If you’re going to achieve your deepest dreams and desires, you must understand how your mind works. When you learn how to tap into the deep reserves of your mind, you turn:

* probably into possibility
* “I can’t” into “I can” and…
* “can I?” into “how can I?”

Here are 7 ways to get motivated and achieve your goals:

1. Feel It Already Done.

This works great for a fitness or wellness goal (or any goal). Most people have a hard time going to the gym because they’re so focused on all the pain and inconvenience of a workout – and since we habitually move away from pain – we dread going to the gym.

Instead, try feeling what it would be like if you had already finished your workout. Get those good vibes going. Feel what it would be like if you had already worked out. Feel energetic and alive. As you get into this state, your desire and enthusiasm to workout will inspire you to act.

2. Give Yourself A Reward.

This is very similar to feeling as if it is already done, but with one small difference. If you have a hard time feeling the feelings of having it already done, then the next best thing you can do is give yourself a reward. But don’t just give yourself a reward just for the sake of it – you want to feel the reward.

Feel the reward. Associate strong positive feelings with the end result – your reward. When you feel the reward, you reinforce that goal and your desire with your subconscious. You reinforce that goal to your subconscious when you reinforce the feeling. The stronger and more positive the feelings are, the faster you leap into action.

3. Ask A Buddy.

Recently I had to undergo a major WordPress upgrade on my blog so I asked a buddy to help. I phoned him up and told him about my situation. I explained all the details and asked him if he had a goal or activity that he had been procrastinating with.

It turns out he did. So I offered to partner with him – to do a trade – where he would help me in exchange for my help. The result was beyond amazing. I helped my partner with his marketing needs and put more money in his pocket while he helped me upgrade my blog to the latest version of WordPress – a definite win-win.

4. Work With A Finish Line.

Be clear with your outcome from the very beginning. Set a finish line.

When I worked on my WordPress upgrade, I set a finish line – not a deadline. I always work with a finish line – not a deadline – because I don’t want to be dead when I’m finished. Subtle, but effective.

5. Create Reasons Why You Will Succeed.

The majority of people are so focused on the negative aspects of their goals that they can’t help but talk themselves out of them. The way to gain back control is by gently bringing your attention to the reasons why you can do something – as opposed to the very opposite.

The more often you focus on what you can do – the easier and more natural it becomes for you to go out and start doing it. You must realize that your mind is not in control – you are.

Start managing your mind by creating a list of reasons why you can’t help but achieve your goal. As you begin this process, your confidence and enthusiasm will soar.

6. Have A Bigger Vision.

This is my absolute favorite way of getting motivated. It takes less time commitment on a day-to-day basis, but requires your persistence. This type of sustaining motivation is for much bigger goals.

It’s better fit for the ambitious type who has a much bigger project or goal to accomplish; one that will take you more than a year to complete. If you want sustaining motivation that grows stronger and more compelling each and every day, create a bigger vision. The way to do that is by visualizing your outcome daily for a minimum of 5 minutes.

7. Use “Pain” as Leverage.

I used to work with the owner of a construction company. He had this habit of telling everyone he knew about his goals and then doing nothing about it. Eventually he got to the point where he was afraid of telling the people in his life about his goals because he felt like a liar.

His construction clients were another story. Every time he promised one of his clients he would build a new home he would follow through. His track record for follow through with his clients was 100%.

Why?

Because he had a lot of pain associated with a failure to deliver to his clients. His business and reputation were on the line so he always took massive action.

Use pain as a motivator. Think of an important goal you would like to accomplish in the next year. Now that you have it in mind, make an agreement with your wife/husband/brother/sister or anyone who knows you well. Put a contract in writing with them that says if you don’t achieve your goal in the next 3 months you will give them $500 in cash. Sign it.

For most people, loosing that kind of money is more painful than taking action towards their goals. They will instantly leap into action to avoid loosing that money – and guess what else happens?

You get motivated and do the impossible to achieve your goals.

Steve is the creator of Freedom Education: Manifesting Your Desires Download Steve’s 7 Secrets of Rapid Transformation.

