Tuesday's Thought

Motivation
--By Alexander Lockhart

A wealthy businessman hosted a spectacular party in which he had filled his swimming pool with sharks, barracuda, and other assorted dangerous fish. He then announced to his guests that he would like to challenge any one of them to try swimming across the pool, and he would offer a first prize of either a new home in the mountains, a trip around the world, or the position as president in his company. No sooner had he made the announcement there was a large splash in the water and a man swam rapidly across the infested waters and leaped out on the other side. The millionaire approached the dripping man and said, “that was a stunning performance. What prize do you want?” The swimmer caught his breath and then replied, “Right now I really don’t care about the prize. I just want to find out who the person was that pushed me in!”
Many times when we feel discouraged we need a little push to get us moving. We often depend on exterior motivators to get us started. But the push, in order to have a last effect, must generate from within. If you want to be successful each day of your life, then you must be motivated from within yourself.
Self-motivation gives you the power to push forward in your endeavors and break through the walls of adversity. It is the fuel and driving force which propels you in a forward motion toward your goals. Motivation is what gets us going and keeps us trying. The word motivation is defined as, “to provide with a motive.” Motive can be defined as, “something (as in a need or desire) that incites a person to act; moving to action.” Every action that you take can usually be traced back to some definite motive or combination of motives. No action can be taken without first being motivated to do so. The feeling of motivation comes from knowing where you want to go and having the will and perseverance to get there. Once you clearly define an objective, you must develop inside of yourself a strong, unrelenting desire for its attainment. You must magnify an intense determination within yourself and develop the self-confidence that will direct your actions toward the realization of your desires.
For self-motivation to be effective you must internalize your desire through visualization and affirmation techniques. Effective visualization is a vivid mental picture of you having already achieved your goal. The reason this technique is so powerful is this: Your unconscious mind cannot tell the difference between a perceived event, feeling, or thought that is real and one that is imagined. As you project this mental image in your mind, your unconscious mind then brings forth the desire and actions that will be in harmony with that mental picture. If you can effectively visualize yourself already reaching a goal you will then generate the determination and motivation to move forward toward the reality of achievement.
Start today and turn your motivation into ‘wantivation’ to excel in every area of your life. As the philosopher Socrates once reminded us, “A man who would move the world must first move himself.”