Top 20 Motivation Hacks - #1

OK, here it is! After about two weeks of waiting to get to the No. 1 spot, the best of the Top 20 Motivation Hacks ...

A number of people have commented that I must be dedicated to achieve some of the goals I'm going for: exercise, frugality, organization, healthy eating, etc. Well, I don't believe in someone being naturally "dedicated" ... it's all a matter of motivation. You can achieve anything if you motivate yourself enough.

NOTE: This series is coming to an end, and tomorrow I will do a roundup of all 20 Motivation Hacks.

Motivation Hack #1: Always think positive. Squash all negative thoughts.

I cannot stress this motivation technique highly enough. If you've read My Story, I can tell you that there's one driving force that helped me achieve all that I've accomplished so far: and that one force is the power of positive thinking.

I know: this sounds like so much motivational public speaker mumbo jumbo. I've been cynical like you, and I know how I sound. I wish I could stop sounding like this, but it's impossible to help -- I'm speaking a truth that has astounded me every time I put it into practice.

Let me use running as an example. There've been many times when I wanted to quit, to just stop and give up. But here's the trick: when you sense these negative thoughts coming into your head, squash them immediately! These negative thoughts will conquer you if you don't conquer them, and you will never achieve your goal that way. So that's what I did -- I became aware of the negative thoughts, and I pushed them out. I told myself, I said, "Self! Don't think thoughts like that! You can do this!" And I kept telling myself that I could do it, and that optimism just multiplied until I was running faster than before and I had no thought of stopping.

Monitor your thoughts. Be aware of your self-talk. We all talk to ourselves, a lot, but we are not always aware of these thoughts. Start listening. If you hear negative thoughts, stop them, push them out, and replace them with positive thoughts.

Positive thinking can be amazingly powerful. It's been used by many successful people, and I've only recently discovered its untapped potential. While all the motivation hacks I've listed on this site work extremely well, they will be 10 times stronger if you combine them with positive thinking. Maybe a thousand times stronger.

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