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I’ve happy to present this guest post by Matt Maresca.  He contacted me to offer this perspective on motivation so I hope you enjoy the article.  You can find out more about Matt and his contact details at the end of the article.

There comes many times in life when we lose that fire to do the things we need to do in order to get what we want most.  We lose that passion to work toward our goals.  For a moment, we even lose our sense of purpose.  Something happens and sometimes we really don’t even know the cause, but we begin to think “what’s the use?” as we contemplate our goals.  We lose our spirit, our will to achieve.  The wind gets taken out of our sails and we have no idea how to get it back. The answer may be closer than you think.

A Discrepancy in Desires

Here is your dilemma: You know you want to be happy, but you are acting as if you want to be sad. The human mind is a crazy thing.  There are so many wires and bonds in there that sometimes things get a bit crossed up.  And this is why people often behave irrationally. Happiness is a choice, not something that is thrust upon you by a situation or a circumstance.  You choose how you react to your circumstances.  You choose your mood and your demeanor.  Everything about your attitude is a choice.

Unfortunately, there are acts of nature that are fighting this choice.  These acts are your habits.  Over the years, you have likely conditioned yourself to react negatively to certain things and positively to others.  This triggers your mental reflex to respond to situations accordingly.

Once your mental reflex kicks in, it gets the ball rolling in one direction or another.  To stop the momentum requires serious, conscious focus and effort.  You must will the ball to stop when it begins rolling you downhill.  You must clear your head of your negative reactions, and turn your thoughts into positive alternatives.  The problem is that, when you are feeling down, you really don’t want to focus any effort on anything.  You’ve lost your spirit and your will to fight for what you want.  This is why it is very easy to be negative and remain that way for extended periods of time.

The Turn-Around

To turn things around when you are down, you must remind yourself of how much you love being happy and enjoying life.  Remind yourself of why you do the things you do.  Remind yourself of your passions and your purpose.  Simply remembering the good things in life–the things that make you happy–is enough to stop the ball rolling you downhill.

You know you aren’t going to give up.  You know you have the opportunity and ability to do great things with your life.  Your plans got momentarily derailed.  Big deal.  You know you have the power to get right back on track.  You have this power because you have control of the most important things in the world: your mind and your spirit.  You control your attitude and the way you view the world around you.  Utilize this power to its fullest potential, for it is one of the greatest gifts you will ever receive.  Not many people realize their power to change their attitude.  This can put you at a major advantage in life.

The Self Motivation Kit

Whether or not you feel down right now, you can benefit from doing this exercise today.  Start by making a list of things you do not like about your life and the world around you.  What do you not want to experience?  What are your fears?  What gets you down?  What do you wish were different?

Once you have this list, make the opposite list.  Write down the things you want most in life.  Draw a picture of your ideal future.  List the things you have now that you are grateful for.  Write down your strengths and everything you like about yourself, as well as everything you want for your future.  Now look back at the negative list.  Begin working on the items by turning them into a positive.  Find the good in each situation.  Find ways in which you can take something away from the negative situation and better prepare yourself to create the life you desire for yourself.

For example, let’s say you recently lost your job.  What is the good in that situation?  Maybe now you can make a push to do something you were always afraid to do.  Maybe now you can start your own business.  Perhaps you can find a better job.  Or if you can’t find a better job and don’t have the capital to start your business, maybe this is a jumping-off point for you to learn a new skill or improve your current skills.  Maybe this is just a big learning experience for you and a kick in the pants to improve something about yourself.

When you have the will to achieve, there is nothing that can hold you down forever.  The quicker you turn the negative into a positive, the sooner you will get back to the things in life that you want and the more time you can live in happiness.  Practice the turn-around exercise whenever you catch yourself with a negative thought.  Find the positive in the things you complain about.  Find the good in your adversity.

The Test of Will

Overcoming adversity is one of the greatest ways to strengthen your will to achieve and build your personal power.  So whenever you find yourself struggling to find the good in a bad situation, simply say to yourself:

“This adversity is merely a test of my will.  I will not let this test get the best of me; and I will rise back up and be stronger for having done so.”

About the Author

Matt Maresca is a motivational entertainer and writer with a passion in helping people make their lives special by focusing on “Personal Power”.  You can read more from Matt on his website, My Life Motivation, where you will find advice ranging from how to be more productive to building self confidence.