Perseverance and Motivation

Perseverance is defined as "doggedness: persistent determination!"
These are some pretty strong terms. "Doggedness," tends to paint a picture of a big German Shepherd dog enjoying and protecting his bone. Just listen to him... chew, chomp, chew, chomp. He is determined not to quit and it sounds like he's really enjoying it because he is still going strong even after an hour. That's perseverance! By the way, never get between a dog and his bone! :-)

Accomplishing dreams depends on the same kind of determined perseverance. Perseverance is the winning element that separates the mediocre achievers from those who are extremely successful and stand out in our society. Imagine combining perseverance with passionate motivation, when working toward a goal. This combination becomes a sure-fire winner that demands nothing less then over-the-top success. Remember the dog and his bone? Well, don't ever get between the motivated, persevering achiever and success.

Sports teams are a great example of perseverance. The score is 7 to 2 for the visiting team. The losing home team rallies around the coach during a break. The coach's most important task is to motivate his players into a motivated attitude of perseverance. Focus on what was good in the first part of the game and continue in that direction with a renewed passion for winning.

If the home team was asked about their emotions, when the score is not in their favor, they would probably say that they felt discouraged, inept, incapable, defeated and even wanted to quit. Quit, because losing seemed inevitable and they focused only on the negative. Giving in to these temporary emotions is NOT a recipe for success. Successful people NEVER give in to these momentary feelings.

Defeated and negative emotions never linger long. They are extinguished as soon as the focus changes from the negative to the positive. It takes effort to change concentrations from the negative mistakes and failures and pay attention only to the positives of accomplished goals and being a successful winner.

Back to the sports team. The key to their success is perseverance. They didn't give up even when they felt like it. They went out with a new positive attitude and played even better in the last part of the game then they did in the first part. They achieved their goal and finished the game with 17 to 12. The reason for their success? Perseverance and focusing on the positives!

This same perseverance is the key that successful entrepreneurs depend on. After all, that's how they got to where they are now.

Cultivating Perseverance in 4 Easy Steps
1. Make up our mind to continue even though our family/colleagues have already quit.
Often those closest to us try to "protect" us from, what they see as, a mistake. They do everything in their power to discourage us and continually tell us that it is an impossible task.

If we choose to make up our mind that we want to accomplish our dreams, then we need to make some choices that produce the winning results we want. The first step is to limit contact with the well-meaning, but negative influences of short-sighted people around us, until the goal is successfully accomplished.
Keep company with only those who encourage and promote our cause. These people add-value to our life and share our vision. Positive influence is critical when working hard with perseverance to achieve the success that dreams are made of.

2. Always stay focused on the end result of winning - never on set-backs encountered to get there.
It is very easy to keep looking at failure and continue dwelling there. The more time spent focusing on failure, the larger it begins to look. Soon it becomes so huge that it completely over-whelms and intimidates. When this happens, weak-in-the-knees syndrome sets in and causes us to just quit.

It takes just as much energy to see the positive side as it does the negative. Energy should be used wisely and focused only on the positive, while leaving the negative behind. Place a label on the negatives and call them, "Obstacles." The sole purpose of an obstacle is to provide another opportunity in redoing an uncompleted process with some variable changes. Then focus on what went right and continue to persevere. Repeat these steps until the process is successful.

3. Keep track of what works. Learn from others and don't re-invent the wheel.
While working toward that ultimate goal, notice what works during the completion of each task. Re-use the processes on this list of "what works" repeatedly.

When looking for a new procedure, learn from what others did. Follow their example and insert some personalized changes to adapt the process. If it works, great! Keep track of it. If it doesn't quite meet the required specifications, change what needs adjusting and try again. Persevere! Don't quit! Don't see it as a failure, only as an obstacle providing another chance to redo the process.

4. Keep motivation levels at an all-time positive high.
Motivation needs to be our 24/7 companion in order to achieve the success we truly want.

