Tips for Candidates

Try these tips on how to be self-motivated to get your work life back on track or to keep going top speed on your career path!

1. Be confident. If you don’t believe in yourself, why would anyone else? We all have something we are good at. Have faith in yourself and try to work on your niche skills. Drive the fear of failure far away from you. Remember, what doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger!

2. Be clear. Fuzzy, undefined goals are difficult to focus on. How will you proceed when the path seems all foggy? Request your manager for defined, measurable objectives and tasks.

If your manager is not very forthcoming, take some initiative and work with him until you have clarity about your role and what you will be appraised on, at the end of the year. Self-motivated people work best with clearly defined objectives in life. Even if the targets seem a little hazy, house-bred motivation can come in real handy!

3. Work on yourself. Nothing works better as a power shot of motivation than the knowledge that you are good at what you do! Be on top of things at work. Identify your weak areas and get them out of the way. Enroll in courses that will raise your market value and also your motivation levels. Getting a few certifications and qualifications in your functional skills will definitely instill a great deal of confidence.

4. Take criticism positively. Even though the other person has no such intentions, turn all negative criticism into a positive driving force. Failure is a state a mind. If you think you can succeed, you will. Always think positive. That way, instead of brooding over past disappointments, you will route your frustration into positive energy required for working harder. It works like magic.

5. Look out for challenges. If the current job demotivates you, not to worry. Be open to try out new things if your present role has become too boring to continue even a day more. Talk to your seniors to redefine your role to optimise your capabilities. Establish your reputation as somebody who is not scared to take on new challenges in life.

6. Be persistent. Most things may not work out right the first time. This just means that you need to try harder. However, ensure that you set your heart on goals that are really important to you and will help you progress in life. Save your efforts for things that matter. Do not waste your energies on peripheral things.

7. Keep the company of successful people. Try to surround yourself with confident people who are driven and high on life. Read books that fill you with optimism. Put up motivating posters and quotes on your workstation that will spread positive energy and drive away any depressing thoughts. Look around for successful people and try to emulate them. Find out what makes them tick and include that in your working style.

8. Celebrate life. If something doesn’t shape up like you thought it would, it does not mean everything else is doomed as well. Do not feel stressed; high stress leads to low motivation. Take active interest in things happening around you. Live your life well. Continue to have faith in yourself and get involved in things that give you happiness. That itself will generate enough motivation for you to glide over waves of setbacks.

9. Start today. List all that is important for you to achieve your goals. Divide long-term goals into smaller milestones and celebrate each accomplished goal. Procrastination is a killer so keep it at bay.

10. Keep dreaming. Lastly, do not forget to keep dreaming. Dream big! Let your dreams fuel your desire to get closer to your goals. Write your dreams for yourself in a diary or a journal and constantly refer to them so that you do not forget or lose sight of the objective.

Remember, “Motivation is all about how high you can bounce when you hit absolute rock bottom.”

Here is a simple process that will help you master the art of self-motivation:

Know Your Goals

The first step in becoming self-motivated is to know what you want to be motivated about. It’s impossible to motivate yourself for some undefined thing. You need to have a clear goal.

Your goal also has to be something exciting. Imagine yourself having completed whatever it is — what does it look like? Is it something you really want? Is it something you need? If your goal doesn’t excite you, then it probably isn’t worth doing (and you probably won’t be motivated by it).

Once you have a concrete goal that isn’t vague or wishy-washy, then you’re ready to move on to the next step.

Find Your Path

Having an exciting goal is one thing — but actually making it happen is another entirely. If you don’t have any clue how you’ll actually accomplish that goal, then chances are your motivation will go right out the window.

In order to be motivated you need to define a clear and actionable path to your goal. It doesn’t need to have every step from start to finish, but it should have the overall plan laid out. Once you have the broad plan outline you can define the next immediate steps in much more detail. Then all you have to do is continue this process of detailing your next steps as you get progressively closer to your goal.

Knowing you have a solid plan to reach your goals will do wonderful things for your motivation and your productivity.

 

Imagine the Rewards

So far we’ve talked about finding a concrete goal and about creating a plan to accomplish that goal. We’ve also mentioned a little bit about the goal being an exciting one, but now it’s time to really get excited.

Imagine what would happen if you accomplished your goal. How would things change, how would things be better?

The better you can imagine these rewards, the more you can feel it in every part of your body, the more motivated you will become.

Believe in Yourself

None of this visualization or imagination will do any good if you don’t believe in yourself. Many of us have goals that we’re really excited about — goals that have rewards so big we’d give almost anything to get there. But sometimes it feels like those goals are just fantasies that won’t ever happen, and that’s when every ounce of motivation disappears.

If you want to stay motivated then you have to believe in yourself. You need to believe that you can accomplish your goals, that you can complete the plan.

Easier said than done, right? Well take solace in this simple equation: if you don’t give up, and you keep improving, then you will eventually make it there no matter what.

Track Your Progress

The last piece of the puzzle is to measure, track, and celebrate every step towards your goal. There is nothing more motivating than watching yourself make real progress towards something you want, even if that progress is slow or difficult.

Tracking your progress will also help you believe in yourself, which will increase your motivation levels enormously. It’s hard to say something can’t happen when you can literally watch things falling into place.

And if progress seems slow, or even stopped, then try tracking the different things you’ve learned. Learning and improvement are legitimate steps on the path towards any goal, and you can’t discount them.