14
Motivate Yourself into Action
To avoid procrastination, you’ve got to stay motivated. To stay motivated, become your own personal cheerleader. Know that optimism is the most important quality that you can develop for both personal and professional success and happiness, and strive toward optimism.
NOTES
1. Most of your emotions, whether they’re positive or negative or in-between, are affected by the way you talk to yourself and interpret things throughout the day. If you tell yourself you’re no good, guess what? You’ll probably feel like you’re no good—and then maybe even start acting like it. Nip those negative thoughts in the bud.
When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Take five minutes to fill the mirror with all the positives you can think of. If you run out of room on the mirror, write down more positive emotions around the mirror.
2. Think of a time something went terribly wrong. It could have been a work-related failure, trouble in your personal life, or anything that would lend itself easily to negativity.
a. Now, look for the good in that situation. No matter what went wrong, what was good or beneficial about it?
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b. Optimists believe that each setback and obstacle holds a valuable lesson—one you can use to learn and grow. So, what was the valuable lesson in your setback?
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c. If you were back in that tough spot, what would you do differently? Optimists look for the solution to every problem instead of pouting or getting angry when things don’t go as planned. What could you have done, immediately, to solve the problem? What would an ideal next step have been?
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d. No matter what, optimists think and talk continually about their goals. They don’t get stuck in the past. So, taking with you what you learned from that difficult situation, where are you going now?
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