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Introduction

Motivation is usually defined as the force that compels us to action. This is what causes us to work hard and gives us the impetus we need to succeed at whatever we choose to do. Motivation is also the driving force behind our behaviors and our ability to accomplish the goals we want to achieve.

Everyone needs motivation in order to gain that drive or will to succeed, to do the great things or goals we want to achieve in our lives. It’s similar to an automobile needing fuel to get where it needs to go; without that motivation to drive us, we will have a very difficult time getting to where we need and want to go, much like an automobile without fuel.

The key challenge for many of us is, how do we get and maintain the motivation we need to succeed? Virtually everyone deals with periods of lower motivation, often due to unexpected challenges or difficulties that arise. It can be the slow lack of progress toward our goals that wear down our motivation to succeed. The challenge for us is keeping that motivation level high so that we can achieve the goals and success that we want to achieve.

Motivation is not the same for everyone. Some people will be driven by a love of family, others will be driven by their own careers, yet others will be driven by circumstances outside of themselves, such as the environment. What drives one person may not drive someone else, but everyone is driven by something, someone, some factor. The key is learning what makes us “tick,” what causes us to raise our level of performance, our awareness, and our effort to achieve our goals and attain success in our lives.

In this book, you will learn the different types of motivation and learn how to set goals that will interest and motivate you. You will learn how to find inspiration in the environment and circumstances that surround you. You will learn how to establish a successful mindset so that you can achieve the goals you want to achieve. You will learn how aligning your values with your work will give you increased motivation to strive harder and do your best to reach your goals. You will learn how surrounding yourself with successful work can aid your motivation and make you strive that much harder for your goals. Finally, you will learn how finding a mentor can help to keep you motivated so that you have a greater chance of achieving your goals.

Chapter 1: Different Types Of Motivation

There are many different types of motivation, and different types of motivation will drive different people. One type of motivation will drive a person, while it will not drive another person. Similarly, another type of motivation will drive the second person and not the first person. In this chapter, you will learn of the different types of motivation that can drive us to do great thingsand achieve our goals.

There are two main types of motivation: Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is internal, coming from within oneself, and it is often invisible to other people. Extrinsic motivation is external, coming from outside oneself, so it can often be seen by other people.

Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can come from a variety of sources, and those sources can be positive or negative. For instance, one source of motivation is an incentive or reward for something that we do well. For example, if we do our jobs well, we may get a monetary bonus to increase our paycheck. This is an example of positive extrinsic motivation-people can see we are working hard to do our jobs well so that we get rewarded for it.

Similarly, we are also attempting to do our jobs well so we are not fired and replaced by someone with a better skill set or better ability to perform those skills. The extrinsic motivation here is fear, the fear of losing our jobs. Again, people can see that this is the reason we are really striving to do well in our jobs.

Some examples of intrinsic motivation include achievement. We are looking to satisfy our internal desire to achieve our goals and take on more challenges. This is positive intrinsic motivation; this is a type of motivation that other people really can’t see-it is a desire within ourselves to accomplish the tasks we set out to do and take on more challenges.

Another example of intrinsic motivation is growth. Our need to improve ourselves and our skills is an internal one that other people really can’t see. We often want to grow to be able to influence our environment and our world more easily and make a difference.

One type of motivation that can be positive or negative is the desire and need for power. A positive need for power is one where we want to control our own lives and be able to influence others in a positive way. However, a negative need for power is where we have the overriding need to dominate others and control every aspect of their lives. This can lead to some people wanting to commit illegal, immoral, and/or harmful behavior toward others in an effort to satisfy this overriding need.

Another powerful form of motivation is social. We often feel a need to belong to a larger group, to be accepted by them and be affiliated with them. We often look to either be accepted into a group that shares our views and values, or we modify our views and values to be more closely aligned with the group.

All of these forms of motivation can be positive or negative; it really depends on how the person is motivated by these forms that determines whether the motivation is one that drives them to do positive actions or negative actions. As said before, different peoplewill be motivated by different factors; one factor can motivate one person and not another.

You’ve learned different types of motivation that drive people to reach for and attain their goals. In the next chapter, you will learn to set goals that interest you so you can have a greater chance of achieving them.

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Introduction

We all want to be successful and happy in our lives. We have dreams of what we want to accomplish and what we want to be remembered for. Those dreams can also be referred to as goals, achievements we want to reach so that we can achieve success, feel happiness, and gain new opportunities for greater achievements and success.

Virtually all of us have goals we want to reach, but many of us struggle with how to reach those goals, how to turn those goals into reality. Sometimes, it’s not easy to figure out how to reach lofty goals, looking as if it is toohard or impossible to reach those goals, letting the obstacles that stand in our way successfully block us from reaching those goals.

The key to achieving the most we can out of life and getting the most happiness from it is to turn our goals into reality. Many times, the loftiest goals that seem impossible to reach are much more achievable than we first think; we just have to break the steps down to reach that lofty goal into more manageable steps so that we realize the goal is certainly achievable.

