8 Steps to Becoming a Highly Motivated Person

To achieve any goal, you need to take consistent action--and for that, you need an ongoing supply of motivation. Whereas many people succumb to burnout, procrastination or failure to act, highly motivated people can accomplish more and have fun doing it.

Perpetual drive breaks down into habits. A motivated person has habits in place that work to keep them motivated. On a deeper level, people with continuous motivation are driven by what they want most in life. Thus, it's also important to reflect on the bigger picture when working toward your goals and visualize your success. 

Try these eight steps to becoming a highly motivated individual and gain the tools to transform your life.

1. Make a habit of setting goals

Learn about goal setting if you're new to it, because goal setting is imperative for long-term motivation. There are various methods and formulas for goal setting, such as the S.M.A.R.T. goal formula. With practice, you can hone the goal setting practice or routine that works for you. The most important thing is to keep setting goals that are challenging, but that you are able to reach and replace with new goals over time.

Keep a planner or notebook specifically for writing down and tracking your goals. Schedule times to check in with your progress, assess your current goals and set new goals.

2. Set both small goals and big goals 

When you achieve a small goal, you get a boost of motivation. This can be enough to carry you through to achieve the next goal if it's small enough. Every time you achieve a goal, you become motivated to achieve another, because you've seen what you can do. Your motivation level snowballs, because the more goals you achieve, the more you feel rewarded and naturally motivated to achieve more goals.

3. Remind yourself WHY you want to achieve your goals

Once you have a set of goals, don't lose track of the reason you created each one. Take a look at each goal and ask yourself: Why is accomplishing this goal a must? What are the consequences of not achieving it? Visualizing yourself successfully reaching a goal in contrast to falling short creates a mental perspective that amplifies your sense of urgency.

4. Make your goals public

This may not work for everyone. However, if you're comfortable with telling people about your goals, it could effectively hold you accountable and increase your achievement rate. Whether you tell a handful of people you know about your goals or you report them to a public audience through a blog or video platform, it puts pressure on you to follow through because you're driven to show people you can succeed.

Other people's encouragement can also boost your motivation. Sharing is also motivating when it leads you to meet and engage with people who have motivations, goals or aspirations you can relate to.

5. Make plans with other (motivated) people

Speaking of people you can relate to, highly motivated people tend to have highly motivated friends. It's no coincidence. Try to surround yourself with other people who are working toward goals, and set up ways of holding each other accountable. For example, you could tackle your fitness goals with a friend by going to the gym together twice a week. It's harder to put off going when you know your friend is counting on you.

6. Create a reward system

While an intrinsic desire to be your best self is at the core of staying consistently motivated, that doesn't mean you're required to be austere or stoic. In fact, rewarding yourself is critical for instilling conditioned habits you want yourself to adopt, and you can use rewards systematically to boost your work ethic.

Depending on the size of the goal, a reward could be a treat, a date with a friend, a day off or a night at the movies, to name a few examples. Break up a goal into chunks such as tasks, steps or milestones, and promise yourself a reward for the completion of each. In addition to rewards, don't forget to give yourself breaks and put your health first. This is imperative if you want to avoid burnout.

7. Master your self-talk and become immune to negative thinking

While it may be impossible to totally rid yourself of negative thoughts, you do have control over the meaning you give them and how you respond when they show up. Nothing squashes motivation like letting negative thoughts talk you out of something or make you believe it's hopeless. It's important to recognize these as negative thoughts that are distorted and biased by fear.

Confront your fear by standing strong and moving forward in the face of pessimistic thoughts that try to bring you down. You don't have to resist or fight negative thoughts to become immune to them. Instead, train yourself to avoid giving them power. Observe them rather than react to them. Without your emotional fuel, they'll come around less frequently.

8. Motivate others

Besides getting motivated alongside people, you can also get motivated by motivating others. Through social media, video platforms, blogs and other outlets, it's possible to maintain a motivational presence in numerous people's lives by consistently sharing messages that inspire. In effect, you'll always stay motivated yourself. 

Final words

Whether you want to get good at something or you want to realize your biggest dream, it's going to require consistency on your part. Once you master staying motivated, you can work continually at anything long enough to master it. Commit yourself to as many of these eight steps as you can and you'll see your drive soar and sustain even during tough times.

The Happier Mind Journal has all of this, you'll write your goals twice daily (morning and evening). We also include a 10 day audit and post journal evaluation to help you keep focused during your journey. Want to stay positive? Great, the Happier Mind Journal helps you to recognize the good in your life and manage your day with intention.