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Do you drink coffee? Have you ever tried to stop?

Me neither. I like coffee.

But what about getting up early? Have you ever tried waking up early? How did it go?

That was a challenge for me. I used to dread getting up early – especially for work!

I mean 40 hours a week working in a job you don’t enjoy… who the heck wants to do that?

But nowadays I love getting up early. Yeah, you heard me… I absolutely love it.

It’s so much fun to be up before the sun rise. It feels like I have a head start over everyone else… like I have some sort of secret that nobody else knows about – and if you “get” what I’m going to share with you by the end of this article – you’ll know the secret too

Would you like to hear it?

I’m sure you would. But first let me explain something important. There are two different ways you can get up in the morning.

Strategy #1: In my personal opinion, this is the more difficult of the two. It’s like pulling teeth, but you would be surprised how many people still use it. I used it for 28 years because I didn’t know any better because I thought that was how everybody woke up!

Here’s how it goes. As soon as you hear your alarm or start to wake, you either press snooze or turn off your alarm. Then after what seems like an eternity you get this negative feeling in your gut… similar to a feeling you may have had in before when you were late (or almost late) for work. As this feeling starts to intensify, you begin to make pictures of being late for work – and worse – your boss yelling at you. Then when the feeling is strong enough, you scare yourself awake and jump out of bed.

That’s how most people wake up. This strategy works well because it is a moving away from strategy. When you move away from negative feelings you are waking up with this strategy. That’s what motivates a lot of people to get out of bed – that negative vibe.

But there is a much better way. The second strategy is my preference and one I’ve been using for the past 5 some years without missing a beat. Would you like to know it?

I thought you would.

Strategy #2: The second way to get out of bed is to by using positive feelings to wake up. It’s also known as a moving toward strategy. I’ll sit in my bed for a few minutes when I first wake up and think of something positive that feelings good to me. As I sit with that positive feeling for a few minutes I get positive new memories and images floating in my mind.

Sometimes the experience seems so real that I forget that I’m in bed. As these experiences get richer and more compelling I usually thrown in something that I would like to accomplish for that day (as it already being accomplished).

I do this for 15 minutes every day… and when I do, I jump right out of bed because I feel great. And here’s the best part: because I’m influencing the part of my brain that is unconscious, that great feeling – that great vibe carries with me throughout the day. It’s probably one of the best (if not the best) way to get out of bed.

Much better than scaring yourself out of bed.

Use this strategy for at least a month every day and I guarantee it will be the best month you have. This is forward thinking at it’s best. You’re moving towards a future event that inspires you and that’s why it’s so much fun.

Which strategy do you use? Do you have fun waking up early? Why not?

Steve is the creator of Freedom Education: Manifesting Your Desires Download Steve’s 7 Secrets of Rapid Transformation.

I learn so much from my clients. Anyone who is a coach will attest to this. It really is a blessing to work with people who are striving for a better life and way of living…. these people are such an inspiration to me and they are some of my best teachers.

Recently, I was working with a client who has having trouble feeling good. He was feeling so miserable about his job, about his current situation and about his responsibilities. He was feeling overwhelmed and he didn’t know what to do.

One morning he woke up feeling really bad. So I taught him how to use affirmations to change the way he feels.

So he started saying the affirmation, “I feel great,” “I feel great,” “I feel great,” “I feel great,” … over and over again for 5 minutes straight and realized he still felt like shit.

But he didn’t give up…

He kept using the affirmation (“I feel great”) on and off for the rest of the morning in 5 minute mini-segments… and later that afternoon he started feeling better. In his own words, “I had a few insights and started to really enjoy myself. I started to feel really good.”

