Power Thought for the Day..

Success, as we are so often reminded, is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. 'Take massive and continual action' is the mantra of our age.

But I think that there is a step missing in the success formula that is so often trotted out.

What comes before that massive action?

Action makes things happen and drives us towards our goals, but how do we start taking action? What is the fuel that sparks our action-engine into life?

Motivation.

If we are not motivated in the first place, we simply can't be bothered.

Then that other buzz-word of today, procrastination, comes into play. Tomorrow will do. I'll do it later. I can't be bothered.

Motivation is like a river. It flows through us, occasionally irrigating a few seeds, once in while dropping some silt, but mostly sweeping on by. It runs right through our fingers.

Even though we know that we need to bottle it, by the time we've thought that, it has gone.

But you know what? Rivers can be dammed.

Enough of the metaphor. How can we build up the reserve of motivation in our life to such a high level that taking action becomes the easy part?

We have to have an itch to scratch.

Very few people will be motivated to take massive action to achieve something that they feel luke warm about.

We all need a burning desire to achieve something great.

But each of us is motivated by a different set of desires: love, money, companionship, self esteem, material possessions, safety, novelty (Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of human needs explains it well).

Personally I'm motivated by the desire to support my family and the fascination of new things.

Knowing that helps me to tailor my goals so that they are in tune with what I know lights my fuse.

Your motivations are going to be different to mine, but understanding them will have exactly the same result - you will be able to tune your life around the reality of who you are.

So take some time today to think who you are and how you can build that into your goal planning.

Once you manage to achieve that, your river of motivation will be harnessed, taking action will be the natural result and 'I'll do it tomorrow' will be a thing of the past.