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Chris Widener is the leader of a new generation of personal development and leadership experts. He lives and breathes the strategies and tools he shares with millions around the globe. Chris' content is rich and practical, and his style is dynamic and engaging! If you want to see real change in your life, or the life of your organization, connect with Chris Widener. -- Jim Rohn

I receive many emails from people that basically ask the same question: How can I keep myself motivated long term? This seems to be quite a common dilemma for many people so I want to address it because it can be done! Here are my tips for staying motivated:

1. Get motivated every day.
Zig Ziglar was once confronted about being a "motivational speaker." The guy said to him, "You guys come and get people hyped up and then you leave and the motivation goes away. It doesn't last, and then you have to get motivated again." Zig reminded the gentleman that baths are the same way but we think it is a good idea to take a bath every day!

It is true that motivation doesn't last. We have to renew it each and every day. That is okay. It doesn't make motivation a bad thing. We simply have to realize that if we want to stay motivated over the long term, it is something we will have to apply to ourselves each and every day.

2. Have a vision for your life.
The root word of motivation is "motive." The definition of motive is, "A reason to act." This is the cognitive or rational side of motivation. It is your vision. You have to have a vision that is big enough to motivate you. If you are making $50,000 a year, it isn't going to motivate you to set your goal at $52,000 a year. You just won't get motivated for that because the reward isn't enough. Maybe $70,000 a year would work for you. Set out a vision and a strategy for getting there. Have a plan and work the plan.

3. Fuel your passion.
Much of motivation is emotional. I don't know quite how it works but I do know THAT it works. Emotion is a powerful force in getting us going. Passion is an emotion, so fuel your passion. "Well, I like to work on logic," you may say. Great, now work on your passion. Set yourself on a course to have a consuming desire for your goal, whatever it is. Do whatever you can to feel the emotion and use it to your advantage!

4. Work hard enough to get results.
You can build on your motivation by getting results. The harder you work, the more results you will get and the more results you get, the more you will be motivated to get more. These things all build on one another. If you want to lose weight, then lose the first few pounds. When the belt moves to the next notch you will get fired up to get it to the notch beyond that!

5. Put good materials into your mind.
I can't say this enough - listen to tapes. I still listen to tapes regularly. I buy tape clubs from other speakers and I learn and grow. Their successes motivate me to get my own successes! Read good books. Read books that teach you new ideas and skills. Read books that tell the stories of successful people. Buy them, read them, and get motivated! Buy great music and listen to it. I just did a spinning class at the club today. Whenever a good song came on I was actually able to get motivated to ride faster! It gets you going and motivates you!

6. Ride the momentum when it comes.
Sometimes you will just be clicking and sometimes you won't. That is okay. It is the cycle of life. When you aren't clicking, plug away. When you are clicking, pour it on because momentum will help you get larger gains in a shorter period of time with less energy. That is the Momentum Equation! When you are feeling good about how your work is going, ride the momentum and get as much out of it as you can!

These are the top six ways to stay motivated:

1. Get motivated every day.
2. Have a vision for your life.
3. Fuel your passion.
4. Work hard enough to get results.
5. Put good materials into your mind.
6. Ride the momentum when it comes.

These are simple principles, that when you put them to work regularly, will change your life by keeping you motivated all the time! Get going!
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Chris Widener, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Amazon.com Best-Selling author is a seasoned businessman, author and speaker. He has for nearly twenty years been involved in leadership in the business community, the non-profit world, and as a speaker and author. He has learned what he shares through his own experience and his interaction with and observation of the most successful people in the world.Chris Widener

This is a very important announcement!
For over a year, Jim Rohn and Chris Widener have collaborated on a new project that is designed to help you have more, do more and become more!
It has now been completed!
Did you know that most people are sabotaging their chances for achievement?
The reason is because they don't have a plan. You know the saying, "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail". Please use this link to learn more: Twelve Pillars

"Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I'll show you someone who has overcome adversity." Lou Holtz

Success in life depends upon being strong people with clear goals and indomitable spirits. Unfortunately most of us aren't born that way. We grow that way. And that growth can either come from us entering willfully into situations that will cause us to grow, like subscribing to Made for Success, or from the way we react when circumstances come upon us without our consent. The latter is what we call adversity.

Most of us spend our lives trying to avoid adversity, and I guess that is just as well. We shouldn't pursue adversity, but when she arrives, we should welcome her as a foe who, though our interaction with her, will make us into better people. Every contact we have with adversity gives us again the opportunity to grow personally and professionally and to forge our character into one that will achieve much later on.

With that in mind, here are some thoughts on adversity, and how it can help you to succeed in every area of your life and achieve your dreams.

Adversity brings out our resources. Horace said "Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it." When everything is going well, we coast. There isn't a lot of stress, and we don't have to draw too much on the resources that reside within us. But when adversity comes we begin to draw upon each and every resource that we have in order to conquer the circumstances at hand. Adversity then, keeps us sharp. It keeps us using our personal muscle, if you will. That is a good thing because we grow through the use of our resources.

