Motivation and How to Reach Your Goals Quickly

Goals are what a person wants to do, achieve, or become. Research shows that as many as 80% of us over-estimate our level of motivation. It’s no wonder so many dreams go unfulfilled and so many goals remain forever out of reach. So this article is going to explain how you can simply act upon motivation and follow through with your goals.

Motivation is the internal fire which allows each of us to believe in something we have yet to achieve. Motivation is known as an intrinsic response, meaning it comes from within you and cannot be imposed from the outside. It comes from wanting to do something of one's own free will. Motivation is only sustained by doing. In order to stay motivated to achieve a goal you must act. Motivation is important, but before you can become motivated you must have a target, a goal, a result, or a desired end. It is the final vision of this result that will determine, in many cases, your level of motivation.

There is a specific order that comes into play when you want to achieve a goal. First, you have a thought about something you want to achieve. Second, you feel a sense of motivation that you want to accomplish this goal. Third, you take action toward the goal.

Goals are set on a number of different levels: First you create your "big picture" of what you want to do with your life, and decide what large-scale goal you want to achieve. Second, you must break these down into the smaller and smaller targets that you must hit so that you reach your larger goal. Without being able to break down your goals to smaller, more achievable short term goals, you'll likely not know where to begin. So if your goal is to “Earn an additional $100 per week” then a first step would be to “Research side jobs and ways of making additional money.”

When starting out to achieve any goal, it's crucial that you have a strong reason "Why." You must feel a burning desire within you to actually complete the goal for very personal reasons. Without a strong reason why, many people begin to find excuses as to why the goal is not as important as they originally conceived it to be.

So let's break down the process of goal setting and achieving in simple to understand words that will allow you to take action the next time you feel motivated to achieve a goal!

Remember, goals are just words until you launch them. In order for your brain to put into action the processes necessary for completing a goal, your brain must register them as absolutely required. I’m sure you’ve heard before that whatever you focus on expands. This is vitally true with goals. Your thoughts are fleeting visions and random flashes that occur in your brain 24 hours a day. You brain cannot distinguish what it true and what is imagined, so you need to convince your brain that this thought is true, it has a purpose and you want it to figure out how to bring it into reality. This is done by one simple step. Writing your goal down on paper or capturing it into a goal setting program like http://LifeTrax.com in your own words.

Writing the goal you want to achieve in a definitive way allows your brain to set in motion the steps necessary to make it happen. Our minds are able to compute and accomplish things without our knowing it is happening. For instance, have you ever noticed that when you focus on something, your life begins to revolve around that thing? You become hyper aware of what you’re focusing on, good or bad, and your brain begins to bring into focus what it will take to make that thing happen. By writing your goal down, it’s places into existence the fact that you are serious about achieving the goal and it allows your brain to place emphasis and importance on that goal and place it’s energy upon the goal, bringing into existence the forces, people and circumstances that will make that goal a reality.

When writing your goal, be specific. Write down EXACTLY what you want to achieve so that your brain has a clear vision of what that goal looks like. If you just say “I want to make more money” then you find a penny on the ground, your brain knows that you now have more money…mission accomplished. However, if you write down “I need to earn an additional $100 per week, every week, starting today.” then your brain has to figure out how to make that happen. Your brain goes to work on a subconscious level to make your goal a reality.

However, be very clear about this point. Remember when we spoke about your “Why?” This is a crucial element of your brain making things happen. Your brain must know why you NEED this thing to happen. Your brain must know this is not just another passing thought that will soon be gone. So you may write something like “I need to earn an additional $100 per week because I need to pay off my credit card debt within 2 years or else I’m going to be bankrupt. Bankruptcy is not an option, I must make $100 more per week.”

Once you write down your goal in clear purpose, with a strong reason why, you will begin to notice how you will be presented with opportunities to make your goal a reality. It is important to recognize these opportunities and act on them immediately. Taking action is your brains way of registering that one smaller goal has been accomplished, and it can move on to the next item in its checklist of accomplishments that lead toward the completion of the goal. So if after you write down that you “Need to make an additional $100 per week,” be very aware of the opportunities that arise from setting this goal. You will need to become aware of the situations that arise that make achieving this goal possible. Your brain is working hard to set in motion the events to make the goal a reality; you should reward it with its own sense of accomplishment.

On a final note, you must review your goals regularly and show yourself that you are making progress. Many people think that goals, once decided upon and set into motion will be accomplished quickly. However, depending upon the enormity of your goal, it may take longer to accomplish than you originally anticipated. So review your goals regularly, reward yourself for progress with encouraging words to yourself through a journal and remind yourself why you are working toward this goal. Use affirmations to train your brain to work the way you want it to. Remember, your brain does not know the difference between what is real and what is not. So if you have an affirmation that you read every day that says “I accomplish my goals quickly and easily, every time I set a goal,” your brain believes that to be true. You must train your brain to be a goal accomplishing machine and it will react that way.