Pain may sometimes be the reason that people change. Getting bad grades may make us realise that we need to study. Debts remind us of our inability to look for a source of income. Being humiliated gives us the „push‟ to speak up and fight for ourselves to save face from the next embarrassment. It may be a bitter experience, a friend‟s tragic story, a great movie, or an inspiring book that will help us get up and get just the right amount of motivation we need in order to improve ourselves.

With the countless negativities that the world brings about, how do we keep motivated? Try these A to Z tip!

A. Actively avoid negative people, things and places. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

B. Believe in yourself. Self belief is absolutely vital to stay motivated.

C. Creative thinking will help you to look at things from a different point of view. Generating new ideas are always a good motivational boost.

D. Drive and determination are key factors in motivation. Don’t give in and don’t give up.

E. Enjoy yourself, have fun, motivation is much easier when people are happy.

F. Family and Friends are important, don’t lose sight of them, they are the first people we want to share our success with and they pick us up when we are down.

G. Goal setting is a great way to increase motivation and to track success. Sometimes it’s easy to forget how far we have come.

H. Hang on to those dreams, when things get tough remember why you’re doing things.

I. Internal dialogue is something that everyone should be aware of. Is that little voice inside your head telling you “you can’t do it so don’t bother trying”? If it is, ignore it!! In the words of Henry Ford, “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.

J. Jealousy has no part in success. Use other peoples achievements to motivate you and to inspire your own success.

K. Keep trying no matter how hard life may seem. When a person is motivated, eventually the way forward will become clear.

L. Learn what motivates you. If you’re not motivated to achieve the goal that you’ve got in mind maybe it’s the wrong goal. Check that you’re going in the direction that YOU want to go in not the direction that you think you SHOULD go in.

M. Make things happen, take action, don’t just think about it!

N. Never give up (unless of course “L” above has made you think that you are going in the wrong direction!) This is a bit of a recurring theme but….. “Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown” — Ross Perot

O. Observe what is going on around you and be flexible. The most successful people are the most flexible people and obviously motivation is much easier to maintain if you are successful.

P. Procrastination is bad, (apparently it’s also the thief of time and opportunity’s assassin) Decide what you are going to do, when you are going to do it then….. DO IT!!.

Q. Quitters never win. And winners never quit. So, choose your fate — are you going to be a quitter or a winner?

R. Remind yourself regularly about why you need to stay motivated. If you need to stay motivated to lose weight for a special occasion leave the invitation where you will see it regularly or put a picture of your dream dress on the fridge.

S. Start now, don’t wait for the perfect time, realise that NOW is the perfect time.

T. Take control of your life. Discipline or self control go hand in hand with motivation. Both are key factors in self-improvement.

U. Understand that some days are harder than others to stay motivated, if you have a day when you don’t manage to do whatever you set out to do don’t be hard on yourself just start a fresh the next day but DON’T GIVE UP.

V. Visualize your success, feel it, hear it, see it! You may even want to smell it or taste it but make the visualisation as vivid as possible W. Want it more than anything. Dreaming means believing. And self belief is at the foundation of motivation and self-improvement.

X. X. Hmmm, any suggestions apart from something cheesy about having the X Factor or going the “eXtra” mile?

Y. You only have one life so make the most of it. When you’re 90 are you going to look back and regret what you didn’t do or look back and smile at everything you did do? … and finally (sorry, I’m cheating a bit with this one)

Z. Zig Ziglar once said “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude”