6 – Motivation is EVERYTHING

Over the years, I have either personally experienced or seen others experience the high levels of importance we (Western Society) give to a tertiary education, status of a fine car, brands of clothing, and the amount of money we make. Now whilst all these things are important for us to enjoy our modern life, I have found the there is something that enables us to magnify the benefit of those material things…and that is the ability to feel good. Having the skillset to feel good at any time is, I believe, one of the most valuable skillsets one could ever acquire. When you feel good, you can enjoy the money you make, the clothes you wear feel even better, the car you drive is exciting, and your career or business is fulfilling. This ability to create good feeling is what we refer to as ‘motivation’.

Motivation

You see, motivation is everything. Once you are self motivated, you do not need to drink alcohol to feel good, you drink alcohol because you like the taste (hey I like the occasional good drink myself). When you are self motivated you get to not only enjoy the gift of income & wealth but you also get inspired to make more because all your goals get bigger (my dad who I love heaps still shakes his head when I share a goal!).

However  very few people realise that nothing needs to happen to feel motivated – motivation is something you do – not something you wait for. And because it is something you can do, it is like learning a new skill and therefore, you can do it anytime.  One of the key wisdoms (and there are many I teach) in self motivation is that “motion precedes emotion”. That’s right, we need to do the motion (the activity) to get the emotion (the motivation). In other words, feeling motivated is a reward for doing something motivating. For example, for many years I though to myself each morning “When I feel like going for a run, I will then go for a run” However, it took me the hard way to realise that “when I go for a run I then feel motivated” and not vice versa!  I discovered motivation was an activity rather than something that happens by chance or something that happens because I drink alcohol, eat comfort food (like sweets), wait for a positive statement from someone (like a compliment) or take a mind altering drug (no thanks).

There are many methods you can use to increase your daily motivation levels…here’s one that always works for me – change the way you move your body and/or change your breathing. Yes, if you go for a walk or run, or stand tall and feel powerful, you will create more motivation. Similarly, if you take long deep breaths as you change your body posture, you will notice yourself feeling more motivated. This is because our body is aligned to our emotions – it is the way our Creator designed us all. Everyone is the same, hence the methods that work for one person in self motivation will work for another…it is all a part of nature.  There is a biochemical reaction that also happens (many of us know this stuff) when we change our body movement – for example, when we go for a brisk walk or run, we release extra endorphins in our body (circulating in our blood including our brain) and this causes us to have a ”natural safe high”. That’s right , the body has the ability to create its own “natural drug” which is the predominant reason that once people start exercising each morning and continue for 30 days they make it a habit because it is so enjoyable – they literally cannot stop!

At the last Breakfast at the Next Level  I spoke about motivation before bringing our guest Phil Sims (the Fruchocs guy) on for our “Interviewing the Leaders” program. It was great to see that the audience enjoyed the session very much and we had many people mention how much they enjoyed it. On Tuesday August 18^th 6.30pm-8.30pm, we will be presenting a session titled “Motivate Me”. Note that this is complimentary for our Annual Breakfast Members, our Platinum Coaching Clients, and our Real Estate Riches participants who have each been given priority notice – therefore we have had a large number of people already booking seats. However, the invitation is now open to all and so I encourage you to come along. In 2 packed hours you will learn the essentials in motivation which you can use on yourself, teach your family or friends, and take to your work environment.

I look forward to seeing you on the night.

In the interim, live life with passion, purpose, and always be at peace.

Stan Kontos