In this book, you will learn why it is important to set goals. You will also learn the difference between short-term and long-term goals. You’ll also learn why it’s always important to write your goals down. To reach goals, you have to first define them, then prioritize them so that you can reach all of these goals in the most efficient manner possible. In addition, you’ll learn why you need to set specific goal deadlines. Finally, you’ll learn how to overcome and eliminate distractions that stand in your way of achieving your goals and learning to track your progress so that you can better manage and overcome distractions so you can achieve more of the goals that you set.

Chapter 1: The Importance Of Goal Setting

To achieve goals, you first have to set them. It’s much like driving to a destination; if you don’t determine where you are going, how are you going to get there? Therefore, you need to set goals that you want to achieve.

Many people who want to achieve goals are not as steadfast in settingthem. This is a mistake because, if you aren’t committed to setting goals, then you can wander around aimlessly in your actions, believing that you are getting closer to the goals you want when in reality, you are wasting time and energy that could be better utilized if you set the goal ahead of time.

Setting the goal before attempting to achieve it is important because it gives you a clear idea of what actions and steps you’ll need to take in order to achieve that goal. You’ll see how challenging the goal is, approximately in what time frame you can realistically expect to achieve the goal, and even see ways in which you can break the goal down into stages and steps that are more easily manageable and doable.

For instance, if you are wanting to lose 100 pounds, expecting to do that in one month is unrealistic; therefore, setting a goal of losing 100 pounds and really focusing on it will let you know that it will take a great deal of time and effort to do it. If you set that goal of losing 100 pounds,you can consider what steps you’ll have to take in order to achieve that goal-these steps can include eating less food overall, eating little or no nutrition-deficient food, and eating more of nutritious food. It can also include eating few to no snacksin between meals. Another step can be to drink more water and more drinks with little to no sugar in them. It also can include exercising more often and for longer durations.

As you can see, setting a goal can help you to break down the goal into more manageable steps and see what actions you need to take in order to achieve that goal. Thinking about losing 100 pounds can seem mind-boggling and virtually impossible to achieve, but if you actually set the goal of losing 100 pounds and really break down the steps needed to achieve that goal, you’ll begin to realize that there are actions you can take that can add up to where you will begin losing weight. Over time, you will lose more weight until you have lost the 100 pounds you want to lose.

This is why goal setting is so important. Many goals that seem impossible to achieve on the surface are actually quite doable when you actually set the goal and really look at what steps are needed to achieve it. If you are wanting to get a college degree in aspecific field, but have never taken a college course before, you may think you don’t have what it takes to get that degree. Yet, if you really set the goal of attaining that degree and break down the steps needed to attain that degree, you’ll see that you are fully capable of attaining that degree by following the steps and actions needed to attain it. Yes, it may take many steps and time to do it, but it’s certainly doable if you are willing to put the time and effort into doing the tasks needed to getthat degree.

As you set a goal and really analyze what it will take to attain it, you will often see that the goal can be broken down into several stages with many steps in each stage. Each of these steps and stages can be termed as a short-term goal versus the overall long-term goal you wish to achieve (such as losing 100 pounds or attaining that college degree). You will learn more about the differences between short-term and long-term goals in the next chapter.

Chapter 2: Short-Term Vs Long-Term Goals

In the last chapter, you learned about the importance of goal setting, specifically when it comes to actually committing to a goal and seeing what will be involved in order to reach that goal. While breaking down a goal, you will often see that there are sections or stages of tasks that need to be completed in order to attain that goal. These sections or stages of tasks can be labeled as short-term goals, while the overall goal is your long-term goal.

A short-term goal is a step or accomplishment thathelps to bring you closer to your long-term goal. For instance, in the last chapter we talked about wanting to lose 100 pounds. If you lose 5 pounds, that can be considered a step or accomplishment toward your long-term goal of losing 100 pounds, since you only need to lose 95 more pounds to reach your long-term goal of losing 100 pounds. Every 5 pounds you lose brings you that much closer to your long-term goal of losing 100 pounds.

Similarly, if you want to earn a college degree, but have never takena college course before, passing the entrance requirements to enter a college you want to enter can be considered a short-term goal, since you have achieved a stage or step that helps to bring you closer to your long-term goal of earning a college degree.

It’s important when setting lofty long-term goals that you break down the goal into smaller steps or stages that enable you to set short-term goals. Setting short-term goals is key for several reasons. One reason is that you can attain short-term goals more quickly than long-term goals. You can lose 5 pounds quicker than you can lose 100 pounds, and you can pass a college entrance exam quicker than you can earn a college degree.

