You can achieve extraordinary feats when you are fully dedicated to a task and put your heart and soul into succeeding. Strong, unbreakable motivation is often the difference between success and failure when it comes to accomplishing important goals.

It’s very common to start out with a bright attitude and brilliant motivation, only to lose track a little way down the line. When faced with flagging enthusiasm, here are some tips to get your motivation back to its peak.

1. Know Your Deeper Motives

When people set goals, they sometimes fail to put them into a wider context, but often the goal itself is not the ultimate aim. Recognize what committing to your goals will ultimately achieve, beyond the specific goal itself. The most rewarding goals are those which also affirm your values, make you happier, healthier, feel better about yourself, and make a difference to the world. Hold onto the amazing bonuses that will come from achieving your aims — and fully appreciate what accomplishing your goal will allow you to do next.

2. Create A Compelling Vision

It’s easier to remain enthusiastic about a goal if you have a strong vision to work towards. Make your goal utterly compelling, by visualising how fantastic the end result will be. Create a mental movie of you achieving your goal. See, hear and feel what it will be like to experience the wonderful rewards of getting your final outcome. Play the movie back if ever you feel demotivated.

3. Be Focused

Remind yourself why you’re doing this, at every opportunity. Organise your routine so that it prompts you to recall your goal. Stick a symbolic picture on the fridge, use a motivational quote as your screen saver, or put post-it notes on your bathroom wall. Keep your long-term aims in mind, whatever you are doing, and make sure each action you take leads toward the ultimate prize.

4. Take Small Steps To Big Dreams

Breaking a giant goal down into smaller steps can make it seem more easily attainable, so plan out mini-goals to help you stay on track. But it’s easy to get bogged down, or bored, by the more mundane tasks along the way. Instead of allowing yourself to be put off, acknowledge these little chores as an important part of the greater good. Great achievements are built from many tiny pieces, and they all play a vital role in you achieving your ultimate vision.

5. Cheat A Little

If you find yourself procrastinating about a tedious task, there is a little trick that can keep you going. Imagine having already done the difficult bit. Visualise yourself having completed the job, feel the satisfaction of having got it done, and bask in how it feels to take another step towards success. This approach will make you feel enthused about the task, making it much easier to get the job done.

6. Be Positive

Setbacks to your mission can be disheartening, but refocusing your mind to see failure in a new light can enable you to stay motivated, despite any difficulties. Basketball ace Michael Jordan summed it up well, saying: “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” Look at what you’ve learned from mistakes, and see setbacks as challenges, to keep your motivation sky-high.

7. Be Accountable

Having support to help you succeed is a really useful way of boosting your motivation when the going gets tough. Stay accountable for achieving your goals by stating them in a public arena. Announce your goals on social media, or get a buddy to back you up. A friend can reward you for following things through, or give you a pep talk if you’re slacking.

8. Inspire Others

You are more likely to stay motivated if your goals and dreams are not yours alone. A powerful way of getting others to encourage you is to inspire them to feel as motivated about your goal as you do. If you share your vision, and how it will benefit wider society, other people will happily jump on board. Having others’ encouragement and excitement to boost you, can help you stay motivated to the very end.