LEADERSHIP CAPSULE
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Wednesday, 17th May, 2017

TITLE : The Leadership Lessons & Wisdom Principles From The Ants 3

#1 SELF MOTIVATION

"Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest." Proverbs 6:6-8

Andrew Carnegie said "People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents."

Yesterday i said "If you want to excel in life, self motivation is essential. That’s the only way to get the power you need to overcome difficulties."
The question you're asking is: how do you motivate yourself? Here are several tips I’ve found to be effective to build self motivation:

#1 Have a purpose for living

I can’t think of a more powerful source of motivation than a cause or purpose you care about. Such cause can inspire you to give your best even in the face of difficulties. It can make you do the seemingly impossible things.
While other causes could inspire you temporarily, a cause that matters to you can inspire you indefinitely. It’s a spring of motivation that will never dry. Whenever you think that you run out of motivation, you can always come to your cause to get a fresh dose of motivation.

#2 Clarify your Vision & Dreams

Your cause is a powerful source of motivation but it’s still abstract in nature. You need to make it concrete in the form of a dream or vision. A vision is an inspiring picture of the future that energizes your mind, will, and emotions to do everything in your power to achieve it. A vision is an inspiring picture of the future that energizes your mind, will, and emotions to do everything in your power to achieve it. “Vision gives you reason to get up in the morning.” A vision leads the leader. It provides the spark that propels a leader forward. Vision activates your sense of purpose, connecting your daily work to your understanding of why you were placed on this earth. The clarity of your vision relates directly to your level of motivation. Having a dream is important because it’s difficult to be motivated if you don’t have anything to shoot for. Just think about people who play basketball. Will they be motivated to play if there is no basket to aim at? I don’t think so. They need a goal. You need a goal. That’s what your dream is for.
But just having a dream is insufficient. Your dream must be big enough to inspire you. It must be realistic but challenging. It must stretch your ability beyond your comfort zone.

#3 Be hungry

I love what Les Brown said about being hungry

"Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way."

To be truly motivated, you need to have hunger
and not just a mere wish . Having mere wish won’t take you through difficult times since you don’t want things badly enough. In many cases, hunger makes the difference between the best performers and the mediocre ones.

#4 Run your own race

Someone said I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself. Comparing yourself with others is an effective way to demotivate yourself. Even if you start with enthusiasm, you will soon lose your energy when you compare yourself with others.
Don’t let that happen to you. You have your own race so how other people perform is irrelevant. Comparing yourself with others is like comparing the performance of a swimmer with a runner using the same time standard. They are different so how can you compare one with the other? The only competitor you have is yourself. The only one you need to beat is you . Have you become the best you can be?

#5  Let go of the past

Always remember to forget the things that demotivate you and never forget to remember the things that inspire you. Believe it or not, one of the best demotivators is your past. Your past can drag you down before you realize it. Your past can give you a heavy burden on your shoulders. The good news is it’s a burden you don’t have to carry. Take it off your shoulder and leave it. You might make mistakes in the past. You might disappoint others with what you did. But it’s over. It’s already in the past and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Today is a new day and you have the chance to start again. No matter how bad your past might be, you still have a bright future ahead waiting for you. Just don’t let the burden of the past stop you. Thanks for Sharing this article.

To be continued.....