Lots of people have big dreams, and amazing plans to achieve goals, myself included…but I believe that the #1 reason why these dreams and goals get put off and put off and never get accomplished is because of MOTIVATION…or lack there of.  There can be many reasons for lack of motivation, and it all starts in your brain.  Your mind is an extremely powerful tool, whether it’s working for you or against you.  We talked in an earlier blog about being in your discomfort or “growth zone” (click here to see that post), we discussed that being in that “growth zone”, is a very positive thing, but your mind likes to protect your well-being and tries to avoid any discomfort by talking you out of uncomfortable situations.  Your mind will come up with so many amazing and extremely convincing stories that will absolutely without a doubt make you feel like it’s the best choice right now, NOT to take action, there in…a lack of motivation.  So in order to master motivation, you must first master your mind.  Listen to what that little voice in your head is saying to you the next time an opportunity to take action towards a dream or goal comes up, tell it that you’ve heard what it has to say and now you’re going to make a decision based off what is truly best for me, not what will hurt the least or feel the best.  Notice it the next time you’re choosing whether or not to hit the snooze bar again instead of going for a run, or when you think of having another bowl of ice cream for dessert, or when you’re faced with a choice of whether or not to buy that expensive new toy you want but can’t actually afford, you’ll be amazed at how truly creative you are! : ) When you train yourself to act in spite of those protective inner ramblings, you’ll soon find you’re capable of so much more than you ever thought possible.

When you think of motivation what do you think of?  Is it being barked at by a personal trainer to do 5 more sit ups, is it that extra strong coffee that will help you get started at your task on hand, is it the love for a family member or best friend, or love of yourself?  Whatever you think of when it comes to motivation, it all eventually can be boiled down to this one word…WHY?

Think about it!  In any given situation when you choose to take action towards some sort of result, what drives you?  The “why” is what drives you.  Why are you doing what you’re doing in the first place?  Why is this important enough for you to spend your precious time on it?   Is that “why” money, because someone told you so, or because you are ridiculously passionate about what you’re doing?  Look into it, and you can really clarify your motivational issues.

As you start to investigate the”why’s” in your life, you’ll start to find out what things you do that you’re truly passionate about, what things you’re just doing for others and things that just have absolutely no good reason for you to be doing in the first place and that you’re truly not happy doing at all.  Now let’s be more specific…this blog is called Budget Diet Life…and that is money, health and lifestyle…so…Say you want to earn twice as much money as last year, or want to lose 15 lbs, or want to feel more fulfilled in your life.  Before you can achieve real and strong motivation, you have to be clear of the “why” behind your goals and actually feel good about the “why”.  For example; If the “why” behind the fact that you want to lose 15 more pounds is because you’re worried about what other people think, or because you really want to achieve ultimate personal health so you can enjoy a healthier life, then either mind-set will render much different motivational levels.  Once you try this out and learn how to regulate this in one area of your life, try applying it to all aspects of your life, and you will truly begin to live a fulfilling and extremely motivating, dream creating, goal achieving life!

This week we’ll go further into steps to actually getting motivated towards your health and wealth goals and also we’ll touch on procrastination and other reasons you may be being held back from moving towards your goals and dreams.

Thanks again everyone for letting me share my passion with all of you!

Mike