I couldn’t believe it, a three-year dream was finally a reality!
I had worked so hard for those three years to transition from a job I absolutely hated to writing, speaking and coaching full-time. Motivation? I had an unlimited supply of motivation while I was chasing my dream, I was determined.
So there I was on day one and since I had no problem with motivation before, I thought I would get ten times as much accomplished. I went through my normal morning routine and was anxious to sit down and write.
I sat there, cursor blinking on my MacBook and… nothing! I had never had writers block before, what was going on? I decided to move on and work on a speech I was about to give in Israel in a month.
I sat there in front of the mirror and let it ripe for ten minutes before I was distracted by a notification from Facebook. It was an hour when I told myself to get back to work.
Throughout that day and the whole month I was dumbfounded. All that motivation I had while I was chasing my dream was gone, it was a struggle to get things accomplished. As a result, my income was deeply affected and I was downright terrified of what the future held.
It took me awhile to realize something, the key to staying motivated, the key to get things done was to take it one day at a time.
It’s not a race
When I was chasing my dream, I only had a little amount of time to work on it, so those few moments had to be super productive. I would hit my MacBook and pound out content on top of content. Now that my dream supported my family, I told myself that I had time, I could spread out projects.
To try and get that motivation back I focused on all the things I told myself I would do once I got to that point: write my second book, speak at least twice a month, coach 20 people a month. I looked at the big picture and wanted to accomplish all of these things right away.
I failed to realize that even after you’re living out your dream, this is still a marathon, not a race. I had to get up each day and focus on what I needed to accomplish on that day. If I got everything done on my list, then I could move onto something else.
Focusing on just that day took the pressure off and brought back the motivation to make each day productive. If I had a bad day, I could go to bed, sleep it off and wake up determined to make that day better than yesterday.
It’s not a race, you don’t need to accomplish all of your goals in one day or one week or even one year. Your focus should be on the little things you need to do everyday to make your bigger goals a reality.
Small steps lead to big wins
By taking consistent daily steps, you’ll look up one day and realize how close you are. You won’t struggle for motivation to accomplish a big task, you’ll have motivation for that day and that’s what will keep you on track.
Will you be motivated 100% of the time, everyday of your life? No. However, focusing on one day at a time will be a lot easier and a lot less stressful for you. Those small, daily steps are the key to huge wins, they’re the key to making your dream a reality.
If you are overwhelmed and lost your motivation for your goals and dreams, take a step back. Breathe and realize that tomorrow’s a new day and a new opportunity to succeed where you didn’t yesterday.
Determine that you’ll stop trying to accomplish everything right now, you’ll take in one day at a time.
How do you stay motivated everyday?
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Written by Kimanzi Constable. He is a former bread delivery driver turned best-selling author, international speaker and life coach.