Fear Of The Unknown

“Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision.”

-Ayn Rand, was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter.

Self-Motivation is not something that is easy to come by.

How can you motivate yourself?

There will always be times in your life when you have to perform tasks that you deem unpleasant for one reason or another – working with a co-worker you don’t like, going to work on Mondays, taking the garbage out, driving to meet the in-laws at the airport, having dinner with the spouse’s friends…

Doing these things just siphons whatever motivation you have inside you and makes you feel sad, tired, sorry, even annoyed. But did you know that there are also things inside you that actually make it difficult to feel excited and enthusiastic?

Get to know the factors that make hard to get motivated:

Your mindset

Your mindset is a major factor that can get in the way of motivation. This is because it can severely limit your understanding of the world and all experiences in general. Your mindset can be a mine field of barriers. These walls are composed of old beliefs, prejudices, biases and standards. For example, if you refuse to believe that you can actually write for a famous magazine because you’re a person from a small town, you’ll miss out on an opportunity to expose your talent and reap its rewards.

Your comfort zone

We all have certain limitations in our minds. These limits are things we decide on based on our own personal beliefs, ethics and standards. Within these limits, we feel comfortable and safe, like a nice warm blanket.

Once we approach the outer edges of our blankie, we begin to feel discomfort, shyness, embarrassment or annoyance. We just don’t want to go any further because we just can’t look past what we don’t know or haven’t experienced. Because we have a fear of the unknown, we’d rather stay within our comfort zones because we feel safe and secure.

The problem is that a narrow comfort zone can get in the way of your motivation. Each time you are presented with a new idea or experience, you check to see if it fits into your comfort zone. If it doesn’t, then you simply refuse, no questions asked. This is unfortunate because many of these ideas and experiences can be good for you. But you’ll probably never know because you don’t have the motivation to try them.

Your past experience

Your background – personal, social and professional experiences – has a lot to do with how you decide things in your life. They can also be factors that get in the way of motivation. If these experiences are negative, they tend to make you more hesitant and unsure of yourself because they affect your self-esteem and confidence.

For Example, if you’ve only been met with rejection or ridicule in your life, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine if you don’t feel a strong need to excel or to improve yourself. You’ll probably be thinking – ‘So what? Nothing I ever did was good anyway. Why would things change now?’ Unless you consciously make an effort to identify these past experiences and then refuse to let them rule your life, you will always be hard to motivate.

However, there are a few tips that you can consider when you feel that you cannot push yourself further or farther.

1. Know exactly what you want. What are you motivating yourself to do? Do you merely want to finish a job, or do you want to earn a lot of money? Set tangible or realistic goals for yourself. If you know exactly what you want, you can get it, and you can motivate yourself to get it.

2. Make your passion your work. The problem with a lot of people is that they work hard but they don’t know what their work is for. Do they want money? Are they simply working toward money? Do you want money, or does your money have a purpose? Give yourself a tangible purpose so that you can know what you are working for. Striving for money is an empty goal; striving for money so that you can get a good house and a nice car might be more tangible; striving for more money so that you can help your siblings go to college, your parents to enjoy their retirement, and your family to have a better house and car might be even better.

3. Practice Self Care. Sometimes, being burned out means that you need to stay away from things for a moment, have some time alone to yourself, and get an outsider’s view of your situation. When you start getting fatigued more often, your body might be telling you to slow down; and slowing down can mean re-energizing yourself by taking a vacation, or even just taking a walk. You may want to set aside some alone time each day for you to recharge, so that you are not constantly being barraged with work.

4. Don’t be afraid to say no. Sometimes, you can get so much work or responsibilities that you are saturated with stress, and you reach the point where you simply want to give up. Keep things on a manageable level. You need to stay sane to keep keeping on.

5. Reward yourself! Plan a trip for yourself or promise to take yourself to the movies if you complete your work with little stress. Little rewards, a walk in the park or a spa day can work wonders on your stress level.

Ultimately Self-Motivation is your to command, if you take the necessarily steps to break free from your old mindset, your comfort zone and your past experiences and treat yourself with the respect that you so totally deserve. Create an environment that has only one purpose, to support and motivate you.

