It is strongly believed, that skills and abilities can be achieved by working hard and honestly. Brains and talent are just the starting point. With this approach, you can create a love of learning and flexibility. This is absolutely essential for achieving great results. The key to developing this mindset is to realize, that it's not about you or your accomplishments. It's about what you're willing to put in.
If you want to become an expert at something, then you need to be willing to put in the time and effort necessary to master it. You also need to know when to stop working on something, because you've reached a level where you don't have any more potential left in it. This isn't about setting limits on yourself, but rather understanding where the limits are so you don't waste time and energy in pursuit of something, that isn't going to help you achieve your goals.
How To Motivate Yourself
Motivation also comes from the inside. You need to be motivated by what is in it for you, not just what's in it for someone else. When you're motivated by yourself, you're able to tackle any task and see it through to the end. You're also able to keep going when things aren't going well.
Motivation can come from within in a variety of ways:
Achieving long-term goals, like building up your resources and developing a strong community that you can rely on for help, strength, and support.
Short-term goals, like learning new skills and mastering them so you can get something specific that you want.
Pleasure, like engaging in creative or recreational activities, that you like doing.
You need to constantly be thinking of ways to achieve your goals and keep yourself motivated. This can be difficult, but it doesn't require a lot of willpower. You usually will find, that the more you do something, the easier it gets. This is how you build up your abilities and resources over time.
How To Manage Your Time
Managing your time is crucial to your success. You have a limited amount of it each day and you need to make sure you're spending it wisely. The best way to do this is by setting aside a specific time to work on goals. Early in the morning, when you're relaxing in the evening, during spare moments at work or school, while you're doing chores around the house, and so on.
The earlier you get started, the more time you'll have to work on your goals before you need to put them aside for other things. You should also try to limit the overall amount of time you spend working on them. Spending several hours a day focused on your goals is not necessary. Often, just thirty minutes a day will do.
Another important factor when it comes to managing your time is structure. Some goals are better accomplished with a specific structure, like studying for an exam or working through a problem set for class. Without a structure, you're more likely to lose focus or get bored when you don't know exactly when the work is due or what comes next.
However, some structure is better than others. For example, if you're writing an essay for English class, a rigid structure wouldn't be beneficial. You can write the paper in whatever order you like so long as you put in the adequate amount of time and effort. Likewise, if you're creating an art piece, that requires a lot of spontaneity and inspiration, a structured environment might be counter-productive.
When To Cut Your losses
Sometimes, even when you're trying your best to succeed, things just don't work out. Maybe you have a bad day at school or you make a mistake while working on a goal, and it causes you to lose motivation or fall behind. Sometimes, a goal isn't yours to begin with. Maybe you're friends with someone, who has a goal, that you think would be better for you to pursue, or a goal, that you think you should be having, but isn't presented to you.
When this happens, you need to cut your losses. You can't keep pushing a goal that's not yours and is actively holding you back. However, this is a hard thing to do. You'll likely feel guilty about it for a long time, and for a while you'll struggle with low self-esteem. But you have to do it. That struggle is good for you. It'll make you stronger, and it'll help you avoid future tragedy.
How To Cope With Low Self Esteem
Low self esteem can make you feel like you have a constantackle in your head and you're never good enough. It's all in your head. You have the same potential as anyone, you're just being held back by your own lack of confidence and bad choices. As a first step, situational awareness plays a big role. How did you get to this point? What went wrong? And how do you plan to move forward?
A common mistake is to look for someone else to blame. You look at your friends and family and think, "if only they cared about me as much as I care about them, this would be different." But it isn't, and blaming others will only make your low self esteem worse. Look inward. What did you do wrong? What more could you have done? What are other people's motivations? What can you do to better yourself? Above all, don't give up. You may have low self esteem, but there is always a way forward if you try hard enough.
Good advice my friend. Great article, excellent read!