Anticipation is Motivation

Soon my husband Jody and I head to Hawaii for a few days of relaxation and to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary which was in February.

Trips can be a lot of fun but I think the anticipation of an exciting trip provides a lot of benefit as well. When you are happy, hopeful, or looking forward to something you are more likely to have good energy and accomplish things. Anticipating something desirable is motivating. Before your trip you may notice you are more productive at work and around the house.

You can use the same technique to motivate you to move towards things you want in any area of your life. First you need to get excited about it. Anticipating how you will feel, look, act when you are living your best life is important because you are focusing on what you want from life vs. what you do not want. You gain clarity. And when you know where you want to go and how you want to get there the hard part is over. Most people don’t even know how to clearly articulate what they want. Can you?

Planning for a trip and planning to move forward with your goals are very similar. The plan motivates you, and setting a completion date keeps you accountable. If you create short term goals and action items it will also allow you to notice success, or progress, along the way.
So if you are having a hard time getting moving towards something you really want in life then consider coming up with a well worded goal, a plan, short term goals, action items and set a completion date.

Not a planner? Just like with travel not everything needs to be well thought out. The key ingredient to success is action. So go for it. The only risk is you may waste time and money doing things that do not bring about desired results. Planning can help to prevent that. But as the Nike ads say “Just do it”.

You are invited to share your stories and comments on this posting. Or if you want you can send me an email at solutions@jennygallagher.com.