5 Ways To Slay The Un-Motivation Demon

Are you having a hard time getting motivated? Know what you want to do, but it’s a challenge kicking yourself in the butt to get up and do it?

You’re being haunted by the un-motivation demon. Fortunately, there are 5 ways to slay it.
You could be making attempts to get out there and do what you’re setting out to do. And even begin to get results here or there. But your surroundings, circumstances, and negative or lazy forces around you constantly hold you back. They pull you back to where you started. And you get discouraged or convince yourself you can’t do it.

That’s the un-motivation demon at work.

And if you want to turn your dreams into reality, your quest is to slay the un-motivation demon.
You can get motivated – and stay motivated. You can turn your dreams into reality. And it’s not as hard as you think.

It just requires an initial effort to change your environment into a positive one. Once you’ve turned these things into a habit, your new proactive environment will be auto-motivating – you’ll have a hard time not getting motivated.

5 Ways to Slay the Un-Motivation Demon

Ditch Friends That Hold You Back: Spend less time with friends that just want to “hang out” and not talk about taking steps towards your dream or ideal lifestyle, making more money, etc. Especially stop being around those that say you can’t do something.During college, I had some friends that I just hung out with. I had ambitious and adventurous ideas on business and non-9-to-5 lifestyle, but I didn’t have anyone to talk to. And the idea of entrepreneurship evoked responses of “get real” or “yeah right.” So for years I wouldn’t be motivated, and even doubting myself sometimes. But when I started finding new people‚Äîones that motivated and inspired me‚ÄîI begun spending less time with the aforementioned friends. And it made all the difference: the discouraging talks began to be replaced with a can-do attitude.To slay the un-motivation demon, you need to have people ask you “why not” rather than “why.”So where do you find those people? You’ll meet them when you…

Go to Seminars: Go to entrepreneurial or other motivational seminars and just start talking to someone. The conversation will instantly turn into something motivating.You’re all there because you have a similar proactive mindset, so you can bounce your ideas off of others and have them discuss how you can make it happen, rather than shutting you down or telling you to get real. This kind of encouragement is very motivating.When I went to my first entrepreneur seminar, it was like a whole new tribe of people opened up to me. Here I was surrounded by like-minded ambitious, take-charge-of-my-life people. Ones that didn’t settle and had their eye on the prize of their ideal lifestyle. I had found my people. I kept going to more and more seminars, talking and meeting more new people (some of which became awesome friends over the years). It became easier to believe in myself and stay motivated – I had an increasingly supportive community around me.Want more people like this? Then…

Join Meetup Groups and Clubs: Find and join meetup groups related to what you want to do. Meetup.com is great for finding local meetup groups.Not only will you be able to do your new activity with other passionate people but, just like at seminars, talking to someone there will have the conversation instantly become motivating. Plus, there’s a good chance some of these people can turn into friends – ones much more compatible to your emerging proactive lifestyle.There was a business plan club in college that I joined. We helped each other come up with and develop business ideas. The insane amount of “why not” questions and attitudes hugely motivated me. No shooting down, no “get real” comments – just pure proactive energy. That, combined with the seminars I was attending (and not spending time with the aforementioned unmotivated friends), gave me the surge of motivation to confidently slay the un-motivation demon.Okay, but what about when you’re not around these people? You can…

Listen to Audiobooks and Podcasts: Start listening to motivational, personal development, or business audiobooks and podcasts throughout day. Like when you’d normally listen to music.Even if you know all of the material and will learn nothing new (which is unlikely, but I’m just throwing it out there), you’ll get motivated by the positive and proactive words. And hearing a passionate person tell you this through your headphones is more motivating than simply reading words.After those first seminars, my motivation level would drop. I had to find a way to keep that level up in between seminars – at least until the motivational mindset developed into a habit. Solution: a portable music player + motivational podcasts and audiobooks. When I wasn’t around proactive people, I could still listen to a proactive person throughout the day, in between classes and during walks. That really helped keep the motivation level up to when I got to my computer and resumed working.And finally…

