Wow! We are half-way through 2019. This is a great time to take time to check-in on the goals you’ve set at the beginning of the year. Ask yourself these two questions:
Where am I now?
How am I now?
Think about how much you’ve grown over the last 6 months. Maybe you haven’t lost those 15 pounds yet, but you’ve started to walk more and have eliminated some of those unhealthy foods from your diet. That’s progress! You may not have that ideal promotion at work yet, but perhaps you’ve taken more initiative to lead projects or expand your skillset. You are on the right track! The tickets to your dream vacation haven’t been purchased yet, but if you are putting money away, you will get to your destination!
Making progress towards your goals is huge and you should celebrate those wins. But, you need to stay motivated to continue that progress. If you are struggling, dig deep and ask yourself:
Why do I think I am not reaching my goals?
What do I need to do to get motivated?
What help and resources do I need to accomplish my goals?
How can I hold myself accountable?
Self-reflection can help you discover what’s holding you back from your success. It’s important to take time to make a personal assessment of yourself.
Tips to Keep you Motivated
1. Find an accountability partner. This could be a friend, a co-worker, or someone else that you can check-in with from time to time to talk about your goals and your progress or setbacks and to also hold your feet to the fire.
2. Eliminate obstacles that prevent you from reaching your goals. If there are negative people in your life that continually suck the energy out of you, you may need to reevaluate that relationship or limit the amount of time you spend with them. Remove bad habits that do not serve a purpose in your progress.
3. Don’t compare yourself to others. Do YOU. Keep your focus on yourself, your goals, your accomplishments, and what it takes to get YOU to reach your next step.
4. Don’t give up. You may face setbacks and that’s okay. Learn from your mistakes and keep going. You got this.
There are 184 more days left in the year. That’s 184 more opportunities to start fresh and reset. So keep at it. Keep going. Keep pushing.
Motivational Quotes
It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.
–Confucius
Infuse your life with action. Don’t wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honor your creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen… yourself, right now, right down here on Earth.
–Bradley Whitford
Good things come to people who wait, but better things come to those who go out and get them.
–Anonymous
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. –Helen Keller
I believe that the only courage anybody ever needs is the courage to follow your own dreams.
–Oprah Winfrey
You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something–your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life. –Steve Jobs
Check out these motivational TED Talks
Getting Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable – TEDWomen2017
Luvvie Ajayi isn’t afraid to speak her mind or to be the one dissenting voice in a crowd, and neither should you. “Your silence serves no one,” says the writer, activist and self-proclaimed professional troublemaker. In this bright, uplifting talk, Ajayi shares three questions to ask yourself if you’re teetering on the edge of speaking up or quieting down — and encourages all of us to get a little more comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Why the secret to success is setting the right goals – TED 2018
Our leaders and institutions are failing us, but it’s not always because they’re bad or unethical, says venture capitalist John Doerr — often, it’s simply because they’re leading us toward the wrong objectives. In this practical talk, Doerr shows us how we can get back on track with “Objectives and Key Results,” or OKRs — a goal-setting system that’s been employed by the likes of Google, Intel and Bono to set and execute on audacious goals. Learn more about how setting the right goals can mean the difference between success and failure — and how we can use OKRs to hold our leaders and ourselves accountable.