Here I present you my 6 methods that help me to push myself further and further and keep myself going once I feel down, tired, hopeless and don’t see any logical reason in my suffering any more.
Nobody is superhuman and nobody is any different from others. All people are cut from the same cloth. People that seem to have endless motivation and energy to tackle new challenges ALSO have their downs. They ALSO feel scared, insecure, and hopeless, just like everybody else. The only difference is that they just have other thoughts, routines and methods that support them in keeping up with their personal standards and allowing them to push through these down-times. But how do you keep going? How do you overcome the “bad times” where nothing is working? Here is how I push myself to live my dreams and how you can achieve your goals as well.
1. “If somebody puts a gun to your head, could you do it?”
This is one of my favourites. It puts everything into perspective. Especially when it comes to workout, this little questions can work wonders. You might lie on the floor exhausted unwilling to do one more repetition of your workout, but yet when you imagine a real person standing next to you, putting a gun to your head and forcing you to one more repetition you can always do one more. Always. Furthermore, when you use this little sentence for yourself it immediately forces you to play to win instead of playing to lose. Instead of focusing your thoughts on the stuff that could go wrong, you push through and see all the stuff that could go RIGHT! It totally changes your perspective. Start applying the strategy of “playing to win instead of playing to not lose.” for yourself right now!
2. Realize that you do not have really much time.
I truly believe that when people are lazy and not working hard on fulfilling their dreams, they have these false illusion in their head that they might live forever. They value their given time not enough so that they believe they can afford it to waste time. What would you do differently now when somebody tells you that this might be your last year, month, day? I don’t really believe that you would just sit around watching YouTube videos on your Facebook! =) Also, think about how fast the last 10 years of yours have passed. 10 years are nothing. So better use your given time.
3. Doing the same thing you have always done, will give you the same results you have always gotten.
When it comes to risks and taking new routes on your way to fulfilling your dreams, a lot of people shy away. They are not used to the insecurity you might experience by stepping out of your comfort zone and onto new territory. Therefore they just stay where they are. But here is a little secret: you already know where this “comfortable” path leads you. When you are like me and you want to change the way you live your life completely, you have to embrace taking calculated risks. Remember: you will never get a new result by doing the same thing. When you have been sitting in the office, working your 9-5 job for your boss, for the last 10 years, chances are very high, that you will sit there for the next 10 years too. If you don’t want this to happen you might want to change the course right now. Step up and take some risks. Try something new and explore where it might lead you. You might as well start your own blog and journal your journey!
4. “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”
Just ask yourself. Everyday. This is a very deep and subtle exercise.
5. Realize you have endless chips.
This is something I repeat for myself actually all the time. Just imagine going into a casino and a man comes up and tells you: “Sir, I would like to give you endless chips for this casino for the rest of your life.” Do you really think you care about what you are going to do in that casino now? Do you really believe that you are carefully trying to calculate and decide where you are going to put your chips? Do you believe that you would care if you burn a huge amount of these chips and other laugh at you? No. You just do whatever the fuck you want, whatever is the most fun, or you feel like doing in this very moment. Because there are literally endless chips available for you. The same goes with life. As long as you don’t do something dumb (!) and hurt yourself, every risk is worth taking. Because even if you “fail” it is an enormous learning experience, you would not have gathered if you would not have taken that very risk.
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6. Detach yourself from your self-image and re-invent yourself.
A lot of times we stop ourselves from doing what we want because we fear that somebody will judge us or point a finger and laugh at us. Although both options are possible and very likely (lol), it still has no effect on YOU. Do you believe your self-worth gets diminished by “failing” a project and losing some money? Nah. It is your self-image, your ego that gets hurt. YOU are untouchable. Think about it: when you lose something and you feel awful, it is not the real you. You just have associated yourself with the image of you being that awesome dude making no mistakes. And when you then have to admit such a failure to yourself, your little image in your heads gets shattered. This is what hurts you. The real essence that is you, is still untouched and happily buried underneath. I would encourage you to take more risks, destroy your delusional, mind-made self-image of yours and let your true YOU shine through.
PS: Just some extra thoughts
This does not mean that you should always sprint from one task to the other. I really don’t emphasise that (trust me: I have been there and it doesn’t work!). But there is a difference between recovering or just being lazy. A good time off once in a while usually helps you MUCH more than just hustle from one task to the other and you should definitely plan some time for that too. Your body and (even more) your mind needs that more than you can imagine.
The trick is balance. On the one hand you have to create a routine for you that supports you. You have to have an action plan that correlates with your vision for yourself. If you don’t have one of these you are just running around exhausting yourself and you feel like you don’t move ahead in life. On the other hand you have to allow yourself to rest and waste time once in a while. When you only focus on work and projects and run from one assignment to the other without stopping and grounding yourself again, you will come to realize that your life just passed you by without you even noticing it.
