One of the most common reasons people fail to reach their goals, make their dreams a reality, and live a successful life is because they fail to maintain their motivation.
When they first started with a goal or a new project, they are so motivated. They take a lot of action. However, after a few days or weeks later, they motivation started to wane.
And when that happens, they lose their momentum and take less action. Eventually, they reach a point where they decide that it is not going to work out for them and then they quit.
Does this sound familiar? Is this why you fail to achieve your goals and live your dreams?
You see, maintaining our motivation is important, this is why Zig Ziglar said:
[ctt template=”9″ link=”huJNe” via=”no” ]“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”[/ctt]
And Zig Ziglar did make his point there. You have to maintain your motivation by doing something to stay motivated every day. Just like taking a bath or brushing your teeth, you do it every day, right?
The same goes for motivation. If you want to maintain your motivation so that you have the “Oomph” to take action and to work on your goals, you must do something to maintain the drive.
Sadly, most people don’t do it. And then they wonder why they fail to achieve their targets.
Living in the Future VS Living in Reality
I bet you have heard that people often say that we should let go of the past and future and live in the present.
This may be true, but only to a certain extent.
I believe that living in the future is important as well.
Let me give you an example. When you live in the future, you see yourself driving the dream car that you want. Be it a Mercs or a BMW, you envision yourself driving it, you feel good.
You imagine yourself sitting on the driver’s seat, putting your hands on the steering, and you can smell the smell of your new car. You then turn on the engine and you hear it rev. Of course, you take a drive in town.
Now, after seeing all those pictures in your head, how do you feel?
You feel like you’re in the sky. You’re living in your dream world, the possible future, and you’re feeling absolutely motivated, right?
Now let’s get back to reality.
After you are done with daydreaming, you return to the ‘real world’ where you have to face the ‘harsh’ reality.
You’re not driving your dream car. It’s an old clunker that makes a lot of noise and you feel extremely unsatisfied when driving it.
Now, what happens next will define if the future you want can be a reality.
At this point, most people will just accept the fact or the reality and get back to work and live like nothing has happened.
But not successful people.
Successful people like Elon Musk, Richard Branson, and many others do daydream, envision their success, and live in the future, but when they ‘returned’ to their reality, they don’t do anything.
They choose to DO SOMETHING about their future.
They have seen the future that they desire and they know what they want. When they envision the future, they feel excited and are driven.
And this is when they decided to do something about their future that separates them from the rest who chooses to do nothing and succumb to their reality.
Strike While the Iron is Hot
This is what differentiates the successful and the unsuccessful.
The successful lives in the future and they do something in the present to get to them to where they want to go.
In other words, they strike while it’s hot.
On the other hand, the unsuccessful choose to do nothing. They get motivated when they imagine the possible future that they desire to live, but when they ‘get back to reality’, they don’t do anything.
They feel driven, they are motivated, and the iron is hot, but too bad that they choose to do nothing about it. They don’t strike while the iron is still hot.
Why You Should Live in the Future
Too much of thinking and daydreaming can kill your action. I’m saying that you should daydream about the future that you want to live. And you should live in the future.
But, you have to also make sure that you strike while it is hot.
I bet that Elon Musk feels excited and motivated when he thinks about how Tesla and SpaceX are going to shape the future of mankind.
The key is that he acted after he gets excited about his ideas. He didn’t just sit and accept the reality. He chose to do something about his dreams.
And this is why we have Tesla and SpaceX today.
The same goes for you.
You should imagine the future you want. You should daydream and live in the future that you want to have.
And when you get fired up, choose to do something. Don’t just sit back. Strike while you’re motivated.
This is why I believe that living in the future is important.
How to Maintain Your Motivation by Living in the Future
Now that you understand how people get motivated and what separates the successful and the unsuccessful.
So what can you do to maintain your motivation? What can you do to get yourself driven up each day?
The answer is simple. You just need to live in your future on a regular basis.
In other words, you make your dreams alive. You see yourself living the kind of life you want to have. You see yourself as someone successful, that you have already achieved all the goals and dreams you desire.
Let me give you an example. I have a goal that I wanted to visit Shanghai with my family I wanted to bring my mother there for holidays.
Every time when I imagine me and my family being there, I feel fired up. Every time I see the pictures of Shanghai on my vision board, I feel motivated.
I imagine myself being there with my family, enjoying the best moments together and having delicious local Shanghai cuisine.
This is what drives me. And after that, I will just take action and work on my goal.
I feel motivated and then I dive straight into working on my goals. I want to run a successful internet business and enjoy passive income online.
I know that if I’m able to build a stable income source from my internet business, I can make my Shanghai travel goal a reality.
I strike while I’m motivated.
So what can you do?
Well, spend time to connect with your dreams and goals. Schedule time to live in the future you desire.
For instance, spend 15 minutes to visualize your ideal future. You can do it once in the morning, once in the midday, and once in the evening.
The key is to maintain your motivation and keep your momentum going.
You can watch videos about your goals and dreams. If you want to drive a new BMW, watch YouTube videos about the car or search on Google the information about it.
Whatever you do, you must connect yourself with what you want. This is to make sure that you are constantly programming your goals into your subconscious mind.
If you don’t do this, guess what, your motivation will fade. And eventually, you will lose interest in your goals and at some point, you will give up like most people did.
Zig Ziglar said that motivation doesn’t last and you have to do it daily, like taking baths. And living in your future is the “taking baths” you need to do to stay motivated.
The Majority Did Not Maintain Their Motivation
Most people have dreams. They know what kind of life they want to live and they even turn their dreams into goals.
But that’s about it. They dream about living their ideal life, they imagine themselves driving their dream cars, having holidays, making a lot of money, and are successful, for ONCE, or twice.
They don’t do it on a daily basis.
They don’t “bath” daily. They don’t live in their future. As a result, they fail to maintain their motivation.
They lose connection with their goals and dreams. And when the momentum is gone, they stop taking action.
This is why the majority are not living the successful life that they want.
Therefore, maintain your motivation and momentum by living in the future. Do something each day to connect yourself with what you want to accomplish in your life.
Conclusion
People say that you should not live in the future, I don’t really agree with this.
You should live in your future. You should allow the future you want to motivate you to take action.
Of course, it is about moderation. Too much of daydreaming can be a waste of time. And more importantly, you must make sure you strike while the iron is hot.
Don’t just get excited by imagining yourself living your dream life, do something about it.
Take action when your motivation is at the peak.
Are you feeling motivated right now?