Getting inspired (to take risks) for success is probably one of the trickiest aspects of personal development for many, if not most, people. Staying motivated to achieve goals is even harder. I want to break down what I’ve learned — teaching many different kinds of people, from different walks and talks of life — what really motivates you to succeed in life.
To the inspired person, asking what motivates them to be successful sounds like a question posed in a foreign tongue — they wouldn’t know how to answer because they’ve never even thought about it — it’s a matter of being to them. And asking for help would be like asking a fish to explain how they swim.
They don’t “know” how they do it, they “just do” it.
The Nike (“just do it”) slogan was made for them. It was probably made by them too!
Having spent a great number of years trying to hack motivation for people suffering from differing levels of depression and anxiety has given me a few insights. I think I can break down a few of the cornerstones to what motivates a person to succeed in life (and how to stay that way).
The 4 Realms that Motivate People to Succeed in Life:
1. Staying Curious
Realm: MINDSET
Action: Continuous Education
Heal by: Taking Breaks (to collect your thoughts)
The first step to motivating yourself to achieve your goals is to understand what is possible.
People who are naturally motivated are also big thinkers. Meaning, they think big-picture. They see a day and think about all of the things they can do with it. Similarly, they look at their life and consider the myriad experiences they could have — including the consequences of making the choice not to choose. From that vantage point, paying time and resources into a reality that makes them happy is the obvious choice. They stay curious about what’s out there, how things work and what makes their life meaningful.
That curiosity turns into asking questions, getting answers — educating themselves on topics of interest — and bonding over that quest for knowledge with other like-minders.
If this isn’t you right now, give your brain a break from whatever is stressing you out and take a walk, look for beauty around you and wonder at how things grow, the fact that your life coming to be was a less than one in a billion chance, or watch a documentary on something about nature (always mind-boggling).
Staying Curious, to motivate yourself to achieve your goals, in Action:
- Make lists of things that interest you when they come up. When you have time, find good resources on the subject.
- Create playlists of interesting videos etc. you’d like to watch (think YouTube, Netflix, etc.).
- Start an ever-growing reading list (I use Apple Books “want to read” section).
- Have a scheduled time every day to learn (reading a good book is more than enough).
Reality Check: The whole world is such an awe inspiring mystery and miracle, any one of us (or all of us) could spend lifetimes wondering at it and still come up with more questions than answers! How do you know what you could or couldn’t achieve (unless you try)?
2. Keeping the Fire Stoked
Realm: HEARTSET
Action: Showing Up
Heal by: Crying or Dancing or Telling it Like it is
Motivated people have a lot of courage. It takes a tonne of that fiery force to continue showing up, in a world we barely understand, fighting for a life you truly want to live. It’s not easy. It’s certainly not a given. In fact, most people don’t jump in the ring and fully embrace life at all. In the end, they’re full of regret. A life un-lived is probably the saddest fact for any of us to face.
Getting in the ring, and stoking up that fire to win at whatever it is that you value, is truly the definition of motivation. It is an unavoidable piece of the goal achievement puzzle.
I can’t think of a more courage-evoking illustration than this one:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the [one] who points out how the strong [person] stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the [one] who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends [her]self in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if [s]he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that [her] place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt
If this isn’t you right now, try to find a community that is interested in things that you are (and who will support your emotional needs). Having courage (usually) requires belonging (or at least a sense that you are worthy of belonging).
Keeping Fired up to motivate yourself to be successful, in Action:
- Schedule time with people who love and accept you.
- Cuddle with a partner or an animal.
- If you’re hurting from lack thereof, try dancing it out to some uplifting tunes – or –
- Try holding yourself, or even a stuffed animal, while you cry it out.
- Speak your truth considerately, but consistently.
Reality Check: No one who’s in the ring will judge you — for failing, for making mistakes, for not knowing, for taking 20 years to try, for letting your life get super bad before you made a change — for anything you are afraid of being judged for. The people outside the ring don’t matter. They’re not even in the game. You get one shot at this life. Why the heck wouldn’t you go for it?
3. Focussing on Purpose
Realm: SOULSET
Action: Aligned Choices
Heal by: Tapping into other (successful) people’s vibe
If there’s one “reason” for achieving truly impressive feats I hear people consistently give again and again, it’s “I just felt like I had to do it; it felt like there was no other option for me”. To me, it sounds very much like inspired reasoning coming from a person whose motivation is purpose-focussed.
Everyone here has a gift to give, whether they know it or not. Everyone on the planet could teach me (and you) something about something. You have a purpose. People highly motivated to succeed in life have a very clear sense of alignment with that purpose.
If this isn’t you right now, try to declutter your vibe. Detoxing your inner circle (people, places, things) will breathe new life into your essence and let you tap back into your potentiality. You only want people, places and things around you that align with the person you want to be (even if you don’t know exactly who that is yet).
Focussing on Purpose to motivate yourself to achieve your goals, in Action:
- Feel out different people’s lives: on social media, people you know, etc.
- When you find lifestyles you really vibe with, study them.
- Surround yourself with pieces of that lifestyle, wherever you find yourself at.
- You don’t need designer couches to be tidy and clean or a personal trainer to get your body moving etc. Work with your space, place and start heightening that vibe.
Reality Check: Energy is real. Its effects are recordable. You are not an island and everything that crosses paths with you has an effect on your life, for better or worse. If you want to motivate yourself to succeed in life: one hand needs to be protecting yourself, the other needs to be elevating your vibe to the level of success you seek.
4. Increasing Vitality
Realm: BODiSET
Action: Holistically Healthy Lifestyle
Heal by: Creating habits designed for Vitality
There’s probably quite literally only one thing almost all people motivated to succeed have in common: they take care of their health. I remember reading some statistics from the book My Morning Routine that clocked “exercise” as the number one correlation between the highly successful people they interviewed. Almost 80% of them listed exercise as part of their morning routine. Who knows how many more get in some exercise later in the day!
You better believe these people are taking care of their health in other ways too. The classic trio of nutrition, sleep and exercise is half of what I teach to my students to get to their big goals like Ideal Body Composition. These 3 factors alone will make sure you are stocked up full of the energy you need to get on with your goals. Highly motivated people get rid of energy drains in the forms of MINDSET, HEARTSET & SOULSET divots (pitfalls or negative attachments in the areas we discussed above) so they are ready and raring to go on their goals everyday, all day, for as long as it takes.
If this isn’t you right now, try to create a program for yourself that works—a healthy lifestyle plan that includes high quality rest, better nutrition and more movement. If this is a trouble for you (the “just do it” mentality is something you “just don’t get”), I specialize in clearing obstacles to motivation just like this for people just like you.
Increasing vitality to motivate yourself to succeed in life, in Action:
Whatever your goal, from health, wealth to relationships, myself and my sister brands have a solution for you.
