Motivating Yourself

After only a few short months I have changed from a negative, scared, lonely person to a motivated, hopeful, and willing to invest in myself type of person.

The best way to motivate yourself is to be surrounded by the people you want to be like.

Now, yes, you can’t always get away from the people you love whether they are good for you or not. Sometimes you’re not sure if you should distance yourself from them, there’s guilt and all sorts mixed in there. So, do something else instead.

A negative experience seems much worse when you have few experiences. That same negative experience seems much less impactful when you have had many experiences. This is why older people say that they regret the things they didn’t do more than the things they did. Those things they did do, that didn’t work out, have much less impact in the greater view of all of their experiences.

The same applies with people. Having few people in your life makes that one negative person much more impactful. So surround yourself with more people of the sort you like.

When you’re stuck in a negative mindset it can be hard to get out there and meet people, so do it in other ways.

There are books from people who you like: biographies of female comedic icons like Amy Poehler and Tina Fey; business tycoon, Richard Branson. Even just online success stories from the people you’d like to emulate. Pick someone you admire and buy their book, or watch their interviews, or look up articles they’ve written. Immerse yourself in their work.

Then there are social media groups. I’m part of a group called Ramit’s Brain Trust which is filled with motivated people who are happy to share their successes and their failures so that everyone can learn from them. I’m also part of a writing group called 10 Minute Novelists which is motivating in a more specific way. It’s also a place I can go to for support and advice.

I surround myself with these people as a barrier against the negativity from others and myself..

Think about who you want to become and find people to emulate. Then surround yourself with them. The motivation will come on its own.