Let's look at the following picture:
Motivation is the gasoline that drives the car. Perseverance is the cruise control that maintains an acceptable level of speed. Negative set-backs is a flat tire or speeding ticket. Success is arrival at the desired destination.

What is the most important element in this picture? Look at the list again and reorder them with #1 as most important and #4 as the least important.
1. Gasoline (motivation)?
2. Cruise Control (perseverance)?
3. Flat tire/ticket (negative set-backs)?
4. Arrival at the destination (success)?

The order we select is very revealing in how we achieve success:
If motivation is the most important, our emphasis is on staying focused and remaining positive.
If perseverance is the most important, our emphasis is on never stopping even if the process is flawed. Continue by changing some variables and try again.

If success is the most important, our emphasis is to get there and not allow anything to stop achievement of it.
If negative setbacks is the most important, our success is in danger of derailment by the slightest little negative event. Success, more than likely, will not be achieved.

We need to learn a lesson from the dog and his bone. Perseverance: "doggedness: persistent determination!"

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jamie_Sailor

The 3 Keys to Self Improvement and Motivation

Most people want to improve themselves in some way, whether it is to lose weight or give up smoking or increase their confidence. Self-improvement is something that we carry out over a life time, but it is a task that can require a lot of motivation. Keeping your motivation levels up and steady can be a job in itself. In order to achieve the motivation required for self-improvement, we need to look at the three keys that will help us succeed in our goals.

1) INSPIRATION
You need inspiration in order to keep you motivated and focused on improving yourself. If you are not as interested in your self-improvement as you should be, your motivation level will not high enough to be able to sustain interest for long periods. You need to take an honest look at your inspiration level. Are you excited about your self-improvement goal or does it feel more like a chore? If it feels like a chore, you are likely to grow weary and uninterested quickly because you have no inspiration or passion to sustain you during the difficult times you will encounter during the journey to self-improvement.

Becoming a better and fuller person should be inspiration enough but when we face setbacks and discouragement it can be difficult to maintain our motivation. The important thing is to reward the progress you make. If you are dealing with shyness, for instance, and successfully socialise with strangers at a party, you should reward yourself for working towards your goal of banishing your shyness. Treat yourself to something you like or enjoy doing - a facial or a new life-affirming book, a trip to the cinema or a wonderful dinner at a restaurant. Spoil yourself a little and do so knowing that you are worth it.

Try and link your self-improvement goal with something that you love doing, like a hobby you are passionate about. Using shyness once again as an example, you could try and work on banishing your shyness by joining a club or evening class that relates to your hobby. That way, you are doing something you love as well as meeting your self-improvement goals and because you are doing something you love you are more likely to continue attending the class or club rather than find excuses to stop attending and as a result weaken your motivation.

2) SET GOALS
Setting short and long-term goals is vital for anyone whose aim is self-improvement. Goals are also an excellent aid to our motivation, spurring us on towards achievement. Most importantly, if you do not set goals you will lack a definite purpose and direction. It's impossible to be motivated if you're not even sure about the direction you need to take. The best thing to do is to set out your goals in writing. This does not have to be at all daunting as it is nothing more than putting your aims and wishes in writing. You can view it as a private contract you have with yourself, but the difference is this contract can be changed whenever required so that it suits your needs.

Write down the short term goals that can be accomplished in a matter of hours, days, or weeks. For instance, if you wish to build up your confidence, start learning some positive affirmations and become conscious of your negative thinking patterns. If you suffer from anxiety, learn some breathing techniques. Include your more ambitious long term goals also, that may possibly take months or even years to complete. Do not let timescales worry you. Remember that regular, small steps will take you far. From time to time, refer to your plan to remind yourself of your aims and to fire your motivation. Written goals will make you feel more serious about and connected to your aims and it will also free you from having to work out every day what your goals are. This will save you time which you can then use on fulfilling your self-improvement goals.

