Conditioning, conditioning, conditioning. It’s not just a mantra for athletes. To become extremely successful, we must train for the ultimate marathon: the distance of our lives. Just as you can’t sprint a marathon, you can’t do well in life if you don’t know how to stay motivated. Below, I’ll teach you how to stay motivated and break free of fear so you can find longterm success.
How to Stay Motivated: Finding the Right Juice
Even if we’re not always at peak level — and there will be times when we’re not — there’s something that’s motivating us, something that’s fueling us. What we’re fueling up with will determine whether or not we go the distance.
Anger as a Motivator
Our motivations are the juice that fuel us, and we’ve only got two choices when it comes to flavor. You’re either doing what you do based on a positive energy juice, or you’re doing it with a negative energy juice. Both can be extremely effective. In fact, both can get you far. However, the real question is if they’ll get you to finish. With your choice of juice are you going to arrive where you intended to go? What kind of condition are you going to be in when you get there?
People who run on negative energy juice can make pretty decent money. However, not long after they get it, they usually get rid of it again. This is because it was angry energy that got them there; they were rebelling against something, or someone (usually a parent). Since their success was born out of anger, fueled by rage, they couldn’t hold onto it for very long. Now they’re broke and angry! They clearly chose the wrong juice, the wrong motivation.
Fear as a Motivator
Others are so fearful that there will never be enough money — or that they themselves will never be enough— that the insecurity shifts their focus away from the other areas of life. Their insecurity erodes their physical, mental, and emotional condition.
While fear can be useful when it comes to first getting motivated, helping us to get our butts in gear at the start, fear will not help us understand how to stay motivated. When we’re acting on imaginary pain — pain based on negative conditioning that fuels negative motivations — fear acts more like an obstacle to our happiness than an efficient fuel source.
Joy and Purpose as Motivators
How about joy and purpose as motivations? How about loving what you do? These motivators are not only sustainable, but they inspire you to contribute to something beyond yourself. Good or good?
If you’re not juiced by joy and purpose, it ain’t gonna work. At least, not for the distance anyway. You can get short bursts of success and motivation based on anger or fear, but these create stress. You might win the game financially for a short period of time, but you won’t be rich on a spiritual, emotional, and mental level.
The fact of the matter is, you cannot have enough money to not be angry anymore. Additionally, no amount of money will lessen fear. So change your fuel! We want money and happiness. The only way that can happen is if you’re running on supportive juice, not juice that’s going to lead to a crash and burn.
If you want to make money, come up with motivations that are supportive. There’s always family, obligation, more toys or material things — but what are some motivations that really touch the core of our greatest joys in life? What are some different types of juice that relate to happiness beyond, “I have to do this,” or material comforts? We want to hear from you!
For Your Freedom,
Mahendra says
What’s important for me is that I am clear about my reasons for wealth!
Leonardo Villegas says
Buen y bendecido día, soy Leonardo Villegas desde una pequeña ciudad Cucuta Colombia, tuve el privilegio de leer los secretos de la mente millonaria un libro excelente personalmente lo digo, sigo los pasos para la libertad y felicidad financiera.
El hecho es que quiero difundir entre mis amigos esta informacion y quiero liderar un grupo para que aprendan y poder ayudar de esta manera a que la gente sea mas feliz, por ahora me estoy instruyendo leyendo libros como: El secreto, el lider que no tenia carg0, tus zonas magicas…. y tengo otros en mente, que otros libros podrias recomendarme para aprender este magico camino de enseñar a los demas y ser libres y felices financieramente..
De antemano muchas gracias y muchas bendiciones… le envio un abrazo fraterno y espero pronto estrechar su ,mano personalmente Sr. Eker
Eileen Yacyno says
How very true… and yet so simple … Thank you so Much for this eye opener… Wink 😉 Eileen Yacyno Pointe des Monts Manicouagan Côte-Nord Québec CANADA
giordani vieira rocha says
Excellent Harv! Congratulations! I confess that sometimes I change the fuel of fear instead of happiness. But, when I read this my fuel changed again and started a new cicle in my live. Finally, as you said, conditioning.
