The Battle between Motivation and Fear Teacher: Jonathan Wells

The Battle between Motivation and Fear
by Jonathan Wells
Web Source: http://advancedlifeskills.com/blog/fear-the-motivation-destroyer/

Has fear ever gotten the best of your motivation? When this happens it can be very frustrating and disappointing. No motivation means little or no action. The end result is likely to be that another goal falls by the wayside.

No matter how much you want to achieve your goal the lack of motivation will eventually cause you to lose your focus. This is especially true of epic goals that require consistent effort over an extended period of time.

The battle between motivation and fear

You don’t have to allow fear to hinder your actions, undermine your motivation, or derail your goals! You see, fear and motivation have something in common. They are both energy. So, with a simple shift in perspective, you can transform the fear energy into courage, motivation and optimism. Then you can use that positive energy to your advantage.

When your trying to achieve a major goal it can be very easy to feel like you are not making any progress, no matter how hard you try. Focusing on the finish line in the middle of a complex process can be discouraging. Then the fear that you may be putting out all this time and effort becomes fear of failure and motivation goes out the window. So, how do you change that fear energy into motivation and enthusiasm?

5 life skills for recapturing your motivation

1. Change your focus. The first thing you want to change is how you analyze your progress. Instead of thinking how far you still need to go, look at how far you’ve already come.

From that new perspective, it is easy to see that yes, you are indeed making progress. Once you see how far you’ve actually come, your fear of failure will seem unfounded.

2. Divide and conquer. The next step is to figure out what the significant milestone are on the journey toward the accomplishment of your epic goal. Each of these milestones represents significant progress and reaching them will build your motivation and further dispel your fears.

3. Celebrate your victories. As you successfully complete each milestone, celebrate your victory as if you have just completed a very significant goal, because you have. By focusing on these smaller, more manageable, secondary goals, it will be easier to acknowledge your accomplishments and maintain your motivation.

4. Approve of your accomplishments. With each success, give yourself some well deserved approval. This is a powerful way to boost your confidence and ramp up your motivation. We all thrive on approval, especially our own. Receiving approval for a job well done is both gratifying and motivating. So, be generous when it comes to acknowledging your accomplishments, even the small ones.

5. Feel the momentum building. Each milestones you reach adds to the forward momentum. In turn, the forward momentum fuels motivation. Now there is a sense of anticipation that you really will accomplish your desired outcome, and that feeling is verified every time you reach another milestone. At this point fear has been replaced with motivation and excitement, and all evidence points toward your inevitable success.

Reclaim your motivation and excitement

As you can see, there are proven ways to shift your energy from fear to motivation. By applying these five simple life skills in the right order you set the stage for sustained motivation and the successful accomplishment of your goals.