Success Advice

10 Things Successful People Do To Stay Motivated

Published

5 years ago

Jan 8, 2016

10 Things Successful People Do To Stay Motivated

What do highly successful people have that others don’t? What contributes to their success? It has nothing to do with money or even luck.

It’s all about motivation. What do successful people do to help keep them motivated?

Here are 10 steps successful people do to keep motivated:

1. They set goals

I mean specific goals. While your ultimate goal may be to become rich, what mini, more focused, goals is it going to take to get you there?

For example, instead of saying you want to have a booming business or to own a home, start by saying you plan to develop a sound business plan or put $5,000 in your savings.

Create short-term goals that are to the point. Something that is tangible that is within your reach.

“A goal properly set is halfway reached.” – Zig Ziglar

2. They create a plan of action

What are goals without a plan to help you reach them?

Successful people know what it takes to reach their goals, and they create a plan of action that will serve as the roadmap to get them there.

Let’s take one of our goal examples. If your goal is to create a business plan, your plan of action should include writing a summary of your business idea, researching your competition, looking at different marketing strategies, researching different finance options, etc.

3. They schedule things

Feeling like you don’t have enough time can be overwhelming, and it can really halt your motivation.

The trick to staying motivated and getting things done is scheduling. In fact, many successful people don’t use to-do lists, they live by their calendar instead.

Break down your day into hourly, 30-minute, or even 15-minute intervals and schedule everything. I mean everything. Pencil in time to exercise, relax, run errands. It may seem tedious, but scheduling will really help structure your day and get things done.

4. They have an accountability partner

Peer pressure can be a wonderful thing for motivation. Share your goals, or even your calendar, with a friend or accountability partner. If nothing else gets your butt moving, having someone continually check up on you or ask you how you’re doing with your action plan, will.

5. They reframe negative situations

We all have setbacks. We sometimes even completely fail. But successful people don’t let setbacks stop them. Instead, they reframe the situation and look at it differently.

Rather than spending time reflecting on what they did wrong and how they failed, they spend time thinking about what they could have done differently and how to improve the next time around.

6. They bounce back

Since we’re talking about setbacks, successful people reframe a bad situation, and then they move on. They assume that they alone have the power to change things, and they take the steps to make those changes.

7. They have fun

If you’re not having any fun, chances are you aren’t going to be motivated to do great things. If you take everything seriously, you’re going to start resenting your goal and may even discard it completely.

Sure, there are going to be elements of your action plan, or even daily tasks, that are just no fun. Nothing can change that. But let’s make them a bit more enjoyable to keep your motivation up!

Challenge yourself to get things done faster and more efficiently. Or take a second out of your day to watch a funny video online. Adding some fun, and humor, into your day can help keep your motivation going.

8. They write down everything

Not all ideas are going to be great ideas, and that’s fine. Motivated people write things down. Why? Because ideas don’t stay in our minds for very long and you never know when an idea will actually be great.

Writing things down also helps you keep your focus, reminding you what you’re working on, and working towards.

9. They meditate

What do successful people like Oprah, News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch, and Ford Motor Company Chairman Bill Ford have in common?

They all take time each day to meditate. Meditation has been known to help lower your stress, improve performance and make you more productive.

It doesn’t take hours of transcendental meditation. Sitting for 20 minutes in peace and quiet, focusing on nothing but your breath, will do wonders for your productivity and motivation.

10. They visualize their future

Remember those goals we talked about? Both, focused and long-term? Successful people think about what they want to achieve. They look at the bigger picture. Before he hit it big, Jim Carrey often pictured directors interested in him. Keep your goals in mind. Visualize them. Stay motivated to them.

“I am the greatest. I said that even before I knew I was. I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.” – Muhammad Ali

Motivation is a funny thing. It comes and it goes. But the difference between people that succeed and those that don’t is that successful people remain motivated. They use these tricks to keep them working toward their goals, so that they can achieve their dreams.

What would you add to this list that keeps you motivated? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below!

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Camilla Hallstrom

Camilla Hallstrom is a big believer in that you can achieve anything as long as you keep up your motivation and focus. Get the free eBook “How to Motivate Yourself to Do Virtually Anything” here.

15 Comments

Sandhya

Dec 13, 2017 at 11:06 am

Very useful Article, you are telling the things in the way how great peoples will keep motivated by themselves.