Do, Do, Do: Spend time each day actually doing what you’re setting out to do.This may seem like slapping-your-forehead common sense, but many people get so caught up in trying to motivate themselves that they don’t actually do much of, well, doing. When you do your activity, you enjoy yourself and start getting results, which motivates you to keep going.I couldn’t become a writer by not writing. I couldn’t become an entrepreneur by not building an online business. Everything else gave me the motivation to keep writing and planning an online business, but doing those activities is what produced results and gave me the ultimate weapon of confidence to slay the un-motivation demon once and for all. From co-building my first profitable online business with a friend to getting remarkable readers on my site Lifebeat, the results kept me motivated and pushed me to try harder.Turn the above 4 things into habits in order to get and stay motivated. But don’t forget to actually do the things that’ll turn your dream into a reality. Getting desired results is the greatest motivation of all

Empower & Multiply

In our final look at the book Becoming a Person of Influence by John Maxwell, I would like to look at the last two chapters. Chapter 9 is entitled empowering people and chapter 10 is reproducing other influencers. John lists four qualifications of an empowerer. They are…
1. Position
2. Relationship
3. Respect
4. Commitment
To empower people you must be in a position of leadership. Others can encourage, but permission comes only from an authority figure such as a parent, boss, or spiritual leader. To empower people you have to be in a position of power over them.

To engage people to help them reach their potential you need to evaluate them on their knowledge, skill, and desire. When you know where they are, you can model for them a direction to excel in. Using the analogy of a mother bird and her babies, people need to know what it looks like to fly. As a mentor, you have the best opportunity to show them.
Model the flight and work ethic you would like them to embrace. Expect people to succeed! Be sure to verbalize it and reinforce it. Once people understand that you genuinely want them to succeed, they will begin to believe that they can accomplish what you want them to do.
Once they are ready to proceed, transfer authority to them. That includes sharing both your authority and influence with the people you are mentoring and developing. When you begin to empower other people, give them challenges you know they can rise to. This will help them be confident and give them a chance to experience their new authority and learn to use it more effectively.
Once they have taken the reins and they have shown you their ability to complete the task, publicly show your confidence in them. Give them the credit for a job well done. Be sure to give them positive feedback. Don’t dwell on the negative and be sure to include constructive ideas along the way.
Once they have taken flight, release them to continue in their own. Give them as much freedom as possible. In conclusion give authority, responsibility, and offer needed assistance along the way.
John makes the point that the benefits of empowerment are very high. Empowerment helps people become more confident, energetic, and productive. It also has the ability to improve your life, giving you additional freedom to promote the growth of your organization.
One of the most incredible stories of empowerment that I have witnessed is the story of Kathy Gaulton. Kathy worked in the business world for over 30 years in retail management. In 1998 she took a short term missions trip to Tanzania, Africa, where she witnessed poverty and a community of people who desperately needed help.
Kathy had the idea of having the local people make drawstring bags from local fabrics. She took 5 treadle sewing machines which were idle and gave the local people training on them. Soon the machines were whirring away and within two days there were 300 completed bags that could be sold.
The people were really excited and Kathy realized how far a little training and some local materials could go to empower the local people to become self sufficient. Through this simple beginning came Heavenly Treasures, an organization that empowers impoverished people and communities all over the world to break the cycle of poverty through micro enterprises.
From the Kip Karen Krafters in Kenya to the Dorcas Design Team in China, Kathy’s seeds have sprouted in a big way. Amazing products are being turned out by the thousands and people’s lives are being changed.
These livelihood projects help reproduce other influencers. Once people become self sufficient they can teach other people the same skills. Soon the more skilled workers become leaders and the process repeats itself. Some of these onsite leaders have gone on to create new enterprises in other areas of the world.
Organizations like Toastmasters and Rotary International can help you learn the skill of empowerment. In Toastmasters it is not uncommon to see amazing transformations. All it takes is a caring person with a vision along with an unselfish passion to help others succeed.