Are You Motivated?
How to Create an Inspiring Vision for your Future
Do you know what's important for you? You may know what other people have told you is important, but have you chosen? Are you motivated about what the future holds for you? An inspiring vision will help you decide what really is important to you - and will motivate you.
A large part of self sabotage is procrastination, which often applies to deciding what you want out of life. The secret of success is to motivate yourself. Choose an inspiring, long-term, written, unrealistic vision for your future.
Unrealistic? Should your inspiring vision for the future really be unrealistic? Absolutely! If it's realistic, then this suggests that it's achievable with what you know now. So realistic really means more of exactly the same. But is the same what you really want?
A large part of self sabotage is procrastination, which often applies to deciding what you want out of life. The secret of success is to motivate yourself. Choose an inspiring, long-term, written, unrealistic vision for your future.
Unrealistic? Should your inspiring vision for the future really be unrealistic? Absolutely! If it's realistic, then this suggests that it's achievable with what you know now. So realistic really means more of exactly the same. But is the same what you really want?
What's Important to you?
Would it make any difference five years later if you eat at home, eat out, or you even miss eating a meal? Probably not. Or you only sleep seven instead of eight hours tonight? Unlikely.
Yes, these could indeed make a difference. The point is to invest both money and time in what you decide is important - in what could or will make a noticeable difference to your life five years later.
First do what's Important
Have you decided what actually is and isn't important for you? Too much of the time you can spend time doing what is urgent. But what's urgent isn't necessarily important. And what is both urgent and important for you someone else may see as neither. Yet your future is the outcome of each and every choice you make today.
Which of the following is the most profitable way to spend your time? Doing what's urgent, although it isn't important? Or doing what you know is important which isn't urgent. Do you waste time on things that are neither? Does urgency tell you anything about its importance? And is there a way to tell what's important anyway?
There's a simple and easy way to tell:
"Could it or will it make a noticeable difference in your life
five years later? If so, then it is important. If it will not, it is not!"
Does your life unfold as you would like? Have the last five years helped you realize your dreams? If your answer is "no," could it be because you have not yet decided what important means to you?
Many people spend their life doing what's urgent, often because they have not bothered to decide what is important to them. The secret of success is that it's never too late to consciously choose this, yet if you don't is it likely to happen?
What do you Really Want out of Life?
Do you need to create an inspiring vision for your future? If you don't have one, then this process endorsed by Life Strategies will help you create one.
You need dreams to inspire you. Yet the secret of success is to make no changes in your life for at least a month. For now, start nothing and end nothing. First write down your desired life-style, only then can you create a viable strategy to achieve it.
Your Four Mondays' Vision
Write your Four Mondays' Vision and then use it to make any changes in your life that are necessary. Spend as much time and give as much detail as this investment in your future needs.
> a. A Typical Working Day Today
Write down, in detail, a typical working day in your life today. How do you spend most Mondays?
Is this some variation of: get up in the morning, go to work, make some phone calls, push some paper around, meet some people. Then have lunch, make some more phone calls, push some more paper around, meet some more people. Come home, do what you do in the evening, have supper, TV and go to bed.
Is this some variation of: get up in the morning, go to work, make some phone calls, push some paper around, meet some people. Then have lunch, make some more phone calls, push some more paper around, meet some more people. Come home, do what you do in the evening, have supper, TV and go to bed.
> b. A Typical Working Day Five Years Ago
Then write down, in detail, a typical working day in your life 5 years ago. How were your Mondays then?
Write it down again - even if it's more or less the same.
Write it down again - even if it's more or less the same.
> c. A Typical Working Day In Five Years Time
Then write down a typical working day in your life in 5 years time if you keep doing what you're doing now.
Write it down yet again - especially if it's still the same!
If you find writing the same thing down three times to be totally boring, the secret of success is to write it down anyway. It's way, waaaay better to be bored writing it down today than to be bored actually doing it for the rest of your life!
Write it down yet again - especially if it's still the same!
If you find writing the same thing down three times to be totally boring, the secret of success is to write it down anyway. It's way, waaaay better to be bored writing it down today than to be bored actually doing it for the rest of your life!
> d. A Typical Working Day When You're Free
Then write down a typical Monday in your life in 5 years time when you're free. When you've invested the time and effort to become free.
What inspires you? How will you spend your time and money? What do you want to do and to have? Why? Who will go with you on your next trip overseas? Where was your last trip? What do you want to be? Keep your dreams private, even from your partner for now.
What inspires you? How will you spend your time and money? What do you want to do and to have? Why? Who will go with you on your next trip overseas? Where was your last trip? What do you want to be? Keep your dreams private, even from your partner for now.
Create an Inspiring, Unrealistic Vision for your Future
Use this to create your inspiring, unrealistic, long-term vision for your future. Then you'll also understand how to work out what to do tomorrow. You just work backwards.
> 1. Decide what you really want
It's a school of wild dolphins in the middle of the ocean. No land in sight, you and your partner are enjoying an ocean cruise in the tropics.
Keep adding inspiring, unrealistic dreams to your fourth Monday vision until your total vision does inspire you.
> 2. Picture yourself there
2. Picture yourself there
Envision yourself as having just achieved that vision in the future. You're now there, and you're wondering, "What did I do to get here? How did I achieve this?" This is the secret of success you now need to answer. It will change your life.
