Making A Difference

The world offers everyone a golden opportunity,
In making life more meaningful and with tranquility,

Roses planted in each garden enhances its beauty,
Tendered with care, it continues to grow in prosperity.

Love makes the world go around in peace and harmony,
In places where man had fought with bitterness and hate,

A path of ugly destruction uproots its serenity,
That leads us to find answers to its morbid state.

A fallen world leaves us with many deep uncertainties,
As we investigate its torn threads and gather lost strength,

To build a bright future, in exploration of the humanities,
Thus, conquers our fears, as we celebrate in great length.

Man's knowledge and discovery of his inner and outer world,
Creates a playground for changes in the environment,

Be it a simple task that can alleviate human suffering,
In extending life its daily dose of peace and contentment.

Making a difference is a potential desire to be instilled,
As a personal trait to be fulfilled in each and every aspect,

Of the human race, in its vast culture and religion,
A solidarity given to all minds, open with love and respect.

Self Motivation

Clarify What You Want

One of the most important motivation techniques you can apply is to clarify what it is you want, and why you want it. If you don't really know what outcome you are going for, or why you should go for it, it is really hard to maintain a high level of self motivation. Setting goals is an ideal way to start this process. Sometimes when you don't have motivation to take action, it is because you don't have a clear picture of why you should be doing it or what the end result should be.

Once you can picture what success will look like, why you want it, and the steps along the way, your motivation will be stronger to start taking action to get there.

Think Long Term

Sometimes a goal just seems too overwhelming or painful to start, and you may have low motivation due to the immediate pain, discomfort, or stress that would be involved in starting. Rather than focusing on the immediate difficulty involved, take a moment to consider the long term consequences of acting on it, or putting it off. If you procrastinate on starting the goal now, will it get even harder to start later? If you act now, can you keep a potential problem from getting worse? On the positive side, how will you feel once you finish? What benefits will you gain from acting now? How will this impact your ability to do other things? Looking at long term consequences can be a powerful motivation technique to increase your self motivation. Put the short term discomfort or difficulty in perspective by thinking about the long term effect of getting your goal accomplished.

Celebrate the Small Victories

In working towards a goal, pay attention to the small victories you can achieve along the way. Think about the milestones that you can celebrate. Examples could include the first dollar you make when starting your business, the first five pounds you lose on a diet, or the first chapter of your novel. These milestones may be just one small step toward your larger goal, and you may still have a long way to go, but they are the evidence that you are progressing. Celebrating these small victories can renew your motivation as move towards the end result, and provide positive feedback and reinforcement for your behavior. Actively look for these milestones that mark your progress, and take the time to celebrate those victories.

Readjust Strategy

You may have set a great goal, but in trying to reach it you might feel like you keep hitting a wall. When your repeated attempts to move forward don't work, your motivation to keep going can start to lag. A very useful motivation technique that can keep you going is to readjust your strategy. Consider alternate efforts that may help get you where you want to go. Think about other approaches you might be able to take. Look for examples of people who have succeeded with a similar goal, and see what they did to accomplish it. There is usually more than one way to achieve a goal, and trying other strategies can give you a boost to maintain your self motivation.

Evaluate Outcomes

As you start making progress towards your goal, periodically evaluate the outcome you are trying to reach. Sometimes you may go after what you want, but as you near the goal you may find that it no longer as important as you initially thought. You may realize that you really don't want or need that outcome. Take the time to evaluate the goals you are striving for, and determine whether they still merit your continued efforts. If your motivation is lagging, it may be a sign that your goal is not top priority for you anymore. Maybe there is a different outcome or goal that is really more important, and if so, change your focus. It's possible to outgrow your initial ideas about what you want- don't be afraid to re-evaluate your priorities and shift your efforts. The use of these self motivation techniques can greatly aid you as you work towards your goals. Pay attention whenever your motivation starts to get low, and then consider if one of more these motivation techniques can help to keep you going.

8 Steps to Continuous Motivation

1. Start simple. Keep motivators around your work area – things that give you that initial spark to get going.

2. Keep good company. Make more regular encounters with positive and motivated people. This could be as simple as IM chats with peers or a quick discussion with a friend who likes sharing ideas.

