So Now What? I’m ready to go!!!!

“Some people say motivation doesn’t last, well neither does bathing, that’s why I recommend BOTH daily. ” Zig Ziglar

Well, you’ve read a book on motivation, or attended a seminar, perhaps mine, or maybe you just been inspired to change your daily attitude and motivate yourself. You have set goals for 2012.

You have heard me and many other experts say that it takes 30 days to develop a habit likewise if you can adjust your thinking to the positive, and motivate yourself for just 30 days there is a very strong chance that it will last.

I will not gloss over the fact that this will take some discipline on your part.

In the following pages I will try to give you some suggestions that will help you to gain a positive attitude and motivate yourself.

Let’s get started!!!!

Day One:

My suggestion is that you make this a day when you have 3 to 4 hours of free time.  Think about what motivates you now, and how to expand it, and how to add other things to it.  You also need to think about what currently de-motivates you and how to eliminate it, or work around it.  Let’s face it; everyone has something that interferes with their mood almost every day.  If you can recognize these things and eliminate them from your thinking you’re off to a great start.

I suggest on that first day you make a list of the following :

1. What motivates me now?
2. What de-motivates me now?
3. How can I eliminate or deal with these de-motivating factors?
4. Being completely honest with myself, am I a positive or negative person?
5. Do I procrastinate?
6. During the day do I look for the positive or negative in most situations?
7. Do I start my day motivated, or do I just start my day?

Attitude of Gratitude:

Make a list of the following:

1. What am I truly thankful for?
2. What am I thankful for about my family?
3. What am I thankful for about my job?
4. What am I thankful for about my health?
5. What am I the thankful for about my faith?
6. What am I thankful for about my country?
7. What am I thankful for about my friends?
8. What am I thankful for about my coworkers?
9. How often do I really stop and think about all the things I have to be grateful for?

Keep these lists where you can refer to them every day for at least the first 30 days!!!!

Self Motivation:

This is probably the hardest part of keeping a positive attitude and outlook.

It is much easier by far to find fault and negativity than it is to find the positive and stay motivated.

The process starts by forcing yourself to look for the positive.  Anyone will tell you that you are much happier and more productive when you are in a positive motivated state of mind.

Here are some suggestions to help your motivation and positivity:

Get some form of exercise daily.  If you feel better physically it is not rocket science to know that you will feel better mentally.

If you have a family, and I know this is hard for some families, eat dinner together every day. Why?  Spending time with people you love obviously will elevate your mood, and motivate your outlook.

Get to know the people you work with, find out about their interests, their families, their hopes and aspirations.  Having a friend and coworker is much more positive than just having co-workers.

Be very careful about what you put into your mind in your leisure time.  This may sound silly, but it is very hard to stay motivated and positive when what you read, watch, and think are negative.  The media culture that we are exposed to today has been shown in studies to be 90% negative!!

Day 2:

In the morning, before you do your daily morning routine, read and think about the lists you made on day one.  In order to be motivated on a daily basis you must have goals.  If you’ve been to one of my seminars, you know how to set goals. In this part we will deal with daily motivation.  A goal can motivate you in itself.  Your goals have many benefits.  For most people the motivating factor is accomplishment, recognition, satisfaction, or monetary.  You must decide which motivates you the strongest.

Decide what you are going to accomplish for this day.  Let nothing but emergencies keep you from what you have decided to do.

Day 2:

This day you are going to take a new outlook.  When someone asks the simple question “how are you” instead of answering OK, I want you to answer I am fantastic!!  To some people this may sound silly but this answer will do two things.  First, it will reinforce to yourself that you have decided to become positive and motivated.  Secondly, it will signal to the person you’re talking to that you are in a good mood, you’re ready to tackle the day’s assignments.  This response should be given to that question every day till it becomes a habit.

Avoid or cut out all negative people, influences, and conversations around you.

I told you this would not be easy, are you beginning to see what I meant?

Day 3-5:

Practice the steps from days 1 and 2 and add this to the mix.  If you normally dress casually at your workplace dress up a bit.  This will help you to reinforce the fact that you have started a new outlook, and studies have shown that, as strange as it may seem, people who are dressed for business are more productive.

Day 6-10:

Here are some suggestions for these days:

If you do not have a mentor at work; find one.  Find someone who you admire at work and ask them if they would mind being your mentor.  This will give you a source of not only help and knowledge, but if you have picked the right person, they can become a source of motivation and inspiration.

Check to see if your meeting your daily goals, if not, adjust them so you do.

Look at your goals often.  Discipline yourself to do better if you’re not meeting your daily priority one goals.

Start a daily habit of taking a walk away from your office.  You can do this during a break, or your lunch time.  Clear your thoughts while you’re walking and think about the rest of your day.  These thoughts not only include the rest of the day at work, but think about what you will do at home with your family, or a hobby or pastime you may have.

Start an “assistance attitude”. If you need help do not be afraid to ask for it.  Likewise do not be afraid to assist others when they need your help.  By giving help you may find it is motivating and satisfying.

Day 10-15:

Here is where discipline and honest self assessment comes into play.  Assess honestly the last 10 days to see if you have made progress and where you need to re-adjust. By now you should feel confident you are on the right track.

If you have been lax in some areas, start again with enthusiasm, it is not too late to get it going again.

Find some motivating books or CDs you can listen to.  This will reinforce your motivation and your outlook.  Choose any author you like as long as it is positive and motivating material.

Start and end your day by looking at the lists you made and your daily, weekly, and monthly goals.  Adjust them as you need to.

Start looking for the positive around you.  Look for something positive in yourself, your family, your co-workers, and your friends.  This should be a daily habit.  If you have to force yourself to do this, then do it.  You are motivating yourself; you are looking for the positive around you.

Day 15-30:

At this point you should be seeing results.  Here are a few suggestions to help you reinforce these things and turn them into habits.

Be honest with yourself; check your progress daily.  Do not be afraid to re-adjust any portion of your goals or motivation that you need to.

One of the most important factors in determining motivation is what you put into your mind.  Try to keep positive thoughts and ideas as much as possible.  You will run into problems, whether at work or at home, it is just a fact of life.  How you deal with these problems will tell you a lot about the progress you’ve made.

There are several ways to deal with problems, you can ignore them completely which obviously won’t work, you can put them all off, which again obviously won’t work, or you can look at them as opportunities.  If it is a work problem then look at it as an opportunity to move your processes forward and avoid the same occurrence in the future, you may have the bonus of a happy customer or perhaps new ones! If it is a family problem, look at it as a way to draw family members closer together. Remember one thing in dealing with problems, avoid the blame game, in the end all that really matters is finding a solution, not blame.

Look for ways to be more productive, keep the attitude of gratitude going and seek excellence in what you do. It is OK to be competitive; it is what true winners are made of. Just be sure you don’t lose your integrity and positive outlook along the way.

In the end you are the engine that fuels your own motivation not anything or anyone else.

Decide to be the very best you can, give the very best you can, and to give all you can to those who need your help. If you follow that path you will be a winner in my book, but more importantly, YOU can consider yourself a winner too!!!

Try this for 30 days, review your progress each and every day, and be disciplined, don’t stop and start, do it every day. If you do I guarantee you and those around you will see the difference.

“ Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.” Charles Swindoll