One of the biggest mistakes people make when seeking to achieve a goal is to wait for inspiration and motivation. Imagine if everyone on this planet waited for motivation to get work done. Productivity would drop to nothing, and our economy would collapse. Since productivity has improved over the years, it’s not likely that it has anything much to do with real motivation other than people doing the things they have to do in order to achieve a goal.

That goal may be set by them or their employer. It doesn’t matter who set it – it’s set, and someone is going to get it done. How sad that in some cases people fail at so many things simply by ignoring the fact that motivation isn’t really necessary; only doing is. They sit around waiting for inspiration to come wondering why everyone else is doing better than them, and they’re waiting for some spark of motivation that will never arrive. You can avoid this issue by realizing the truth.

Motivation Doesn’t Exist

You probably have heard of the myth of the starving artist who can’t paint, or the writer with writer’s block. It’s interesting that these creative professions have the same myth, like weight loss, that some secret motivation has to come to achieve success – some mysterious spark of inspiration that will get you off your bottom doing what you need to get done. However, nothing could be further from the truth.

Doing, Not Thinking, Gets Results

Time and again, the people who are truly successful in their own lifetimes, are not people who wait for a spark. They are people who get up out of bed every single day, rain or shine, and do things that lead to an end result of success. The successful painter paints every single day and if they hate marketing they hire someone to do that for them. The successful writer, writes; the successful doctor, doctors. If you want to be successful at something, do it. Live it. You will succeed.

Successful People Are Not Smarter Than You

Many people get blocked by thinking that someone is better than, smarter than, or any “than” than them. The truth is, successful people aren’t smarter. Take a look at the most famous actresses that you know. Without exception they are simply people who do their craft every single day, and more times than not they are simply being themselves in front of the camera. They are doing it, not thinking about doing it, and not dreaming of doing it. They go to auditions, get rejected, and then get up the next day and do it again.

Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Learn about the acronym S.M.A.R.T which stands for “specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and timely”. Every goal you set should meet that standard. After all, if you cannot be specific enough about what you want so that it can be measured and you can act on it in a realistic manner in a specific time frame, it’s not really a goal. It’s a dream – perhaps a pipe dream.

Envision Success

Some people think vison boards are a bunch of hocus pocus but the truth is, being able to truly visualize yourself experiencing success will go far in helping you actually create success in your life. There are people who are good at seeing it in their mind and believing it, but others need more. Try making a vision board to see your dream down on paper so that you can then decide how to make your S.M.A.R.T. goals.

Follow a Schedule

It can’t be stated enough. Successful people have taken action to achieve their goals. A “to do” list isn’t going to cut it; you’re going to need to make a schedule and stick to it. If you want to write a 10,000 word eBook to sell to your target audience, you need to start at the end point, then work your way back to today making a schedule that is realistic and that you really can follow to get the work done when you said you wanted it done. Then let nothing stop you.

Experience Success

Set some smaller goals so that you can feel what success is like. If you’ve never once stuck to anything, you can’t know what success feels like and you have nothing to push you forward. People who experience success like to experience it again, and the more success you experience, the more you’re going to realize that you can. It’s self-fulfilling.

Repeat Everything

Finally, keep doing it over and over again. With anything you want to achieve, set the goal, track your success and do something every single day toward achieving that goal again and again. It really is that simple. Motivation is a figment of the imagination, and not something that most people have.

Most people get up in the morning by hitting the snooze button a few times, and most people do not feel especially happy about doing certain things. What they feel happy about is the end result, the deliverable. Place your focus there and you will not need any motivation because you will be successful.