John Hersey Leadership Blog

Motivation is crucial to achieve your goals, and it is also something you can achieve by yourself if you know how.

The following are 7 tips to attain unstoppable self-motivation:

1.    Keep the right focus
Focus on what you want instead of on what you don’t want.  It is easy to get unmotivated by challenges and situations that come up when you are working towards your goals, however, you don’t have to let those situations stop you.  You keep moving forward when you focus on what you want to achieve.  Do not give importance to the problems that arise on the way, just move through them and get rid of them.  Everything will pass if you can clearly visualize your dream.

2.    Read success stories
Reading about how others have made it big after facing the same or similar challenges as you, will give you strength and inspiration to advance amid any negativity and problems.  Read as much as you can about personal development, you will learn many valuable skills and new ways to approach situations.

3.    Look for support
Get a mentor or a friend who is an inspiring influence for you.  They can enhance your confidence and help you advance in an organized way.  They will act as a rational spectator, giving you advice when you lose focus due to emotions.  They will put your feet on the ground, and will provide unconditional support and valuable feedback.

4.    Measure your progress
Write about the process daily, and track your successes and setbacks.  This will give you a new perspective on things, you will be able to go back and read what happened in the past, what you learned, and what you did wrong.  You will be able to see how much you have grown and in which ways.

5.    Give yourself prizes
Go to the movies, go out to dinner, or buy yourself a treat; give yourself a prize every time you meet a small goal.  Praise your courage and strength.  This will direct your mind to success. It will become a habit, because behavior that gets a reward is repeated.

6.    Learn something from every failure
Don’t get upset at yourself for failing at something, but analyze what happened and amend your course towards your goal.  See it like this: you can now advance knowing that a certain thing doesn’t work; you are gaining experience.  You can move on with more confidence because you know what you did wrong and can correct it, and you are certainly closer to achieving your goal.

7.    Relax
Working towards your goals should be fun.  Don’t get stressed because you don’t see results fast, enjoy the ride, because that’s where experience, knowledge, and value reside.  If you are moving forward, it means you are already succeeding, so relax and cherish every moment.  You will do more if you think it is fun; acknowledge that you are growing every step of the way.  Remember that, whatever happens, it is worth it, because you are becoming a much better, more experienced, and more mature individual.  There is nothing more rewarding than making your dreams come true and living the life of your dreams, thus, get going and never look back!

Until not so long ago, James Brandon always had an excuse to skip classes.  We all know he is not the only one; skipping classes is a habit the majority of students have, although it is not a very healthy one.  However, in James’ case, he discovered something shocking the last time he did it.

This is what happened:  the professor had given the class an assignment they were supposed to deliver the next day, but James had just received the latest video game in the mail, and he was so excited about telling his friends that he already mastered “The Death Raiders” that he spent the whole day playing it and neglected the paper.  The next day, he continued playing. The thought ‘class paper’ never crossed his mind, even though this particular professor was the one he admired the most. He loved the way he taught class and considered the work he assigned the most valuable for his career until now.

Once the excitement for the game started diminishing, about two hours before class and as James started thinking about what he had done, how he had neglected his work and how he was going to face his ‘hero’, his conscience started punishing him.  The feeling of not having done the assignment started to swallow him like a whale swallows schools of fish; if you are not the fastest swimmer, you won’t escape.  And that’s exactly what happened to James; he was eaten by the shame of letting his favorite professor down, he was blinded with shame and couldn’t find a way out, so, he skipped class.

However, once he decided not to go to class, and for the rest of the week, his shame for doing so was greater than the one he felt for not doing the paper, and this is when it hit him:  if shame is so powerful as to make him do things he later regrets so strongly, maybe if he could channel this force appropriately. He could reach his biggest potential.  Perhaps shame could make him work on the things he had been putting off; perhaps it could motivate him.

James decided he would never miss a class again, and ever since, he has been working on determining what things make him feel a lot of shame and how to get the best out of them.

Shame is an external motivator; it depends on what others think of you, and it makes you run from what you see as shameful.  If James hadn’t been so fond of his professor and his opinion was not so important to him, he wouldn’t have minded going to class without the paper.

Thus, ask yourself, what types of people and events produce shame?  Is shame so powerful as to use it to motivate?  Is it correct to shame others in order to make them react positively?

One thing is certain; shame can be a very strong self-motivator.  Just as it did for James, it can turn your life around, set your priorities straight, and honor your existence and those around you, turning you into the better version of yourself.

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