Nice Article..

For me, one other thing that works to keep my motivation up is to focus on the negative. That might sound strange, but what I mean is I look at the consequences of what will happen if I don’t do this particular action today… and then keep failing to do it. Generally the consequences of that are so terrible that I am compelled to go for a run, read that book, make the phone call.. whatever it is, even if I don’t want to. And I find that the moment I just start, even with something small, I immediately start to build momentum and end up getting so much done. As you said, sometimes just find a way to start.

I have also started charting my progress, whether it’s swimming laps, increasing my bank balance, reading books.. and I love seeing myself progress. In the past I found that by only looking at the end goal, and then looking at where I was currently, I started to get frustrated because I “still had not achieved my goal yet”. And that lead to me curtailing my efforts and / or getting distracted.

Now I set what I call “Progress Milestones” and that’s all I focus on because I know that if I keep hitting my, for example, monthly milestones, I’ll achieve my annual goals. And of course, I make sure I reward myself every time I achieve a monthly milestone, or mini-goal. Now I’ve got myself so anchored to the rewards that I absolutely will do whatever I need to in order to hit my mini-goals so I can enjoy my rewards.

Again, great article Leo – and hopefully I’ll get a chance to let you know how “building anticipation” has further accelerated my progress.

Cheers, Niro