This is my final blog post of the year, and with it being published in the midst of the festive season here, it seemed very relevant to me to be writing about ‘staying hungry’ when most of us spend so much time during this season being stuffed full. Of course, I am referring toa different meaning with this article, but the parallel is relevant – that is, as the new year approaches, it is well worth getting hungry and enjoying having hunger again – physically and of course psychologically…

“Stay hungry, stay foolish.” – Steve Jobs

There are a lot of factors that contribute to decreased motivation. Perhaps something has changed in your life and your old goals are no longer that much of a priority to you. Or maybe you experienced failure and now you’re discouraged?

When you first start something or get involved in something new, chances are you’ll feel the excitement. The excitement helps keep you motivated. But how do you stay motivated when that initial enthusiasm starts to fade? The trick is to get yourself excited and keep going.

The choice is yours. You can either choose to keep on going, or you can quit. But rest assured that once you quit you are sometimes unlikely to be as motivated as you were before. It’s natural to go through slumps, but your attitude often determines your outcome. As we have a new year edging closer, it’ll pay to re-establish your hunger for success.

Here are 10 powerful ways to stay motivated, energised, and focused for success! 

1. Start your day earlier and have a schedule

Understandably, not all of us can wake up at 5:30 in the morning in a great mood yelling “carpe diem”, but an earlier wake-up time produces an increase in productivity that you simply can’t get when you sleep in that extra couple hours. It’s important to understand waking up early is a habit, not a result of genetic composition, which means anyone can wire themselves to evolve into an early bird over time. Besides, waking up early actually gives you more energy throughout the day!

“The harder you work, the luckier you get.” – Gary Player

Starting your day at an earlier time also means you have more time to put this energy into productivity. These articles will help you more with this:

– Why you need routine in your life.
– How to become a morning person.

2. Do some exercise first thing in the morning

Exercise at least a little bit every single day. You don’t need to go to the gym every day, but try and do something every day. The best time to do exercise is first thing in the morning- doing this will help a great deal with your motivation. Moreover, research shows that exercising in the morning has been linked to greater productivity, lower blood pressure and better sleep. In addition, morning exercise also sets the stage for other healthier choices throughout the day.

“The key is not the will to win… everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.” – Bobby Knight

The hardest part is always getting started. Finding the motivation to get started might be tough at first but start small. Start by putting your trainers on in the morning and go for a short walk around the block. Start by doing fifteen minutes and then gradually build up. This will help you stay motivated. Exercise releases endorphins that make you feel good and when you feel good you’re motivated. When you’re motivated, you’ll perform much better!

3. Read a lot!

Reading is one of the most powerful habits that one can have in life. Take a look at all the great leaders in history, and even today, they all have been ardent readers. As a matter of fact, Elon Musk has even said that the only reason why he was able to build a rocket was that he read books.

“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.” – Vince Lombardi

This is not to say that you must read because people like Elon, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg all are reading, but because it is one habit that gives you a new perspective of looking at things. You have a limited amount of time in life. Hence, you cannot have the luxury to experience on your own. But reading is often the closest you can ever get to experience something that you have not done. That’s the best thing about it! Here is a great article to help you with this point:

– The importance of reading: Why you need to read more. https://www.adam-eason.com/the-importance-of-reading-more-why-you-need-to-read-more/

4. Dream Big

Everyone benefits from being every now and then visionary. A visionary is someone who cheers others up because they see a target in mind that others have not yet conceptualised. They see past the now and instead look days, months, years forward. They know the “as is” versus the “to be”.  Being a visionary will always have a positive outcome, whether that be actually obtaining the goal in mind or learning from the failure to adjust so you can get it the next time. Drive can never do you wrong.

“I work because I’m hungry. I’m hungry because I have goals. Those goals are based on my dreams and my dreams will soon become my reality.” – Anonymous

People who take normal levels of action are most prevalent in our society. They spend their lives taking enough action to appear average and create normal lives, marriages, and careers but never do enough to create big success. But you’ll never reach true success by being less than extraordinary. Put your big ideas out there and work to make them a reality, even if they are sometimes risky.

5. Have an open mind

Learn how to approach life with an open mind and look at things creatively. By having an open mind, you can start to think of a multitude of possibilities. While this ability can cause the time to seem like it is slowing, it helps to challenge assumptions, renew perspectives, and formulate enhanced solutions.

This attitude will help you develop an ability to approach each conversation as an opportunity to learn, or a platform to teach. Keeping one’s feet on the ground usually helps eliminate filters and hierarchies between two people and makes the conversation more substantial than otherwise.