Reply
Ahmad Raad

Aug 18, 2016 at 6:35 pm

Great tips, I strongly believe in them all. Small inclination can lead to very distant points after long years. So better to control inclination from early stage and monitor it through these valuable steps.

Reply
Brian Bazhaus

Jun 17, 2016 at 11:20 am

Nice list. Quick note on meditation. Transcendental meditation practice is, in fact, just 20 minutes twice a day! Doesn’t take hours and hours, but done daily the hours will accumulate and so will the benefits!

Reply
Evan

Mar 21, 2016 at 10:37 am

Camilla,

Great article here! It’s important that we set plans and visualize their achievement, while mapping out every step, I agree. And I really think this is a vital step that’s often glossed over for some reason, as many think you can just visualize it and be good!

It takes these 10 steps to stay on track to your goals each day, because each day is a clean slate and a new opportunity to be great. Like in the Navy SEALs, you have to keep earning your Trident every single day or it could be taken away from you.

Thank you!
– Evan

Reply
- Camilla Hallstrom
  
  Mar 30, 2016 at 9:46 pm
  
  Hey Evan,
  
  Thanks so much! 🙂
  
  Yup, I agree! I guess it’s how success is portrayed in the media, like something that just happens overnight. Whereas in reality, a lot of it has to do with strategizing and hustling for years.
  
  Navy SEALs is a great example. And as you say, every day is a new opportunity!
  
  Cheers,
  
  Camilla
  
  Reply
Charlene Rhinehart

Jan 11, 2016 at 4:58 pm

Great article, Camilla! Accountability is key to success! I love that you added fun to the list. In order to be the best at what you do and create true success, you have to enjoy what you are doing. So many miss this important piece of the success equation. I would also add gratitude to the list. Writing down what you are grateful for allows you to open the doors for greater opportunities.. Thanks Camilla!

Reply
- Camilla Hallstrom
  
  Jan 11, 2016 at 7:00 pm
  
  Charlene,
  
  Thank you so much for this 🙂 I really appreciate your kind words.
  
  Gratitude is a good one! It’s absolutely necessary to have a healthy and positive mind to get unstuck if you feel you’re not moving forward to where you want to be.
  
  Cheers,
  
  Camilla
  
  Reply
Chris

Jan 10, 2016 at 3:00 pm

Love this article Camilla, I love to hear how other people have achieved success, probably why I’m infatuated with books of successful people in the world. I resonate with the idea of having an accountability partner, someone who can hold you accountable for your goals, we always achieve more when someone knows of our plans!

Great article keep up the good work Camilla 🙂

Reply
- Camilla Hallstrom
  
  Jan 11, 2016 at 6:55 pm
  
  Hi Chris,
  
  Thanks so much for the kind words and thanks for stopping by to comment 🙂
  
  I also love those books (of successful people)! They’re often filled with such inspirational insights.
  
  Finding a reliable accountability partner can get you from point A to B and C so much faster than if you do it all by yourself. It’s so easy to get stuck in your thoughts, and in these situations, accountability partners are invaluable.
  
  Cheers,
  
  Camilla
  
  Reply
Tony

Jan 9, 2016 at 3:27 pm

Great article and great reminders. Staying motivated is hard. Losing direction is easy. Keeping accountability and structure helps with both. Thanks again for the tips. I’m going to utilize these and keep them posted upon my wall.

Reply
- Camilla Hallstrom
  
  Jan 10, 2016 at 10:55 am
  
  Thanks for your comment, Tony! I’m so glad you found it useful and that you’ll implement them (posting them on your wall is a GREAT idea!).
  
  Cheers,
  
  Camilla
  
  Reply
Jamarr Hill

Jan 9, 2016 at 4:58 am

This was an awesome article, Camilla! I would add that they surround themselves with like-minded individuals.

Reply
- Camilla Hallstrom
  
  Jan 9, 2016 at 10:33 am
  
  Thanks a lot, Jamarr, and thanks so much for your comment!
  
  That’s a great point, and one worth adding to the list.
  
  Cheers,
  
  Camilla
  
  Reply
stephen osoko

Jan 8, 2016 at 10:21 pm

This was a great article Camilla!
I’ve been doing only some of these things so it looks like I’ve got to work LOL!
Great Post!

Reply
- Camilla Hallstrom
  
  Jan 9, 2016 at 10:28 am
  
  Thanks so much for your comment and kind words, Stephen!
  
  I’m really glad you found it useful 🙂
  
  Cheers,
  
  Camilla
  
  Reply

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