Motivation
Motivation is the urge to achieve aims and reach goals. It is the persistent drive that gets you through the difficult patches and impels you to attain your objectives. It's the ability to maintain an interest, and a sense of direction and forward movement towards a desired outcome. It is the underlying, inherent reason why you do anything at all….ever! Motivation and encouragement is especially important if we work by ourselves or on solo projects. It can be so easy to lose heart and abandon our projects or ideas before we have even given them a chance. Many of seminars and workshops revolve around the theme of motivation and positive thinking. However, what I have found is that different people have different motivations and what motivates one person can leave another cold. Your individual motivation will depend largely on your personal values, but some of the key factors inherent in the desire to get something done are:
* Emotional attraction* - you will rarely persevere with something that you don't feel strongly about.
* Courage* - a degree of personal courage and perseverance are needed to take the initiative and start projects, and to overcome obstacles and setbacks along the way.
* Optimism* - the positive expectation of a successful outcome is needed in order to start in the first place.
* Energy* - feelings of low physical energy and impaired resilience quickly sap the will to take action.
* Purpose* - vision and a sense of mission give purpose and direction, and help to maintain motivation over the long term. If you have one or more of these qualities then there is a greater chance that your project will get off the ground.