The One Step To Lasting Motivation
While there are many great and even simple techniques that can empower you to live with the motivation of a champion, when it comes down to it, staying motivated can be much simpler than you`ve ever guessed.
Take a look at highly driven yet happy people – what do they have in common? How do they manage to keep going in the face of one problem after another and still enjoy the challenge? So many of them are happy and clearly enjoying themselves. Can we all copy whatever it is they are doing?
Yes, we can copy one essential outlook that happily driven people share. In a nutshell we simply need to decide what is the important positive difference we make in the world. There is tremendous power in dedicating ourselves to a purpose that is meaningful for us. It gives us a good feeling about getting up in the morning, it keeps us on track all day long and at the end of each day we can enjoy the satisfaction of knowing we made a difference for others and for ourself during the day.
Purpose is all about how you live your life and it goes far beyond achieving goals. It goes beyond your occupation. There will always be more goals to aim for and there will always be activities and events to prepare for and deal with. Purpose is the theme song for your life. Its what really matters deeply to you. Its the playing field on which the games of work and play take place.
Let`s look at a few examples of meaningful purpose in specific situations…
- telephone engineer: keeping people in touch with each other
- convenience store employee: saving people time and aggravation
- friendly neighbour: the glue that keeps the community together
How to discover your purpose in life
Take a piece of paper and just write as quickly as you can the answer to the question – what is the purpose of my life? Then put your scribbled thoughts away. The next day read what you wrote and you`ll notice a few ideas really stand out for you. Some ideas move you emotionally. Look for a common theme e.g. justice, teaching, leading, supporting. Then, notice which quality describes what you have been about so far in your life. If nothing stands out right away keep asking the question: what is my purpose? Do so again and again over the next few days when you have time to reflect. The answer will pop up if you persist.
You`ll already be living your purpose in life but may not have noticed it. Pay attention to those strong feelings about what really matters and you will see that whatever has been a dominant theme in your life is in fact your purpose.
Your purpose gives you energy and inspiration. It matters deeply to you and gives you a very important reason to make your life count. Once you become consciously aware of this purpose you`ll see how it is behind everything you do, everything you say and its intrinsic to your true nature.
What`s great about knowing your purpose is that you can now turnaround all those activities you are unmotivated to do. All you do is decide to make being in alignment with your purpose more important than any dislike you have for a particular activity.
Let`s say you hate your job but your purpose is being a great parent. Keep your focus on how that job facilitates your purpose and you`ll be more energetic and positive about work because it enables your purpose to be fulfilled. This will completely change your attitude about work so it will never again be such a source of dissatisfaction for you. And, in time, your new more positive attitude could lead to better career opportunities.
Consider another routine chore you dislike doing and procrastinate on until the job gets bigger and more daunting. Let`s say you always put off the yard work until the grass is so high you don`t know where the dog is! Again, put your attention on your purpose for a moment. Let`s say your purpose is to create a happy and relaxed family life. Well, feeling why that matters so much to you is enough to get you started on clearing the yard and clearing the air when it comes to completing the chores you agreed to finish.
You can have a purpose in life and also a purpose at work, a purpose at home and so on. Your purpose in life is the big one that covers every aspect of your life. If you find it useful go ahead and get clear about your purpose in specific parts of your life but be careful about making this more complicated than it needs to be.
Lasting motivation is simple when you stay in touch with what matters most to you in life.