How to Motivate Yourself

Do you ever say:

“I have too many problems to get ahead.”
“I can’t succeed because I’m the wrong age/race/gender/nationality.”
“I’d rather lay on the couch all day.”
“What made me think I could do that?”
“I’m sick of the whole thing.”
“I simply can’t do it.”
“I’ll do it some other time.”
“I don’t have enough energy to do it.”
“I didn’t realize it would be this difficult.”
“Like most people, I’ll never reach my dreams.”
“I’ve lost hope.”

You Can’t?

If you say “can’t,” you are on the downhill road to failure. “I can’t do the project.” “I can’t pay my bills.” “I can’t succeed.”

Barriers to success are built into our society. For example, most government regulations describe the things you cannot do. “You can’t park there.” “You can’t keep that money.” “Unless you follow these regulations, you can’t . . . .” Read any law and notice how often the words “Prohibit,” “Forbidden” and “Disallowed” occur while words like “Encouraged,” “Allowed” and “Recommended” are rare.

Some employers like to act like governments and stop things. “You can’t leave early.” “You can’t have more authority.” “You can’t do things your own way.”

Businesses do it to customers. “We can’t see you without an appointment.” “I can’t give you a discount.” “Sorry, we can’t help you.”

The real damage occurs when you stop yourself. “I can’t handle more work.” “I can’t earn more money.” “I can’t change.”

Whenever you feel like giving up, you feel stopped.

Why?

“STOPS ALL OCCUR BECAUSE OF FAILED PURPOSES. BEHIND EVERY STOP THERE IS A FAILED PURPOSE.” — L. Ron Hubbard

The sequence goes like this:

1. You have a purpose to _________.

For example, do you remember some of your old purposes? Examples: Make $20 million. Raise a happy family. Travel around Europe. Get involved in the community. Make a major contribution to society.

2. For one reason or other, you decide you have failed to achieve that purpose.

When you made some effort to achieve your purpose, you felt stopped. Maybe achieving the purpose turned out to be more difficult than you expected. Maybe you saw someone else fail. Maybe someone got in your road.

3. You then invent, or agree, with stops or barriers to your purpose.

“It’s too much work for me.” “I need a better education first.” “They don’t want me to do this.” “No one succeeds without lucky breaks.” “I don’t know what to do.” “It’s better to settle for less.”

Some people get worse and fight solutions: “Don’t try to help me as it is impossible.” “I tried all the solutions and none of them work.” “No one has the answers.” “You should give up, too.”

As a result, you stop looking for ways to succeed. You avoid setting any goals at all. You feel very tired.

Fortunately, you can turn things around and reach your biggest goals.

The Law Regarding Failed Purposes

“THERE IS A LAW ABOUT THIS — ALL YOU HAVE TO DO TO RESTORE LIFE AND ACTION IS TO REKINDLE* THE FAILED PURPOSE. THE STOPS WILL AT ONCE BLOW.” — L. Ron Hubbard (*rekindle: revive or renew)

This is a fantastic, simple solution to very big, difficult problems. Just fire up your original purpose and the stops or barriers magically disappear! Can it be that easy?

Let’s consider Jill, who wants to run in a 40k marathon even though she lost a leg in an auto accident when she was a teenager. She runs every day with her artificial leg, but trips and falls every mile or so. Each time, she gets up and continues to train for the run.

One morning, she gets a bad cramp in her real leg. Jill normally pushes through the pain, but today it bothers her. Suddenly, she falls on the sidewalk and scrapes her elbows and hands. A delivery truck drives by, hits a puddle and soaks her clothes while she is down. So she limps home and quits for the day.

Each morning, she finds a new reason to not run. She has a dental appointment. The weather is bad. The cat runs away. Stops, stops, stops.

She feels tired and unmotivated. She tells her family and friends, “I just didn’t realize how tough it would be.” “It’s too cold and wet out there.” “I probably should have given up long ago.”

Jill then learns the law about failed purposes. She thinks about ways she can fire up her original purpose. “All I have ever wanted to do was finish that stupid 40k run! Why did I want to do that?”

She thinks it over and thinks, “Oh yeah! I remember when I first saw people finishing the race on TV when I was 14. I thought I should do that. I just wanted to prove to myself that I could run 25 miles. THAT was my purpose! I still want that!”

Within seconds, Jill feels great! She sees no reason she can’t finish the marathon. She changes her clothes and gets back into training. This time, she is more determined than ever. “Nothing is going to stop me this time!”

Her stops have blown off. She trains, enters and finishes the race.

Recommendations

1. How have you given up? What was a dream you had, but now think is impossible? Which of your purposes has failed?

2. Why did you want this goal or purpose? FIRE THIS UP! Make it part of your life again.

Rekindle, renew and revive those original reasons. Dream of succeeding.

3. Make the purpose stronger. Put more energy into it. Convince yourself that you can accomplish this purpose despite all the barriers. The “reasons” for failure disappear.

4. Plan how you will reach the goal. Write down the steps. Focus on how you can succeed.

5. Make one small step toward the goal. Make another. Get some momentum going.

6. Each time you feel like quitting, change your mind and remember your reasons, your goals or your purposes.

7. You never fail until you decide to stop trying, so persist until you win!

Video Example: Click to watch this runner fall down during a race and then fire up her purpose.