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7 Ways to Be More Motivated

How can you stay energized in the face of constant life and work challenges?

Put these tips into action.

1. Define Personal Success
It’s impossible to hit a target if you don’t have one. It’s up to you to tack up the bull’s eye and take aim. That’s where success starts – in knowing what you want. So before laboring through another day, do some soul searching. What does success mean to you? What do you want out of life? Write down answers to these and similar questions. Then, develop a plan for reaching your goals. Dig into the details, and come up with specifics for how you’ll meet objectives. One goal might involve sales quotas, while another might be making it to your daughter’s dance class every Tuesday. You get one life. Make it good and make it your own.

2. Get Up Earlier
Make it a goal to pop out of bed at or before 5:30 a.m. Then use the time productively to do things like exercise, meditate, get a head-start on work and more. By rising well before the sun does, you minimize external distractions. The jolt of empowerment you’ll feel from accomplishing tasks early will invigorate you throughout the day.

3. Stay Quenched
Staying properly hydrated gives you more energy, allows you to think clearer, and can even help you lose weight by reducing the urge to snack. “The eight-glasses-a-day rule isn’t hard and fast, but it’s a nice benchmark to aim for,” says Julia Miller, a nutrition specialist and health coach at LifeDojo. “Keep a water bottle handy when you travel, plus one on your desk to reach for throughout the day.”

4. Write Daily To-Do Lists
A list of things you need to accomplish on a given day keeps you on track and even helps reduce anxiety. Whether the night before or early the morning of, write down the tasks you intend to tackle. Prioritize, putting essentials at the top and devoting your efforts there first. Of course, life may get in the way and you could have to deviate a little from your plan, but having a roadmap to work off of will make you more efficient and productive.

5. Don’t Sell, Serve
Recast your thinking about sales. Don’t go into a meeting with a prospect driven by the thought I’ve got to land this deal. Instead, go in thinking I’m going to use my expertise to help this person be as successful as possible. When you think this way, you’re best prepared to carry out a consultative strategy – one that puts the client first. That often leads to sales taking care of themselves. “Don’t sell, serve,” says Marilyn Suttle, a success coach and business author.

6. Set Aside Daily Soul Time
Motivational speaker Tom Ingrassia believes that when you’re happy in your life, you’re most capable of helping others – something that’s vital in today’s world of consultative sales. To maintain a healthy, happy state, Ingrassia recommends blocking out time each day for soul-satisfying activities. “Meditate, listen to music, run/walk, read, work in your garden, hide or daydream,” says Ingrassia, president of the MotivAct Group. “You will clarify your goals and envision the road map to get from where you are to where you want to be.”

7. Celebrate Success
Daily demands often leave little time for enjoying successes. Even so, you risk burnout by jumping from one task to the next. So, from time to time, especially when you reach a lofty goal, celebrate achievements with gusto. “We need to reward ourselves once in a while,” says Michael Annese, author of the personal leadership development book The Victory Cycle. “It’s critical that we enjoy ourselves along the way.”