4 Psychological Tips To Sustain Your Long Term Motivation For Success
At some stage in life, you`ll seek to be successful at something or another and that’s why you’ll need a plan to maintain your journey throughout the struggles that you`ll encounter along the way
“This time next year we’ll be millionaires!”
Was a famous line from one of my favorite TV shows when I was growing up.
It was a show all about two London brothers who were from the wrong side of town but bought and sold goods illegally to try to make themselves rich. And although for years they never seemed to get anywhere their adventures along the way were comical, to say the least.
That’s because true success at anything has to be earned and for most of the time, these two brothers didn’t do the right things to get there.
As there is no quick fix for success at any big thing you want. Sure some people get lucky along the way but in general, they won’t be able to back up their success with substance or sustainability. Because the past has a funny way of catching up with us and if you can’t make it in the first place how can you sustain it over the longer term?
Of course, it depends on what you’re trying to achieve.
If it’s going out and getting a job to remain employed over a longer period in life then I`m sure most people will be able to have the ability to do that. And as they need to pay their rent, feed, and clothe themselves once they`re not picky they`ll be able to maintain some form of income coming in.
But after a while, most people want a little bit more.
They want something to do in life that they are good at or at least have an interest in.
And even at that interest often wanes and after a few years, they hanker for a change.
So before that itch to change comes into their reckoning the reality is you’ll have to have a certain degree of success going on in your career to justify the benefit of building on your initial career choice in the first place.
And that’s where psychology plays a part.
Because your success at many things in life comes from sustaining your long-term motivation in committing to trying to improve at something.
Or in other words, to keep going and never give up!
So here are 4 ways you can motivate yourself to sustain your quest for success:
1. Make a routine and stick to it
Because most people don’t. Instead, they allow big things to get in the way. And to a certain degree, that’s normal. I mean we all get sidetracked now and then and that’s perfectly understandable especially if we have something that looks like a bigger and better opportunity being offered to us or coming on stream.
For example, when I committed to writing this article I opened my laptop and started typing my thoughts. But after a few minutes, I had to go to the toilet, and when I returned I spotted the time on the screen and then thought I needed to check my email for an important task that was scheduled for today.
But I didn’t.
Because I knew that if I did I`d begin to re-plan my time and start thinking about how I wanted to put all the things the email spoke about in place. And as much as I was eager to see my timetable for the next couple of hours unfold I knew that if I opened the email the contents of it would distract me from writing this piece instead.
So I’ll leave it unopened until I finish what I`m writing first.
Why?
Well, it’s not that I`ve promised this piece of writing to anyone but in finishing it I`m keeping to the recent routine that I`ve set myself. And once it’s complete then I can permit myself to move on to the next thing on the list.
2. Have something to look forward to daily
Because you’ll need this to keep your focus alive. That’s why although I know I have an important email to open and respond to, and the work at putting its contents into action before the day is out, once it’s done I`ll have to have something to do that will allow me to take my mind off of it while also continuing to work for my future goals.
Sure I could just take off work for the rest of the day as a treat for doing work that the email lists but that won’t align with my longer-term goals either.
So instead my plan will include me continuing to work from outside as I love to be surrounded by nature.
3. Have a reward at the end of the week
Because you can’t be a workaholic especially if you want to sustain long-term projects into the future.
That’s why I look forward to the downtime I have at the weekend and push things into that gap that concern my personal life and other hobbies. Yet during those two days I often end up doing some work and if I’m being honest it’s a time when I can often be more productive too.
But that’s because I love what I do and the curiosity I have to improve at it pushes me to do that bit more, even on weekends.
Yet much of that work is outside of my weekly schedule and what I like to refer to as bonus work on top of my given week!
Still, on weekends I do take time away from the tasks that aren’t my favorite on and that is something that proves to be my reward.
4. Name a date once a month where you go back over everything you’ve worked at
Because this will keep you on track and make sure that what you`re doing in your overall weekly timetable is determined by what needs to be done as opposed to what you see as an excuse to justify your working hours.
As too many people go through the motions in work and this all adds up to a less productive outcome at the end of a working month.
So by judging things by being quantifiable and being accountable to yourself at the end of each thirty-day period you`ll feel more rewarded and less stressed throughout your working year.
That’s when you can make sure everything is working towards your bigger goal.
Yet, if things aren’t giving you a proper return on investment with your time and effort then you can dump it from your routine as you may as well be sitting back and watching a good TV show.
And there you may find those two London brothers in the show entitled ‘Only Fools and Horses’ where eventually they did end up as millionaires!
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