She jumped in with her own suggestion: “Would it not be better to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love!”

“Let us hear our daughter-in-law’s advice,” said the husband to his wife. “Go out and invite Love to be ourguest.” The woman went out and asked the 3 old men, “Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest.” Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other 2 also got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success: “I only invited Love, Why are you coming in?” The old men replied together: “If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would’ve stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever He goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!!!!!!”

source: heart n’ souls 

“Where there is love, there is also wealth and success.”  True indeed.  Love makes you alive, positive, and motivated.  Love from your family gives you moral support.  Love from your partner inspires you to continue winning your goals and dreams.  Your love for your work will make you alive and motivated.  These may all lead to wealth and success.