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Introduction

Virtually everyone wants to boost their wealth. This includes both making more money and better managing the money they make. However, learning how to increase one’s wealth is not that easy to do, even though the steps to doing itaren’t that hard. In essence, it takes a good deal of discipline to repeat the steps necessary to build wealth. In other words, you need to learn good wealth-building actions and repeating those actions over and over again so that they become almost automatic. Hence, you need to learn good wealth-building habits so that you can increase your wealth and live a higher quality of life.

This book will show you exactly what habits are and how they work. Then, it will dive into what are good habits, bad habits, and the habits in between. It will then dive more into the topic of bad habits and how they can be phased out of your life. It will then show you how to form good habits and ensure you stick to them. You’ll then see why a support system is important to ensure that you stick to those good habits as time continues. You’ll learn how to start small in your quest to rid bad habits and obtain good habits, creating one new wealth habit at a time. Finally, you’ll learn how to rinse and repeat the process of building new wealth habits and maintaining all of the ones you have adopted.

When you have finished reading this book, you should know exactly what a habit is, what good and bad habits are, how to phase out the bad ones and include the good ones in your life, how to have helpful support ensure you are keeping up with the good habits, and how to repeat the process.

Chapter 1: Exploring Habits And How They Work

According to Dictionary.com, a habit is an “acquired behavior pattern regularly followed untilit has become almost involuntary.” This means that a habit is a behavior that is repeatedly done until you almost don’t know that you are even doing it.

This shows that habits are not behaviors or actions that are acquired overnight; they take time toform as part of our collective actions. This means that both good and bad habits will not form overnight, and that bad habits will not be broken overnight either; it takes time and an unconscious effort to form a habit.

Therefore, whereas at one time admirers of Dr. Maxwell Maltz’s Psycho-Cyberneticsthought it would only take 21 days to acquire a new habit, a 2010 University College London study showed that it took an average of 66 days (i.e. over 2 months) to make a new habit virtually automatically.In that same study, one participant acquired the new dietary habit in 18 days (i.e. 1.5 weeks), but one participant didn’t even acquire the new dietary habit in the 84-day (12-week) study period; it was projected he would only acquire it as a habit after254 days (i.e. over 8.5 months)!

Therefore, you must know that a habit is something that only comes via time and repeated action. This includes wealth-building habits; you will not improve your wealth overnight, as you will not gain these new wealth-building habits overnight. Take the time, effort, and focus necessary to learn those habits, and they will serve you well and help to improve your wealth over time.

In order to form a habit, you must do the action repeatedly to the point where you almost don’t know that you are doing it. In fact, it’s easier for other people to spot that you are doing it and recognize it as a habit rather than you yourself.

This is often why bad habits are so difficult to break; we don’t even recognize ourselves as doing it until usually someone else points it out.

Via New York Times business writer Charles Duhigg’s book, The Power of Habit,habits form via what experts call a “habit loop,” involving a three-part process. The first part is the cue or trigger, which alerts your brain to go into automatic fold and allow a behavior or routine to occur. The behavior or routine that occurs is the second step in the habit loop process. The third part is the reward, which is what your brain likes and enables it to remember the “habit loop” in the future.

The brain likes to develop these habits because it can conserve its mental energy toward another task while it engages in the habit. This is a key reason why people form habits and why we are very unaware of the fact we havespecific habits.

Therefore, you have learned that a habit constitutes a repeated behavior to the extent that we are almost unaware that we are doing it. You have learned of the three-step “habit loop” process that forms habits. You have also learned that habits, both good and bad, take considerable time to form in order for the habitual behavior to be virtually automatic. In the next chapter, you will learn the difference between good and bad habits, as well as in between the good and bad.

Chapter 2: Good Habits Versus Bad Habits And In Between

You learned in the last chapter that a habit is an “acquired behavior pattern” that is repeatedly followed until the action almost becomes involuntary to where you are almost unaware of the repeated action. Youalso learned the three-step “habit loop” process that leads to us acquiring habits, and that it takes a considerable amount of time to form a new habit. Note that this holds true for both good and bad habits.

In truth, the only real difference between good and bad habits is that the acquired behavior pattern is a good action or a bad action as defined by the majority of society. For instance, if you form the habit of shutting off the water while you are brushing your teeth, that would be considered a “good habit” because most consider that to be a good action that preserves the environment and saves on your utility bill. Conversely, if you form the habit of leaving the water on while you are brushing your teeth, this would be considered a “bad habit” because most consider that to be a bad action because it hurts the environment and causes you to pay more on your utility bill. However, both instances are habits-the process of forming them is virtually the same in both cases.

Therefore, you need to determine what good habits you want to adopt, then repeat the good action that constitutes that habit repeatedly until you do it automatically without realizing it. Similarly, you need to recognize the bad habits you want to abolish, then avoid repeating the bad action that constitutes that habit continuously until you automatically do an alternative action instead that is considered better than that bad action. This involves doing alternative actions that “break” the bad action you repeatedly do-this is howyou will break the bad habit.