Mental imagery or visualization is a simple yet valuable self-motivation technique.  How can visualization contribute to maintaining motivation?

When you  started your online business you made a plan and set realistic, strategic goals that you’d like to accomplish within stated time frames.  Sometimes your time frame may have to change because your goals were not realized, but your goals remain unchanged.  Rather than becoming a victim of discouragement and giving up, having a mental image of what you desire to accomplish will allow you to maintain your motivation.

Mental imagery or visualization in this context is simply using your mind’s eye to see your goal as if it has already been attained and being able to picture yourself mentally enjoying the results of your hard work. For example, your goal at a given time may be to take you family on an all-expense-paid vacation to a specific location at the end of a specified period.  Negative external factors arise on a regular basis that can be discouraging and affect our desire to work in our online business.  At the same time we have to deal with our own emotions.  On those days when you almost feel like giving up, being able to visualize your “Why” – your goal – will help you to view the stumbling blocks as stepping stones.

Many people are “visual” types.  If mental imagery is not enough for you, then I’d encourage you to collect pictures, brochures, or other relevant material that reflect your goals and have these in an area of your office to serve as your daily reminder of why you need to stay motivated.

Are you a visual person or do you use mental imagery to help you with self-motivation?

Featured “Monday Writer” – Sheila Atwood

Do you have times when you’re a little low on motivation? Do you need a jump-start to get yourself rolling again?

Join the club. We all have those times in life where we have lost interest. Or the task at hand seems a little too hard to confront.

“Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you chances are it will burn very briefly.” Steven R. Covey

5 Magic Motivation Action Steps

1. Recognize Success. Life is full of successes we fail to give ourselves credit for. Don’t be so hard on yourself. When you take on any task it can seem to take a long time to find success.

For example when you first start writing a blog, it can seem like new posts take forever. But each completion is success. When the blog is published that is success. Count each step as a success and it becomes easier and easier. Recognize those little successes.

Remember, as your sphere of influence gets bigger, new problems will arise. View resolving each new problem as a success and your sphere of influence will grow again.

2. Partner up! Find someone to share your successes with. Pick someone with like goals, who is supportive of your endeavors. Pick someone who understands. My partner is my sister. We can run ideas and problems by each other. We also share our successes.

3. Produce a product. Nike Shoes tag line is “Just Do It”. You will be amazed at how well this works for blogging, business or in personal matters.

When you feel unmotivated produce a product….write an article, do an interview or design a new label. Keep it simple. Choose something you can easily confront. Choose something you know and can produce quickly. Make a success!

“If opportunity doesn’t knock build a door.” Milton Berle

4. Do Unto Others. This action step is simply magic all on its own. Stop moping around and get in there doing for another person. This step is inclusive of the steps above; (a. Quick success, (b.sharing a success with another and (c.producing a product.

Keep this simple. Make twice as much dinner and share it with a neighbor. Call someone you have been meaning to call and share a happy story. Wash your sweetie-pies’ car. Show up unexpectedly at a friends’ event.

Soon you will be back on track in your own endeavors.

5. Revisit Your Vision. If you have not written your vision of what you want, do it. You can’t reach the top of the mountain if you do not know that the  mountain even exists. When it is hard to push through use your vision as motivation to stay the course. Have courage.

“Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

To your success!

Sheila Atwood, Newbie Lifeline

P.S. Do you have a magic way you use to get motivated? Please share it.

Sheila Atwood writes “Newbie Lifeline” , a beginner’s guide to making money online. Her current series is on marketing.

It is so easy to get accustomed to going with the flow so that it becomes harder to stop and ask yourself searching questions.  To assist you in determining what motivates you in your online business, here are seven questions I will encourage you to ask yourself.  I tried to be honest with myself when I did my check-up and was a little surprised at my own answers to some of these questions.

1)  Are you channeling an interest, a hobby, or area of expertise into an online business?

2)  What skills, training and strengths do you have professionally that may give you a headstart in starting your online business?

3) Do you believe that to succeed in your online  business it will take hard work?

4) Do you desire the freedom to make your own decisions and enjoy flexibility while working from home?

5) Do you have the discipline to set a schedule and stick to it?

6) Is your determination strong enough to prevail against disappointments and discouragements that will inevitably arise in your business?

7) Are you ready to stop trading hours for dollars so you can earn an income even when you’re on vacation? And are you willing to do what it takes?

Bonus question:

Do you believe that it’s harder going it alone and that it’s important to build your support group – your peers and a Mentor?

I’d like to  encourage you to change ‘you’ to ‘I’ so that you take ownership and really get to the root of your motivation.

I’ve often heard people say that “So-and-So did not motivate me” or that the presentation did not motivate them to take action.  These expressions would suggest that someone or something external is responsible for their motivation.  Nothing could be further from the truth!

Effective motivation comes from within!  You can be encouraged by others; you can be moved to take action; you may even become excited by a dynamic speaker or presentation, but in the long run these are only temporary.  How does this affect your online business? What motivated you to start your online business?  What motivates you to stay in business? You have to be your own motivator; you must be convinced that what you are doing harmonizes with your deep-seated reason for being in business and will fulfill your goals or your purpose for your business.

During my years in Direct Sales, I built a team of like-minded women (and one man) who wanted to own their own businesses. Many times women attended dynamic presentations of the Marketing Plan as my guest, and many times one of my guests would become extremely excited about the possibilities presented, which were always presented in a legitimate, practical way. Many of these women would impulsively make the decision to start their business but did nothing further following the meeting, or started and in short time stopped working in their business. They realized that although the possibilities for making money, enjoy flexibility and being their own boss exist,  it takes hard work to see results, and it was more work than they were prepared to do.  Their motivation was not from within but they were just led on a temporary wave of excitement.

Like a fire that blazes quickly but goes out from lack of good, solid wood to keep it ablaze, if we are not motivated from within we will fail to experience success in our online business, because as sure as night follows day, we will have discouraging moments and experience challenges.  Our inner motivation is what will keep us working to overcome these times.

Do you agree?  What keeps you motivated on those days when nothing seems to be going right?  Please share your thoughts.

Motivation is a powerful tool that acts as a force to propel you to do things that otherwise someone may have to compel you to do.  How do you feel when you have to do a task because it is expected or demanded of you?  Quite a different feeling, I would venture to say, than when you do something you enjoy doing.

Starting to work from home may have seemed to be the solution to a particular problem, but are you now doing something you really enjoy, or are you doing something that’s convenient?  I believe that in order to be an effective “boss” to yourself, you have to be doing something that you want to do and love to do.  Otherwise, what will serve to motivate you to work in your business and not procrastinate?  If you do not have internatal motivation and there is no immediate penalty for not doing it, you’re likely to procrastinate or not do it at all.

Working from home may provide your family’s main income or it may be the second income for the family.  However, to be successful you must identify what you really enjoy doing so that you will be motivated to make a success of your business and not allow procrastination to sabotage your business.