6. Show humility and respect

Realising the humanity behind being foolish helps one to acknowledge that not everyone, in the grand scheme of things, is the same. Each individual follows their own path and passion. Humility and respect lead us not only to learn but also to embrace alternative perspectives and view life through the lens of a magnificent multi-faceted kaleidoscope.

“What’s the key to success? The key is, there is no key. Be humble, be hungry and the hardest worker in any room.” – Dwayne Johnson

Humility is something that will keep your vigour for success up. When you are humble, you take success as a journey not as a destination. This is the reason why the richest and the most successful names in the world, the likes of Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Bill Gates, believe in being rich and not showing off that they are rich.

They embrace the fact that success is bound to come when you put in sincere effort. For those who think of success as a destination, remaining hungry once they have reached that destination becomes difficult.

7. Spend quality time with family

Some people claim that they don’t have enough time with their kids because they’re busy at work all day. There is so much that they could be getting done in the day but they don’t, and then they land up spending more time at work and miss out on spending time with their families.

“Motivation comes from working on things we care about. It also comes from working with people we care about.” – Sheryl Sandberg

It pays to spend quality time with your family and/or close loved ones regularly. Make sure you allocate time (every day if possible) to your family or those closest to you. If you control your time carefully, you’ll have some time to spend with the people you love and you’ll find that it motivates you because you’re engaged and with the people that you love the most.

8. Try new things

Get out of the house and try new things. Try and engage with new hobbies and try and do things that you haven’t done before. Getting out of the house and away from your TV is a good thing.

“Sometimes it’s not about who has more talent, it’s about who’s hungrier.” – Anonymous

Whether you decide to try bungee jumping, water skiing, or a cooking class, it’s important to do new things. These activities will help you stay motivated. Doing nothing is demotivating, so spending too much time at home can make you feel flat. Going out, having great experiences and trying new things will do wonders for your energy levels and motivation. When you learn anything new, it helps you stay hungry and humble.

9. Reward yourself

It’s really important to celebrate success. If you’re in a working environment and you’re successful you can look to your peers or your bosses to give you that high five or pat on the back for a job well done. But why don’t you give yourself a prize or a reward for doing something extraordinary? Going above and beyond anything you’ve ever done before deserves a reward. This might be a watch, a suit, an afternoon out or a fancy dinner.

Give yourself a reward when you’ve put in a lot of hard work. Don’t confuse this with doing what you’re expected to do. The reward should come as a result of achieving things much greater than you could have imagined. Set yourself a target and when you go beyond this target, reward yourself. Ask yourself if you’re performing with as much dedication and effort as you did previously. That way, you can avoid complacency and keep going, according to a recent study by Stanford University (Huang, Etkin and Jin, 2017, Journal of Personality and Psychology).

10. Approach success as your duty

Approach success as your duty. It’s not an obligation- it’s a duty. See it as a responsibility that you have to do. There are so many people out there that would like success or that wish for success but that’s not going to get you anywhere. If you make success your duty, and the most important thing then invariably you’re more likely to be successful.

Hunger is a metaphor for being driven. If you aren’t hungry, why would you go hunting in the woods? Nobody these days goes hunting, but, you get the idea. Hunger is the metaphor symbolising the motivation, the need behind the cause. It’s the unfulfilled desire that is waiting to be fulfilled. The more you fill your head with that sense of hunger to grow, the more you’ll be pushed to go and get it.

Staying hungry helps you learn new behaviours in a more efficient and effective way. Practice the mantra by interacting with people having different skills, reading topics from different fields, or taking a course from a new area. Through the consistent application of these tools of success, you will realise something new, and come up with a new mantra in an effort to continue success and have fulfilling moments in life.

“Never give in. Never give up. Be relentless. Be unstoppable. Be so hungry that it keeps you awake. You can accomplish anything. This is your time.” – Anonymous

Have an amazing start to the new year, I’ll be back then.

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Have some of these themes here resonated with you? Then have a read of these pages:

1. Do you need help or support in a particular area of your life?
Coaching with Adam Eason Or Hypnotherapy with Adam Eason
2. Would you like a satisfying and meaningful career as a hypnotherapist helping others? Are you a hypnotherapist looking for stimulating and career enhancing continued professional development and advanced studies?
Adam Eason’s Anglo European training college.
3. Are you a hypnotherapist who is looking to fulfil your ambitions or advance your career?
Hypnotherapist Mentoring with Adam Eason.

Likewise, if you’d like to learn more about self-hypnosis, understand the evidence based principles of it from a scientific perspective and learn how to apply it to many areas of your life while having fun and in a safe environment and have the opportunity to test everything you learn, then come and join me for my one day seminar which does all that and more, have a read here: The Science of Self-Hypnosis Seminar. Alternatively, go grab a copy of my Science of self-hypnosis book, it’ll help you live with integrity!