Finding the Motivation Within

After a long day of obligatory task, the last thing anyone is interested in doing is devoting the few hours we might have to ourselves to something that probably won’t bring us any sort of immediate gratification. And if a significant amount of time has passed since we’ve been devoting time to tasks that are not directly correlated to if we eat or live in box, that motivation you once had might start to dwindle. Instead of going home with a fire deep within, ready to grind, you’d probably prefer to order from UberEats and catch up on episodes of Scandal. So, how can you get back to day one when you were so driven by your end goal? How do you reignite that fire? Having that drive 100% of the time is tough. However, there are ways to rediscover that excitement. Here are a few points that will start you on the path to rediscovery.  In the very least, these tips will refresh your memory, allowing you to recall why you’re choosing not to alleviate your exhaustion from the day’s mess and, instead, grinding to make your own thing happen.
1. Have faith in your dream: Seriously, who cares that you believe in your dream? Honestly, I don’t, and neither should you if that’s all you have. What in the world am I talking about?? I’m going to take one from the bible here; “Faith without works is dead”. That’s right! I can say all day long for the rest of my life, I really want to buy myself a Mercedes Benz S550, but if I never go to work, I can say it all day long and it won’t happen. Why? Because I’m broke!  When I start working toward that goal, putting some action behind it, that’s when things start to move and take shape. Dreams are nothing, ambition is nothing without action! So, when I say, have faith in your dream, I’m telling you to believe in it enough to continue to put that work into it to give it a real chance to come to fruition.
2. Visualize your success This is probably the easiest of the three. What Alana? Close my eyes and picture me winning? ABSOLUTELY! If you don’t see it, how do you expect someone else to see it? If you can’t do something as simple as closing your eyes seeing yourself flourish, how are you going to convince anyone else that they should take a chance on you? Look, if you’ve started the task, there has to be a level of passion surrounding your ambition, draw a picture in your mind and make it a reality.  Visualize your success and put the work behind it! There’s a theme here, are you seeing it?
3. Trust in your ability to be…: We can’t all be Accountants, Lawyers, Consultants or Salespeople, but we all can be! Can be what, Alana? Can be whatever it is you are! Stick with me. I know what I’m saying here. You have an ability to be something, a gift, if you want to call it that. Sometimes, our gifts aren’t as prevalent as another’s. You might not be able to sing, or draw, or dance (I’m talking to myself here), but maybe you’re good with people and you’re charismatic. That, my friends, is a serious advantage to have. Although you’re not the accountant, you have the ability to network and find the accountant, or find the lawyer. What I’m saying here is trust in the ability of the gifts you have and find a way to leverage that into making things happen. But, again, you have to put in the work. The theme, again!
There’s something these points have in common. Putting in work is one of the commonalities, but the other one, even more important than that, is you. These tips force you to get your motivation from self! It’s nice to be able to watch a YouTube video or hear a motivational speaker and that medium will light you up inside. But, what happens when that light dims? There always has to be something within that brightens that light the same or even more so. You have to find the motivation within that pushes you. And when you find it, bottle it up, keep it close and drink a little each time you feel yourself faltering.  
AST