The Importance Of Self Motivation

Here in the US we have many freedoms.  Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, etc…  We even have the right to the pursuit of happiness.  But just because we have these rights doesn’t mean we practice all of them all the time.  But what amazes me more than anything is the fact that most of us never truly pursue happiness!  I mean, maybe we all have a desire to be happy and maybe we put some effort in that camp on occasion but how much actual effort do we really give?  I think that for most people the draw of instant comfort is much stronger than that of true freedom and happiness.  But the cost of that temporary ease of living is a lifetime of slaving away at a J-O-B and always having to answer to someone else.  It’s never really seeing your dreams come to a reality.  You goals, if you even have any, never leave the drawing board and your future is destined for the pains of monotony.  How do you see yourself in this area?

For me, the struggle is a daily one.  I have many dreams and aspirations and I crave all out freedom in my life.  I want to be able to do what I want, when I want.  I want to be able to say on any given day, “You know what, I think I’m going to take a break today.  Maybe I’ll go for long bike ride in the mountains.  Yeah, that’s what I’ll do!”  And I don’t even want to stop working.  I just want to stop working the way others want me to work.  I want as much control over my “work time” as I have over my free time.  If I want to put 60hrs into one week so I can take the next week off I feel I should be able to do just that.  And this is something that I strive for every day.  I am on the path, moving in that direction.  But like everyone else I struggle to keep my focus and my drive.  But as I see results along the way I am reminded of my goals and my taste for the carrots grows strong again!

The crazy thing is, many of us already know how to get to the place we want to be, we just don’t do it.  It doesn’t just happen, you have to GO GET IT!  They don’t call it the PURSUIT of happiness for nothing.  And this is where self motivation comes in.  To be able to take action, day after day, you need to keep yourself motivated.  Motivation is like the gas in a car.  Without it you aint go’in no where!  But with it the options are endless.

If you’re not following me, just look at it this way.  Have you ever had an idea that seemed really great at the time and then later felt like a waste of time?  Not to say that some of our ideas aren’t just plain BAD but often times it’s not the idea that is bad but the drive behind it.

And there are many things that influence your motivation.  Sleep is a HUGE one!  The difference between a good night’s sleep and a bad one is like the difference between your car running on rubbing alcohol and jet fuel.  Think about how many times you’ve gotten up after a good night’s sleep and felt like you could take on the world?  (How do you think they came up with those Holiday Inn commercials?)  And then compare that to the times when you got to bed late and tossed and turned all night.  You can hardly get out of bed let alone pursue your goals with vigor.

And then we have regular exercise, healthy diet and so on.  You get the point.  But that’s only half the battle.  Then comes the power of the mind.  You have to really want to succeed.  You have to constantly crave your dreams.  And if you don’t, you need to find a way to remind yourself of why you want what you want.  It’s the whole carrot on the end of a stick.  People always use that analogy to represent someone manipulating someone else to do what they want.  But it all depends on who’s holding the stick.  If you’re holding it and you’re using it to motivate yourself to keep pushing forward to your goals then you’re ten steps ahead of most everyone else.

So you see the importance of the skill to self motivate and you see some of the keys to that goal.  So make a decision to pursure your happiness and leave the crowd behind!

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