Adversity brings us together with others. Sure a team can have their problems with each other, but when they step on the court, when they experience the adversity of facing another obstacle, they pull together. One for all and all for one, as they say. The next time you experience adversity of some kind, keep your eyes open for how it can bring you together with your family, your co-workers or your team. Then when you are through it, you will find a bond that was created that wasn't there before. Adversity makes us better people with stronger characters. Never underestimate the power of adversity to shape us inwardly. How will courage, discipline and perseverance ever flourish if we are never tested? After adversity, we come out stronger people and able then to use our character and influence in an even greater way to lead those around us and to improve their lives as well as our own.

Adversity makes life interesting. John Amatt said, "Without adversity, without change, life is boring." How true. Have you noticed that while we are in the middle of adversity we only long to get out of it, but we then spend a lifetime recounting it to anyone who will listen? This is because it spices life up a little. Imagine how boring life would be if everything always went well, when there was never a mountain to be climbed.

Here are some questions for you to reflect upon before I close:

Q. If you are in the middle of some adversity right now, what resources are you drawing on? Who are you drawing closer to and working with? What part of your character is being tested, and built up? What can you do to view this adversity as one who will be better for it on the other side?

"Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit." - Napoleon Hill
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Understand this: Much of your world, and your experience in it, will be a direct result of the attitude you choose to have. Let me break that statement down a bit:

One, it is MUCH of your world.
Yes, there are some things that just happen and there is nothing we can do about it, but much of our world is not by happenstance, but determined by the attitudes we take.

Two, your attitude is one that you choose.
You do not have to have a chip on your shoulder. You do not have to be sad or angry. You do not have to believe that you are incapable of achieving success. We can choose at any moment how we will believe and how we will interact with the world.

Third, our experience is a direct result of our attitude.
For example, if we have a bad attitude toward someone, what kind of attitude do you think we are going to get back? That's just the people side, but that makes up most of our world right there!

So, if our attitudes determine to a great degree what kind of life we will have, shouldn't we focus in on the best attitudes to have and then make them ours? Absolutely! If we want to soar with the eagles in this life, and if there are attitudes that will make us soar, shouldn't we pursue them with all our hearts? By all means! So here we go!

Five attitudes that will make you soar!

"I can."
This is the most basic of all attitudes. We simply must choose to believe that we can. In our house we are not allowed to say, "I can't." We can say, "I'll try," or "I tried and failed," but not "I can't." Telling yourself that you can't will in effect make it so you can't. But telling yourself that you can will in effect enable you to achieve much more. Even if you actually only achieve 50% of what you tell yourself you can achieve, you will achieve at least that much more than if you told yourself you couldn't.

I actually have a standard way of going about getting myself off of the starting block: I simply say if somebody else has, then I can too. And if many others have, then surely I can too! I have to be smarter than at least one of those who has already done it. I have to be able to work harder than at least one other. There has to be at least one other person who has come from more difficult circumstances than me. And if they can do it then certainly, "I can!"

"I will be generous."
Another attitude that will make you soar is to be a generous person. The attitude (and discipline) of generosity increases your likelihood of success for two main reasons: One, you are happier about yourself and that puts you in a state of mind that is prepared for successful living. Two, people pay back people who are generous. Generous people receive in kind and that will raise you to levels yet unseen.

"I will make a difference in the lives of those around me."
People who soar are generally people who have the attitude of helping other people. Yes, they may do it for monetary gain, but they are others-focused. They want to change the way people live and experience life for the better. They are difference makers all around.

I live in a town that is very affluent. Most of the people I know, work with, and have as friends are very successful in this world. One thing I can say, as almost a universal truth, is that to a person, they are people who are not self-consumed but genuinely care about others and will do what they can to help others. This is what I know to be true about the attitudes of the genuinely successful.

"Not much will make me angry."
Whether or not we get angry is a choice of attitude. We determine whether or not we will be angry. I have found that often I will meet with someone who is struggling with achieving something and in many cases I find that they are angry people. They have held onto an attitude that is at its root angry. When we take on an attitude that raise the bar on what will make us angry, we are positioning ourselves to be in a state of mind that is better able to live and work in this world in such a way as to achieve success.

"I will look for the good in every situation."
This is basic optimism. Successful people who soar through life are those who are optimistic about life. They see the good, think the best and strive for greatness, believing all the while that they will achieve it because it is possible!

I suppose there are a few other attitudes that would make you achieve all that you dream of, but these are the basics and ones that we would do well to master first.

Where do you see yourself? Do you need an attitude adjustment? Take a look again:

I can.
I will be generous.
I will make a difference in the lives of those around me.
Not much will make me angry.
I will look for the good in every situation.

Make these attitudes your goal and as you get them you will watch yourself soar!

Have a nice flight!
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