Committing to your Goals - How to Keep Your Motivation High

Have you ever set a goal and not achieved it? Most people have. In fact, it’s common for people to get stuck in an endless cycle of setting goals, being very motivated, then losing that motivation after a couple of days, weeks, or even months and giving up or losing momentum.

Why does this happen? One of the biggest reasons is not committing to your goals, and I mean really committing. Without commitment, a goal will gradually shrink in importance, other things will take priority, and the temptation to quit will seem much more attractive, especially when obstacles cause setbacks and delays.

On the other hand, if you seriously commit to your goals, then continually remind yourself of it, you’ll be much more likely to persevere and achieve the goal.

Here’s how to commit to your goals:

1) Why is this your goal? You have to ensure that every goal you set is of VITAL importance to you. This can be tricky because we so often fool ourselves into thinking we want one thing when we want something entirely different. Take some time out, somewhere quiet, and be sure that you really think about what you want. And make sure it is what you want, not what others want you to do/want/achieve. Why do you want it? What will it do for you? How will it help you? What positive things will it bring to your life? How will it make you feel when it’s accomplished?
Write all of this down and keep it safe, refer to it as often to prevent your commitment to your goals slipping.
Also ask yourself if your goal is worth the effort and sacrifice that will be needed to achieve it. If you can honestly answer yes, you are on the way!

2) Consequences? What would happen if you don't achieve your goal? If not much, then you need to raise the stakes! You have to make your goal the most important thing in the world, and if you don’t do it, you’ll deal with negative consequences. Even if you have to indulge in a bit of “make believe” in order to do this, do it. For example, play up the fact that you’ll lose respect for yourself if you don’t follow through; or you might agree to give up something you love if you don’t make it happen.

3) Staying power? Every single day, renew your commitment. Committing to your goals is easy when it is new and your motivation is high, but you need to be able to STAY committed – no matter what! Each day when you wake up, read through the goal you wrote down on the first day, and stress again how vitally important it is to you. Promise yourself that you’re going to do as much as you can to work on your goal that day, and every day, until you achieve it. Have an action plan of small things you can do daily to get closer to your goal.
When it comes down to it, no one can achieve your goals for you. If you want to achieve them, you’ll have to find the determination necessary to keep going and overcome inactivity and procrastination, which are nothing more than bad habits. Turning those habits into something more positive and productive is as simple as taking it a day at a time and working your hardest to change your life. Committing to your goals takes effort and determination but the results and the improvement in your self esteem and confidence are more than worth it!