How to Stay Motivated to Achieve Your Goals

"A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others" - Ayn Rand

Motivation is the child of Desire. When you want something bad enough, you'll go by any means to get it.

Thought kickstarts your desire which triggers your motivation. When you are motivated enough, you will act. Upon acting, you will be one step closer. Each step is a stair to climb, and the staircase ends where you let it.

What do we mean by thought?

What you think about each day is what you become. In order to shape your body accordingly your mind has to show it how you want it to look like. So, when you're working out and pumping out those last few reps picture yourself ripped with your muscles bulging. It also helps to think about other things important to you. Maybe you're working out for your girlfriend or you want to lose weight to play ball with your boy.

If you're an athlete think about why you're working out and putting your body through stress. It's because you want to make the team, or you want to beat a certain opponent.

What we're doing here is setting small mental goals which we'll want to write down.

Goal-setting tips

1.) You should write down your goals and keep them visible to you at home or even at work.

2.) Try to be specific with your goals. Don't be too general. Example: Shoot 200 free throws a day./ Run 5 miles on the treadmill 3 times a week.

3.) Make small goals that aren't too easy to accomplish, but also not too difficult. If you make a goal too hard, say lose 10 pounds in a week you'll be discouraged if you don't achieve it. Not to mention it is unhealthy to lose that much that quickly.

4.) Don't have too many goals. You don't want to put your focus in too many places. It's better to practice 1 shot 1000 times than 1000 shots 1 time.

5.) Track your progress and reward yourself for completing your goals. When you reward yourself you'll look forward to the next time you accomplish that same goal.

Goals are in essence, your desire. If your desire is to lose your pregnancy weight then you turn that into a goal. You break it down to losing 3 pounds a week. Now you can break down this goal by setting nutrition and workout goals like running on the treadmill for 20 minutes a day.

Keep your life goals at the heart of your thought. They should be floating in your mind constantly. This will instantly trigger your desire and will create a strong motivation for you to act. And that's the most important step, after all. The toughest part of acting is motivating yourself to act. So how can we motivate ourselves?

Ways to Motivate Yourself:

1. Role Model: Pick someone great. Someone who has done or come close to doing what it is you want to do. This brings a certain level of comfort because you now know without a shadow of a doubt that it is possible and that this person has done it. So, why shouldn't it work for you if you put in the same amount of hours as he/she did? That's the beauty of a role model.

2. Music: Music is my number 1 source for motivation. I might be feeling a little tired during the night until I start listening to my iPod or Pandora. There's just certain songs that get you going and I know everyone has their own. Once you start listening to your songs, start imagining and thinking about your goals.

3. Reminding yourself of your goals and ambitions. If you want something badly enough, you're going to get it... Simple. Unless you forget what it is you want, which is easy to do in today's world full of distractions. It easy to sit at home and watch TV but its sure as hell harder to get up and go to the gym.

4. Track everything! Start writing down your accomplishments to see what made you feel good and to also see what is working. If you find out what's working, do more of that! Of course, the contrary goes for what isn't working. Maybe you've been spending a little too much time watching television and you could afford to give a little more time to your goals. Whatever it may be, remember to have some concrete evidence that you can look at to keep convincing yourself that your progress is real. Slow and steady wins the race!

5. Alter your mental attitude. Try to start thinking positively and change the way the world affects your thoughts. "I can't go to the gym, I'm just too tired" will become a reality. Try saying something like "Yes, I'm tired but it's not going to stop me from going to the gym". You might also think about the benefits of going to the gym and how they outweigh sitting at home like a sack of potatoes!

6. No excuses! Motivation and excuses are arch rivals. They don't get along at all. You might start thinking about going to the gym but then the other voice in your head, starts reminding you of thousands of reasons for you NOT to go. And of course, it's easy to give in.

Once you are motivated to act you have won half the battle. The last step is what makes champions. You have thought about what you want. You have made mental and written notes about what you want and HOW you are going to do it. You are amped up and ready to get going. Now the last step is all on you. It's 100% mental and just know that if you get up to go to the gym, you're reaching limits that other people have already set for themselves. Without action, you can think all day you want... it won't happen. Get up.