Have you ever been truly bored with what you do?  Uninspired?  You know that you need to head off into a different direction that will renew your passion but you are unable to motivate yourself.  You have become complacent and feel that there is a severe lull occurring within your career but you don’t know where to go next or what you should do.  You’ve reached what you thought was the pinnacle of your career but realize that you have reached the “fork in the road” of your professional life.  Where do you go now?

Drive and Determination

I believe these are fundamental and the basis of gaining direction.  You have to WANT to go somewhere.  You have to WANT to make a choice.  Instead of sitting waiting for things to happen, you have to get up and make them happen.  This reminds me of when I established one of my earlier businesses that was situated around teaching people and small businesses about information security awareness.  I did all of the work needed to make people aware of my seminar and I marketed myself and my business.  In doing so, I actually had people want to talk to me about future security awareness classes for their businesses!  Bottom-line, I was driven and determined to make things happen and to succeed.  This also showed me the many other hidden opportunities that were waiting for me.  Finding your drive and being determined is not mysterious or elusive; it starts from within yourself.  What is your passion? What do you like to do?  “JUST DO IT” as Nike so often reminds us.

Continual Self-Motivation

This builds upon your drive and determination.  You have to remind yourself daily and in every instance what you want to do.  You have to see the end even though you are at the beginning.   Imagine.  Be your own cheerleader.  You can do it!  Daily, make strides to your goal.  No matter how big or small your pace, you are stepping in the direction of achievement.  Always keep that in the forefront of your mind.  Not everyone is going to see what you see.  Steadily maintain your vision and do whatever it takes to stay on course.

Write Your Goals Down

Have you ever gone to the grocery store without a list?  If this has happened to you and you are like me, you end up buying a whole bunch of things that are not on your list and you forgetting things (some important) that you meant to pick up.  The same thing occurs when you do not write your goals down.  You end up doing a bunch of things that are not in line with your ultimate aspirations and you end up forgetting important things that you should have done.  This leads to confusion, cloudiness, lack of inspiration, and never getting to where you need to be.  You will lose focus.  This all can be prevented by writing your goals down.  Write specific actions you need to achieve to get to your greater goal.  Doing this will reinforce your drive and continue to motivate you!   Not to mention, your list will serve as a checklist for you so you can see what you have done and what you need to do to achieve your goal.

BELIEVE!

I know all too well that you can believe as much as you want but if you have no actions behind that belief, you will remain stagnant.  Just know that you can achieve whatever goal it is that you are trying to obtain.

One of my favorite quotes is:

“Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.”–Henry Ford

It all starts with you.  So….what are you going to do about it?