Top Tips To Create A Persuasive Sales Letter

 The Myths Of Motivation

Motivation is a powerful thing.

It can motivate you to complete tasks that you might otherwise have thought insurmountable.

It can encourage you to work harder, longer, and with more passion than ever before. It can drive you to be the best version of yourself.

But motivation is also fickle and tricky, because it doesn't last forever. It comes and goes, which makes it difficult to maintain. In some cases, motivation isn't even necessary- certain tasks are driven more by momentum, or by your desire to avoid the negative consequences should you fail to complete them.

But when you need motivation the most- when it's crucial that you get something done- it can be almost impossible to muster.

What is Motivation?

Generally speaking, motivation is the process of driving yourself forward towards a goal or purpose. It can come in many forms, from lofty ideas like "honor thy father" or "the will of Yaweh," to practical things like getting a specific task done or getting home from work on time. But whatever the source of your motivation, it's ultimately about driving yourself forward.

So in that sense, it might seem hard to understand why motivation should be a problem. If it's the driving force behind your behavior, and you need something to drive your behavior, why wouldn't you be motivated to get motivated?

But the key phrase there is "driving your behavior," because motivation isn't an external force. It isn't something out there that makes you do things- or rather, it is; but not in and of itself.

Motivation is something that you do- something that you bring yourself to. It's not something that's an intrinsic part of your personality; it's something you bring yourself to- something you choose to be.

In other words, motivation isn't some sort of automatic force that just happens to push you in a specific direction when it senses an opportunity.

Motivation is deliberate, and is the result of your own choices made from moment to moment.

Why Motivation is Hard

There are a lot of reasons why motivation might not be working for anyone. You might be too lazy or unmotivated, for instance- so much so that no amount of motivating yourself can get through to you. You might feel so overwhelmed that you can't think straight, and when you put yourself in a situation where you'll be tempted to drop the ball, it's all too easy to do so. You might be depressed or anxious, so that your mood makes it hard for you to stay positive- or perhaps your health is poor so that staying healthy isn't easy for you. Big life events like getting married and starting a family can also often lead to physical or mental health issues that make motivation difficult. And there are also many other variables- somebody who drinks too much coffee might find themselves unmotivated in the morning, for instance.

Even if your motivation is there all along, it might be hard to see from the outside. You might be doing exactly what you need to do- taking care of yourself and your health, staying on top of your tasks, making progress towards your goals- but others looking in might not see it that way. You yourself might not even realize it; you might be going through the motions, but if you're unhappy or distracted, those motions won't amount to much.

But whatever the reason for lack of motivation, there are a few key strategies that can help fix the problem.

Use an Accountability Buddy

One of the best ways to keep yourself motivated is to have somebody else around who's willing to hold you accountable for your actions. When it comes to work, the simplest way to do this is through a formal task manager or project manager.

But another option is to simply have somebody around who will keep you honest. You can ask them not to make excuses for you, and if they see that you're not performing at your best, they won't let you get away with it. They won't just help you get better at what you do; they'll help improve your life.

Create Small Wins & Progress

A big part of motivation is getting yourself over the hump- the one that prevents you from actually getting around to doing things. The biggest part of that is the fact that change is hard. It's easier to get yourself to do a task when the bulk of the work has already been done; when you've already done a few things related to that task, it makes it easier for you to continue. So making small wins can be one of the best ways to keep yourself motivated.

But small wins aren't just about getting yourself started- they're also about keeping yourself motivated while doing something. If you've ever been on a diet or working out, or if you've seen others start new projects, you've probably seen this in action. When you're working out and it's going well, or when you're on a diet and you're actually eating healthy, it feels great. It's motivating for you to know that what you've done will keep paying off if you keep doing more of it- but if the progress stops, motivation tanks.

The best way to avoid this is to simply make sure that progress doesn't stop. Do things in incremental steps- rather than setting a goal of losing X amount of weight, set a goal of losing one pound every week for twenty weeks, for instance. Then when things start going poorly, take another look at your goals and figure out what went wrong. The fact is, you tend to get discouraged when things start going badly- but if you just keep seeing that there's movement and progress, then it's less hard to get back into the swing of things.

And the best way to avoid this isn't just by making sure you hit your milestones. It's also by giving yourself small wins along the way. Look at your goal, and ask yourself "What can I do now?" That might mean completing a single step towards it- or achieving some other form of small success- like getting a new job as an assistant manager at McDonalds who gets a raise every year for five straight years . . . but it can also be something else. Maybe you've been putting off starting a business because you don't have the money to invest. You probably do have the time, though- so start cooking in bulk, and grab some of those recipes that use a single ingredient for multiple dishes; once you've made enough of their ingredients that you're not wasting money, start selling the extras. If you find yourself working out and getting discouraged because it's not going well, then think about how your body might look if it's going well- then look in the mirror and find three things that are going right before looking for one thing that's wrong.

Conclusion

Motivation is a complicated matter, and if you've read this far, then there's probably something in all three sections that interest you.

In the first part of the book, I talked about how to make your job more fun- and that covers a lot of things, including making sure you're doing your best at what you do. That's crucial for feeling motivated in the long-term. But even when we do our best work from moment to moment, there are only so many ways we can motivate ourselves towards that end goal; without something to motivate us from the outside (like our boss telling us to work harder or get promoted), motivation becomes rocky at best.