3. Keep learning. Read and try to take in everything you can. The more you learn, the more confident you become in starting projects.

4. Stay Positive. See the good in bad. When encountering obstacles, you want to be in the habit of finding what works to get over them.

5. Stop thinking. Just do. If you find motivation for a particular project lacking, try getting started on something else. Something trivial even, then you’ll develop the momentum to begin the more important stuff.

6. Know yourself. Keep notes on when your motivation sucks and when you feel like a superstar. There will be a pattern that, once you are aware of, you can work around and develop.

7. Track your progress. Keep a tally or a progress bar for ongoing projects. When you see something growing you will always want to nurture it.

8. Help others. Share your ideas and help friends get motivated. Seeing others do well will motivate you to do the same. Write about your success and get feedback from readers.

What I would hope happens here is you will gradually develop certain skills that become motivational habits.

Self Motivation

                                          


"People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents."



If you want to excel in life, self motivation is essential. You must know how to motivate yourself. You must be able to keep your spirit high no matter how discouraging a situation is. That’s the only way to get the power you need to overcome difficulties. Those who are discouraged in difficult times are certain to lose even before the battle is over.
The question is: how do you motivate yourself? Here are several tips I’ve found to be effective to build self motivation:


1. Have a cause


I can’t think of a more powerful source of motivation than a cause you care about. Such cause can inspire you to give your best even in the face of difficulties. It can make you do the seemingly impossible things.
While other causes could inspire you temporarily, a cause that matters to you can inspire you indefinitely. It’s a spring of motivation that will never dry. Whenever you think that you run out of motivation, you can always come to your cause to get a fresh dose of motivation


2. Have a dream. A big dream


"Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be."


Your cause is a powerful source of motivation but it’s still abstract in nature. You need to make it concrete in the form of a dream. Imagine how the world will be in the future. Imagine how people will live and work.
Having a dream is important because it’s difficult to be motivated if you don’t have anything to shoot for. Just think about people who play basketball. Will they be motivated to play if there is no basket to aim at? I don’t think so. They need a goal. You need a goal. That’s what your dream is for.
But just having a dream is insufficient. Your dream must be big enough to inspire you. It must be realistic but challenging. It must stretch your ability beyond your comfort zone.


3. Be hungry


"Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way."




To be truly motivated, you need to have hunger and not just desire. Having mere desire won’t take you through difficult times since you don’t want things badly enough. In many cases, hunger makes the difference between the best performers and the mediocre ones.
How can you have hunger? Your cause and your dream play a big role here. If you have a cause you care about and a big dream related to it, you should have the hunger inside of you. If you think that you are losing hunger, all you need to do is to connect again to your cause and dream. Let them inspire you and bring the hunger back.


4. Run your own race


I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself.


Comparing yourself with others is an effective way to demotivate yourself. Even if you start with enthusiasm, you will soon lose your energy when you compare yourself with others.
Don’t let that happen to you. You have your own race so how other people perform is irrelevant. Comparing yourself with others is like comparing the performance of a swimmer with a runner using the same time standard. They are different so how can you compare one with the other?
The only competitor you have is yourself. The only one you need to beat is you. Have you become the best you can be?


5. Take one more step


"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."




When you meet obstacles along the way, there could be the tendency to quit. You may think that it’s too difficult to move on. You may think that your dream is impossible to achieve. But this is where you can see the difference between winners and losers. Though both of them face the same difficulties, there is one thing that makes the winners different: the courage to continue.
In difficult situations, just focus on taking one more step forward. Don’t think about how to complete the race. Don’t think about how many more obstacles are waiting for you. Just focus on taking the next step.


6. Let go of the past


"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could."




Believe it or not, one of the best demotivators is your past. Your past can drag you down before you realize it. Your past can give you a heavy burden on your shoulders.
The good news is it’s a burden you don’t have to carry. Take it off your shoulder and leave it. You might make mistakes in the past. You might disappoint others with what you did. But it’s over. It’s already in the past and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Today is a new day and you have the chance to start again. No matter how bad your past might be, you still have a bright future ahead waiting for you. Just don’t let the burden of the past stop you.