Photo Credit: By Tara Angkor Hotel

Photo Credit: Dani Sardà i Lizaran via Compfight

In the fast pace world we live in today, life can be very stressful with the bills, children and just everyday normal life wearing you down. Life will have turbulence and will disturb you often if you allow. You do not have control over most things in life, but you do have control of you.

We need to find a way to eliminate the stress through Power Relaxation.

Power Relaxation:

Power relaxation is a term used to describe the fountain of power within us that helps us regain control and allows us to relax. Life can bear strong weight on one’s shoulders.

In life we often deal with the unknown, which causes a person to feel overwhelmed. Fear of the unknown is the leading source of unwarranted stress. When a person wanders through life continuing to fear the unknown, changes, or what he or she has no control over, it builds stress, until it gradually leads to health problems. To avoid this stress, our mind has to take control and recognize the physical changes in the body.

Control the mind and body:

Stress is taking a high toll on millions of people. What happens is people give up, feeling hopeless due to the lack of control. Taking action is the start to controlling the mind and body. You have the power within to take control, yet you must learn to accept in order to gain control. Acceptance is a powerful word that guides one to success. When a person moves to accept what they can’t change, such as the unknown, only then can a person move to change what they can.

Music relaxes the soul:

Sometimes we have to look around our environment to find strategies to assist us find our internal power. Outside us are helpful tools including books, videos, audio, sound effects, music and so on.

Personally, in my experience music soothes the soul mores so than any other tool we have available. Different music works at different times, I recommend having a large varied selection to call on.

But, we are different, so you must find what soothes your soul.

For some visual aids, meditation movies or guided meditations with sound work to relax the mind, the sound effects bring in the ocean waves, relaxing your mind as you feel nature take control of your body. Nature is a powerful tool we can use to gain control.

Breathe into relaxation:

Breathe deep in and out slowly and concentrate on letting your mind drift taking with it your body. I like to breathe in for 5 counts and breathe out for 5 counts, very slowly. Think about lying on a soft cloud and you can hear the birds around you, smell the flowers and hear water running in the background.

Breathe, keeping it slow and deep, slowly forgetting about the stressful day, clear your mind. As you breathe slowly, you’ll begin to feel your body relaxing increasingly.

Your limbs might start feeling heavy on one side or even both sides. This is ok because they are beginning to go into the relaxation mode. Relaxation is now working its way through your body; and as it does it will let the blood flow more easily as it washes through each cell on the way. Keep breathing deep and slowly, allowing your inner power to take control and bring comfort along with it.

You’ll begin to feel more in control as the tension starts to let up. Letting your back relax and thinking about floating on that cloud you’ll soon feel a lot better. Relaxation will start to flow through your body taking some of the stress with the tension. As you relax, your breathing will start to change also by becoming more relaxed along with your body.

Alone and Quiet:

Look around your house find a place that you feel peaceful, maybe it is a chair in the corner of the living room. Maybe it is in the middle of your bed, with the sunshine pouring through the window or go outside and sit on the fresh green grass under a tree. Find a place where you will not be disturbed for at least 15 minutes.

Once you’ve found the perfect spot lay or sit down be sure your leg and arms aren’t crossed and you’re comfortable at the same time. Now, just be alone!

You need to be comfortable to let your body release tension in order to eliminate some of the stress. It takes practice and time to learn how to relax but just take it slow. It becomes easier with more practice and the easier it becomes the more stress you’ll be able to get off your mind.

Now you can start relaxing.

Continuous Practice:

When learning new relaxation strategies you need to make a few small changes in your daily routine. I like to call these Inspired Actions. Take time out for yourself to enjoy your new relaxed feeling and you’ll soon feel better and happier. Getting rid of some of that stress and relaxing makes a world of difference on a person’s life. By practicing these strategies daily you will learn to draw your power from your own inner power reserve.

I like to start my day with at least one of these strategies; it just adds such a feeling of peace and power that keeps you in perfect balance. Knowing you have the ability to control how you are going to feel each day regardless of the stress, unknown or challenges that come your way… that is an amazing feeling!