Eight ways to inspire yourself this Year

New year is here and so are our resolutions. There is a new determination to fulfill our dreams, a new chance to do things that we haven’t been able to do before, a new hope that we will not break our resolution despite knowing that it’s not easy to stick to them. For accomplishing our goals requires us to stay motivated all 365 days a year. And that’s a tricky part. How do we inspire ourselves all through the year?

Given below are eight ways that will help you to motivate and push yourselves for greater effort:

1. What do you want from life?

This is the first thing you need to ask yourself. Pick up a pen and a paper and start writing answers to this question. This will provide you the first essential to spur yourself on to your mission. While answering the question, try to be practical – don’t ask for the moon, and at the same time, don’t be too careful or modest.

Do you want to become an architect or a doctor? Write it down. Do you want to travel the world? Write it down. Whatever you want from life, just write it down. Their possession/attainment constitutes your plan and goal. Remember, no engineer constructs a machine without a blue-print. No captain takes a vessel on to the high seas without charts, compass or knowledge about the destination. Then how come many of us get into the high seas of life without any aim in mind? It is no surprise that so a lot of people get entrapped in the Sargasso Sea of frustration, depression and purposelessness!

2. Eat and sleep your dream 

Keep your plans constantly in mind so that they seep into your subconscious. Do this by thinking about them night after night. Imagine your dreams fulfilled. Gradually you will see, things will begin to happen to your advantage. You will find yourself becoming a man of purpose, a man of action. Opportunities, which you never thought existed, will present themselves. You will find the courage to seize them. Soon, you will realise that the only person who has the power to restrict you is you. You will begin to welcome each day as an opportunity to take one more step forward towards the realisation of your dream.

2. Understand you have a potential

You are capable of doing many more things than you have ever done. Within you, lie great resources of strength and ability. This is a wonderful truth which you must realise and believe. Given the opportunity, the courage and the will, these unused talents will blossom and flourish.

Remember, when this truth becomes a belief, you will be more bold in saying ‘Yes’ to opportunity when it knocks at your door.

3. Don’t waste nervous energy in worrying

You will achieve more, and have more energy for your enterprises, if you learn to overcome worry. When difficulties come your way, regard them as hurdles to jump, leaving you stronger and more resourceful. Refuse to let worries bog you down. Instead, bring positive and practical thought to bear upon problems and then act. Try to remain master of the situation by constructive action against them.

Worry has been likened to driving a car into a garage and leaving it there all night with the engine running. Next morning, no distance has been travelled; yet there has been wearing on the engine and a waste of oil and fuel. Learn to dispense with worry. The nervous energy you will save will give you more mental power and enthusiasm to be up and doing.

4. Have a five-year plan with deadlines

Once you have decided what you want from life, draw up a Five-Year Plan. Aim it at fulfilling your ambitions, or bringing you nearer to your goal. If your aim is to pursue MBA from the US, you must find out about what examinations to clear. The exams may require several years of preparation. Thus, you must draw up your plans accordingly – a certain examination to be passed within a certain time. The knowledge that a stipulated amount of progress has be made within a specified time acts as a goad upon our lazy spirits.

5. Always remember, time is passing

When we have a goal to reach within a definite time, every minute counts. Each minute that ticks by is one less to use in the fulfillment of our purposes. We must, thus, use it to take us one step, however small, nearer our goal. We must not forget that there is a strictly limited supply of time. As each minute passes, it is for us to decide whether we are going to waste it or use it to realise our plans.

6. Your will-power matters

They say there are a few doors that determination cannot open. If we will to achieve something, our capacities are enormously enhanced. Dr J.L Mursell in his book Streamline Your Mind, writes, “A man, by aroused and deliberate intention, can increase his efficiency prodigiously.”

You must will to overcome your difficulties and realise your dreams. Everyday, tell yourself: “I am going to achieve this. Nothing is going to stop me. It may take a long while, but it shall come to pass.” Such an act of the will acts as a goad, pushing us onward and warning against sloth and procrastination.

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7. Learn from the life of great men 

When we are tempted to slack, it is often useful to consider the example of great people. For instance, think of Steve Jobs. He was ousted from the company that he created. But he returned and took the company to great heights. Or read about William Carey, a cobbler by trade. He did not go to India until he was 31. But he translated the entire Bible into five Indian tongues, and the New Testament into 20 others. You, too, will be able to achieve much if you allow the example of such great men to spur you on.

8. Enlist your imagination

Every achievement first existed in someone’s imagination. Let us use our thinking to bring into being our own creations.

What kind of person do you want to become? Imagine yourself like that. What do you want to achieve? Imagine yourself possessing them. What activities would you like to learn? Imagine yourself participating in them. Keep these pictures fresh and clear in your mind. Don’t let them fade. Then, slowly but inevitably, you will find that imagination becoming a reality. As Emile Coue wrote, “Every thought entirely filling your mind becomes true for us and tends to transform itself into action.”

With inputs from Careers & Courses.  

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