Big hug to you from Brazil.
Patience Vilane says
Wow! that’s really great Harv….the Joy and purpose…As a bible believer that really resonates well with my outlook for life and it is really nice to view life beyond material things and obligations…Am committed to doing just that “finding the motivations that really touch the core of my greatest joys in life”
Olugapee says
Incredible, so simple and worth consideration!
Candace HowellMcCarthy says
My motivation is to stop doing money for time spent and become successful with more passive income. Time is the motivator, having time to do what I want when I want.
greg says
TO BE AN EXAMPLE OF: (LIVING LIFE ON OUR TERMS)
Laura Voronkova says
Thank you Harv, as always awesome advice – i am thinking about big 5 things I want happening in my life to motivate myself again.
Have been beat up by life for the last 5 years- so definitely can relate to “transient” effect of anger and fear as motivational energy…
I remember you were saying these motivators should be BIG things, not necessarily something I need to do or have , but mostly what i would dream about … You gave an example of the man who could not come up with the list , because it was just so mediocre and “necessity” related. Until he remembered that he used to go fishing with his father on a small boat and he really wanted that same boat… and he got it.
So my positive “WHYs” are:
1. I want to travel and live abroad half the time. This means with my husband and my son and all.. 6 months here in US and 6 months anywhere i wish.
2. I want to take my family, and my extended family on a family reunion on a cruise to Hawaii or maybe Caribbean for a couple of weeks. I want to be able to do it on my own.
3. I want to have a cabin in the woods in Idyllwild CA. So peaceful out there…
4. I want to go to India to visit places I read about in “Autobiography of a Yogi”. I want to learn Kriya Yoga
Let’s get to work now.. Cheers!
Laura
gil says
Thanks Harv. I think based on my own experience at times, as far as positive motivations beyond “having to do” something to survive, or using negative energy, to make money, such positive motivations would be that one loves to do something.
That one sees great joy in doing it, or eager anticipation in bringing joy to others by whatever they are doing to make money.
If one finds themselves, at least for the time being, doing something that they do not particularly like doing for money, so that they can “free up” time, to do what they really want, for fun or to make money, that can be a lower form of positive motivation.
Ultimately I believe there should be a great deal of presence in the moment and joy, in doing what one is doing when they are doing it, feeling gratitude and appreciation, and
definitely feeling connected to a higher purpose and believing and knowing in their “heart of hearts”, that they are “on track” giving their gifts, exactly right where they need to be, doing what they love, and making good money at – giving themselves more freedom to live a balanced life, and enabling them to give more to others, too.
The irony is that I know the above to be true, and I have two passion-based small businesses, that are worthy and valuable, I have many excellent testimonials and recommendations, but I am lacking motivation – I sometimes question my motivation, and if I cannot muster positive energy, I retreat, question myself.
These businesses would be in a lot more demand, if I did a better job with them, but I am struggling, caught up in some past mistakes, and self-sabotage, and bad habits, and life changes that I have not managed well, and I am sure there are things I do not know and can use help with.
I have a good heart, but I am probably a bit stubborn, and have not believed that I can get out of the situation I am in, and be comfortable financially, let alone wealthy – at least not yet.
Roger Bray says
Great article Harv!! I liked it, thanks!!
Carlos Alonso says
Hola Harv
Soy Carlos desde Bogotá Colombia. Es muy motivante poder aprender tantas lecciones de vida, de una persona tan exitosa como tú. Una de mis grandes motivaciones, es poder transmitir estas enseñanzas a las personas en mi país. Ya encontré el por que? ahora lo que me hace falta desarrollar el como?
Teniendo en cuenta lo que dices sobre tener un gran por que entonces se que me será facil encontrar como hacer realidad ese proyecto
LUIS RODRIGUEZ says
Estoy enfocado en mis metas con la fe necesaria puesta en mis logros, opino que lo mas dificil es empezar, luego que empiezas o te tropiezas con una oportunidad los conocimientos obtenidos de la fe hacen su trabajo. como dice har se abren los archivos de la mente.