3) NETWORKING
Another key to staying motivated is to network with other like-minded people and learn from those who have expertise in self-help. Networking doesn't necessarily mean you have to meet people face to face, although this is often the best way of communicating with someone. Networking to aid your self-improvement and motivation also means joining groups on the Internet, carrying out home study courses, reading self-help books, websites and blogs, joining online support forums and communities.

There is a wealth of different self-help communities on the Web providing worthwhile information and help. You can't be expected to have all the information you need to understand every stage of your self-improvement so use others' expertise to help you. You'll be able to conquer challenges you perhaps could not have done alone.

Networking also helps you to stop feeling alone in your goal to self-improvement. It is very comforting to find that other people are striving for the same goals as us. None of us can truly succeed without the help of others - mutual support is very motivating.

If you find a mentor or the right networking group your self-improvement and levels of motivation are likely to soar. Sharing ideas, hopes, problems, wishes, knowledge and successes are an invaluable aspect of motivation and self-improvement and with others to rely on and help you will find that you can accomplish more in less time and also have more fun along the way.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3648841

Self-Improvement And Motivation

Some folk come into this world with an inbuilt motivation that is just there, part of their DNA whilst others are born with a sense of persistence that transcends everything else they do. There are others who innately have both character traits of motivation and persistence together and are destined for great things; in fact, they have probably won first prize in the lottery of life.

Self-improvement needs determination, persistence, perseverance, diligence - call it what you will; there can be no self-improvement unless the motivation is there, allied to self-discipline to make it happen.
Some individuals feel that it is their right to be motivated by someone else; their boss, team captain or perhaps a spouse. They have to wake up because the world has changed and the current world-wide depression is a portent of the new order. Western civilisation based on capitalism is struggling with many age-old financial institutions in turmoil and seemingly out of control. A new order is emerging and countries thought to be low-wage economies are blossoming with Brazil, Russia, India and China (bric) showing signs of being the new powerhouse; in fact, many western forward-thinkers are now heading for these countries, anxious to be where the action is.

If you rely on your livelihood coming from a multi-national organisation it is time to take a long hard look at your personal situation. The days of permanent employment are long gone and are not likely to return. Review your talents and what you have to offer to the world for the one thing you have is a choice; the ability to choose what you want to do and where you want to spend the rest of your life.

Competition is tough in what has become known as the rat race; check out the folks who are scouring Google for self-improvement and motivation; you will be surprised - if not amazed. Look at the web pages devoted to How To Get Motivated 10,500,000, Self Improvement 25,600,000 or Self Improvement Advice 8,650,000. That tells you what the competition is like; just wait until countries like China and India become as computerised as those in the Western world. There are people on this planet thirsting for knowledge. In reality, Personal Development already has 157,000,000 pages to meet this demand. So wake up and get going - otherwise you will be left behind. And that should be motivation enough for you.

There are millions searching the web for How To Get On In Life and millions more looking for the magic key to unlock the door marked Personal Motivation so you had better develop a Winning Attitude or else your number is up. There is no excuse for there are literally thousands of self-help books available as well as personal development seminars. You can even buy Personal Development Plans already laid out for you.

If you do not know where to start here is a free tip. Beg, borrow or steal a copy of 50 Success Classics - a veritable treasure-house of archetypal self-improvement books. The author, Tom Butler-Bowden, reviews a selection of world-famous volumes by some of the luminaries of the self-development and self-help business.
Described by the publisher as Winning wisdom for work and life from 50 landmark books you will find a resume of many famous publications and perhaps some that have passed you by and, if you do not know where to begin your journey, this is the starting line.

There are old books as far back as 1867 by Horatio Alger and Orison Swett Marden 1894 along with the legendary Acres of Diamonds from 1921 by Russell Conwell. If your taste is for some of the more up-to-date giants of the self-improvement industry you will be enthralled by See You At The Top by Zig Ziglar and Richard Wiseman with his The Luck Factor: Change Your Luck - And Change Your Life.
However, you can read all you like, and at least that is a good start, but in the end it is up to you - so if you want it badly enough, just get up and go do it!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jack_Ritchies