Envision yourself as having just achieved that vision in the future. You're now there, and you're wondering, "What did I do to get here? How did I achieve this?" This is the secret of success you now need to answer. It will change your life.
> 3. Now start from this intermediate step
3. Now start from this intermediate step
This step is on the path to achieve your vision. If you don't know exactly how to achieve this, then repeat step two. This time use this intermediate step as your starting vision, and again ask yourself how you got there. Go round this loop, until you have an intermediate step which you already know exactly how to achieve.
When you know how to achieve this step, then you also know what is important to you.
This step is on the path to achieve your vision. If you don't know exactly how to achieve this, then repeat step two. This time use this intermediate step as your starting vision, and again ask yourself how you got there. Go round this loop, until you have an intermediate step which you already know exactly how to achieve.
When you know how to achieve this step, then you also know what is important to you.
> 4. Set this step as a goal
4. Set this step as a goal
This smaller intermediate step will enable you to create your inspiring vision for the future. Which means this is an achievable dream which you can now turn into a goal. A goal has both a written reasonable plan to get there and an realistic deadline for its achievement. Write these down.
Continue to chunk this goal down, if necessary, until you have some short term and longer term goals to achieve your vision. They are unlikely to be urgent, but they are important.
This smaller intermediate step will enable you to create your inspiring vision for the future. Which means this is an achievable dream which you can now turn into a goal. A goal has both a written reasonable plan to get there and an realistic deadline for its achievement. Write these down.
Continue to chunk this goal down, if necessary, until you have some short term and longer term goals to achieve your vision. They are unlikely to be urgent, but they are important.
> 5. Just do it
5. Just do it
You now have clarity on your unrealistic - even totally unreasonable - vision for your future. Then work backwards, set have some realistic intermediate goals to achieve your heart's desire. You'll change your life by overcoming your self sabotage, just start with the first step...
You now have clarity on your unrealistic - even totally unreasonable - vision for your future. Then work backwards, set have some realistic intermediate goals to achieve your heart's desire. You'll change your life by overcoming your self sabotage, just start with the first step...
How to turn your Unrealistic Vision into a Realistic Goal
They say examples are good - a picture is worth a thousand words - so let's explore how to achieve a totally unrealistic vision for your future.
Let's use what many would call a totally unrealistic vision. Let's suppose you dream of World Peace - to create peace between all nations in the world...
> a. Visualize the achievement of your unrealistic vision
The secret of success is to ask yourself, "How did I achieve this?" Your answer perhaps might be "I joined the United Nations as a negotiator ten years ago and did a awesome job."
> b. Visualize the achievement of the intermediate step
Next you envision achieving this ten years earlier; picture yourself as having just joined the United Nations as a top negotiator. Another secret of success is to see, hear, feel, taste, touch and enjoy receiving everybody's congratulations at the United Nations celebration in New York honoring your appointment.
Again ask yourself, "How did I achieve this?" The answer might be "I got this appointment after outstanding success in private industry as a top international negotiator over the past ten years."
Again ask yourself, "How did I achieve this?" The answer might be "I got this appointment after outstanding success in private industry as a top international negotiator over the past ten years."
> c. Your next vision is again ten years earlier
Now envision yourself as having just joined a specialist international negotiating consultancy. See, hear, feel, taste, touch and enjoy receiving the congratulations of your fellow staff members for your appointment.
Then ask yourself, "How did I achieve this?" Your answer could perhaps be "I joined a specialist negotiating company in my home country five years ago and made a real name for myself."
Then ask yourself, "How did I achieve this?" Your answer could perhaps be "I joined a specialist negotiating company in my home country five years ago and made a real name for myself."
> d. Now your vision is five years earlier
Envision yourself as having just joined this specialist negotiating company in your home country. Again see yourself receiving the congratulations of your fellow staff members in whatever way motivates you.
Then ask yourself, "How did I achieve this?" The answer might be "I got a first class degree which enabled me to specialize in conflict resolution and land this wonderful job as a negotiator."
Then ask yourself, "How did I achieve this?" The answer might be "I got a first class degree which enabled me to specialize in conflict resolution and land this wonderful job as a negotiator."
> e. Now you have a realistic goal
You want a top class university degree oriented towards conflict resolution - a necessary step towards your unrealistic vision. Now the secret of success is to work out the steps to take to achieve this realistic goal and what timeframe to give it.
> f. Your next step is to investigate the field
Find out which degrees would best qualify you and which universities would best position you for a career in conflict resolution. Your vision inspires you, and this will help achieve it.
You now have some research and phone calls to put on your action list for tomorrow. These calls are not urgent, but you know they are important!!
You now have some research and phone calls to put on your action list for tomorrow. These calls are not urgent, but you know they are important!!
Summary
You now know how to get on with doing anything. Use this process to stop procrastinating - a very common form of self sabotage - and complete any task.
- Decide what you want to achieve, write it down
- Ask yourself "is it Important?" before asking "is it Urgent?"
- Chunk it down
- Set yourself a deadline for the first step's completion
- Promise yourself how you will reward yourself when it's done
- Keep all your promises faithfully, especially the ones to yourself!
- Never break a promise. And remember, never say never!
Food for Thought
“All of the great achievers of the past have been visionary figures; they were men and women who projected into the future.
They thought of what could be, rather than what already was,
and then they moved themselves into action, to bring these things into fruition.”
Bob Proctor, author, motivator, star in "The Secret"
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