So with that in mind I thought I would share with you 6 Affirmation Secrets to Make You Feel Better:

#1. Repetition. Affirmations don’t work unless you work them. Repetition is what lays the ground work for this exercise. It requires attention and concentration if you’re going to make it work, but it shouldn’t be forced, which brings me to number two…

#2. Be persistent but not forceful. You want to gently repeat the affirmation to yourself. Don’t force it on yourself… just gently insert it in your mind repeating it out loud or quietly to yourself. Either way will work. What’s more important is that you focus on the affirmation and exclude any other distractions or random thoughts. Keep at if for 5 minutes to get it going and then you want to…

#3. Let go of it. Once you use the affirmation for 5 minutes… let it go. Don’t hold on, don’t dwell on it, don’t ask yourself if it’s working. Just repeat the affirmation and then forget it. You don’t have to hold on to it… just let it go and trust. You’ll be surprised what surfaces and how you feel; which reminds me that…

#4. You Don’t Need to Believe What You’re Saying. This is so important. I’ve heard on more than one occasion that affirmations only work if you believe them. You don’t need to believe what you’re saying! Absolutely not. My client didn’t believe it; he felt like crap and he still persisted… over and over again saying to himself “I feel great,” and the rest took care of itself. What’s more important is that you…

#5. Get Into the Rhythm of It. Stop taking everything so seriously and start becoming more playful. Lighten up and have fun while you’re doing this. Make it a game and get into the rhythm of it; get into the flow of it so that you begin to feel it. The very last thing you want to remember is that…

#6. There is a delay. You won’t change how you feel immediately. The thoughts you repeat to yourself now will affect the way you feel later. Said another way, the way you feel right now is because of what you were thinking – not what you are thinking right now. So take the time to create good-feeling thoughts right now.

Here are a few affirmations you can start using right away:

* “I feel great”

* “Today is light and easy”

* “It’s getting better and better everyday”

Try them and change the way you feel. You’ll be glad you did.

Steve is the creator of Freedom Education: Manifesting Your Desires Download Steve’s 7 Secrets of Rapid Transformation.

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The more we stress about our problems, the bigger they get.

Sometimes the best thing to do is let go of our problems.  Not to give up, but to let up – and make some “space.”

Yesterday I took the afternoon off.  Even though it was during the week I decided to go on a date with my wife.  No blackberries, hand held devices or computers.  No email.  Just the two of us hanging out for the afternoon; just like we used to when we first met.

It was such a great afternoon.  I forgot about all my problems.  I forgot about all my concerns and I forgot about my work.   That evening, 8 or so hours later I solved two of my biggest problems… one of which didn’t require any work on my part.  The other one came to me as a new idea.

How did I do it?  What’s my secret?

Here are the three steps to think more clearly and creatively:

Step 1: Think on Paper (30 Minutes)

There is a quote from one of the Rich Dad’s from the popular book Rich Dad, Poor Dad Book.  It goes,  ”Always think on paper.”

I’ve always loved this quote and lived this.  I have a white board in my office where I do all of my thinking.  I draw and doodle; I connect the dots.  I look to see how things flow together.  I cut and paste.  I use words and text to mold my ideas and explore my problems.

Once I’ve emptied my head I’m then ready to…

2. Mastermind (1 hour)

The phrase “two heads are better than one” is an understatement.  Masterminding is when you have two or more people brainstorming and working together to come up with new solutions to problems.  It’s also a great tool for generating new ideas.

My business partner and I have these mastermind sessions quite often.  We use these sessions to brainstorm ideas and bounce new concepts off each other. Before we start our mastermind sessions, we normally ask ourselves these 4 questions:

What is this meeting about?

What are we trying to achieve?

What are the challenges we want to overcome?

How will this help us? Our clients? Our business?

These are great questions to ask yourself when masterminding.  Just let the ideas flow and you’ll be surprised at how crazy and remarkable the solutions will be.

The last step is to…

3. Take a Mini-Vacation (2-6 hours)

Take a what?  Yes, a mini-vacation.

Decompress and disconnect.  This has helped me solve my biggest problems with the least amount of effort.

You’ve got to give your subconscious breathing room.  It’s part of letting go and trusting in yourself.  My best ideas are not the ones I get during a mastermind session or when I’m writing them out.  They come 2-48 hours after I’ve done my deep thinking or had a really good masterminding session.

