How To Get MotivatedThere are days when I am on auto pilot, and I just go through the motions of my life without much thought. I will be emotionally and mentally "checked out" as I run errands, fix dinner, and catch up on emails. I don't feel bad, but I don't feel especially good, either. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would be a 7: content, but not deeply happy. Things could be worse, but they could also be better. It is easy to live life at a 7 - it is comfortable and pretty good. The danger is that you could spend years living your life at a level 7, instead of at a 9 or 10. When I stop and realize that I am operating at a 7, I ask myself why I am not going for a 10. My reasons may sound familiar to you: "I am too tired" "I don't know how to do it" (whatever "it" is) "I don't know the right people" "I don't have the money" "I am not as smart as other people" "Other people are luckier than me" "I am too busy" "It will be too hard" "It will take a long time"
These are the thoughts of someone who feels like a victim and thinks that life can just push them around. They do not feel in control of their lives and destinies. When I am operating at a 9 or 10, I ask myself why today was different. Becoming aware of what keeps me operating at a 7 versus what drives me to a 10 is one of the easiest ways of figuring out how to get motivated. When I am at a 9 or 10, my answers have a very different tone compared to the ones above. It is a tone of being in control and of having ownership of my life, instead of being a victim:
"I decided that nothing was going to stop me" "I wasn't going to let fear get in my way" "If anyone can do it, then I can do it, too" "This is my life and I am going to go for it" "Why not? What do I have to lose?" "I decided that my family may not like it, but I need to do what makes me happy"
When I am operating at a 7, I am content and a little numb. When I am operating at a 9 or 10, I am excited about my life. What is the key factor for getting from a 7 to a 10? Taking ownership of your life. If you want to figure out how to get motivated and to stop being the victim, then you must accept responsibility for your life. Taking responsibility is empowering. It gets your energy and adrenaline pumping. After college graduation, I bounced from job to job, never finding the right fit. People asked me what I wanted to do with my life and the painful truth was that I didn't know. I began to see myself as a victim. I perceived that I was a victim of a bad job market, the wrong college degree, I was too young or too old for various jobs and I was a victim of society since no one told me that life after college would be so hard. A year later, I was sick of feeling sorry for myself and I decided to take charge of my life. I got career counseling, took aptitude tests, and got help with my resume. Within a few weeks, I landed a more satisfying job. I learned the secret of how to get motivated: remember that you are in charge of your life. Your life is yours; not someone else's. You can always make the choice to be either the victim or the invincible. Once I took charge, I was excited and re-energized. All of my power came back to me. The job market no longer had the power - the power was mine. When you take charge of your life, your life is no longer the boss of you. And, many areas of your life will improve. Your partner no longer has more power than you and the job you despise no longer has power over you. Instead of feeling forced to do work that you hate, you see that you have a choice. So, if you are wondering how to get motivated enough to quit your job, then constantly remind yourself that you are not a victim and that your cubicle does not have any power over you. Cubicles are made of flimsy materials - visualize yourself knocking them down. If you are in a job you hate, then, today, you chose to be there. Tomorrow, you can choose to quit. Just realizing that you have the power to choose is exhilerating. When you realize that you get to choose, then the desire to be a victim melts away. It is replaced with passion, focus, and self-control.
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