So the trick is to be patient; to let go and relax.  The more relaxed you are the better.  That’s why I suggest taking a min-vacation; taking a nap, go for a walk in nature or socialize with friends.  Just give yourself a break.  The ideas will come.

Think clearly and more creatively by following these 3 steps.  You’ll be glad you did.

Steve is the creator of Freedom Education: Manifesting Your Desires Download Steve’s 7 Secrets of Rapid Transformation.

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Have you ever noticed how important it is to have a solid start to your day? This morning I started this article and I woke up feeling full of energy. Deep down I knew that today was going to be an awesome day. I’m sure you’ve had days like that too.

Think back to the last time you did something exciting. Maybe you were on a dream vacation, getting a fresh start to a new job, or even went to visit someone you hadn’t seen in a long time.

Have you ever had those feeling deep down that everything was perfect? Kind of like when you were a kid on Christmas, waking up at 5a.m. to see what Santa brought?

Well that’s exactly how I felt this morning. I felt fantastic and it all began that minute I woke up.

Now I might be totally off here. You might not be a morning person. You may wake up at the beginning of the week and say to yourself, “Not another Monday.”

And the moment you do that you’re focused on what is not working and how crappy things are. You’re focused on the things that you don’t want!

Tap into that Inner Voice

Our guide through all of this is that tiny voice in our heads. You know the one I’m talking about. It’s the same voice that is reading this article right now. If you haven’t found it, just stop and listen to it as you’re reading.

Did a little voice in your head just say, “What little voice?” That’s the little voice I’m talking about. There it is. It was there the whole time. You may never have realized that you talk to yourself.

Guide Your Inner Voice

Back when I was in University I was required to take a computer-programming course. I had failed the first time through and was participating in the course for the second time.

Exam day came, and I was extremely nervous. When the exam started I noticed that everyone seemed to be really focused. Everyone was into it. Everyone except me and the guy next to me.

An hour into the exam and I still hadn’t written a thing. The guy next to me had given up and left the exam room.

When this happened I started to panic. I began thinking about what was going to happen if I failed the exam. That tiny little voice in my head started to quiver. It nervously said: “If I fail the exam, then I will fail this course. If I fail this course, then I will fail out of engineering, and if I fail out of engineering then I will have to move home and get a job. Maybe work at a gas station or something. I wonder if there are any good gas stations jobs I could get?”

I really started to freak out as I glanced up at the clock. It was halfway through the exam and I hadn’t written a thing.

It was in that moment that I realized something. I thought to myself, “I wonder what a smart guy would do in a situation like this?” Immediately, an image of my roommate flashed into my head.

The previous night, he had said to me, “Steve, you’ll be fine. You’ve spent a lot of time preparing for this exam. If you were able to do the assignments, then you’ll be able to do the exam.”

That was when things began to turn for the better. It was in that moment that I started to ask better questions. I realized that my roommate was right. I’ve done this before, so why couldn’t I do it now?

I kept repeating those words to myself in my minds-ear. I kept repeating what my roommate had said until that tiny incapable voice grew into a loud determined voice.

Suddenly, everything was flowing and I was writing. I had started the exam. I began with the first question and then continued to the next. I completed the entire exam and I felt good about it.

A couple of weeks later I received my marks and I had passed. Not too shabby. It was better than working at a gas station

The point is that I was able to redirect my thinking and pull together the appropriate resources to get the job done.

One of the more effective ways to do this deliberately is by asking more effective questions. Here are a few you can try, courtesy of author and counselor Dr Nate Booth:

Jump Start Your Day Questions

• What am I most grateful for in my life today?
• Whose day can I make today and how will I do it?
• What am I proudest of in my life today?
• Who can I compliment today?
• What am I most passionate about in life?
• How can I learn and grow today?
• How can I contribute to others?

Try these out and have fun with them. Remember, in those last few moments, right before you wake, you choose how your day is going to go.

How will you start your day?

About the author: Steve is a Life Coach and the creator of Freedom Education – Mind Power for Personal Growth.  He is also the author of the ebook, The Genius Within YOU.  You can download his ebook here.