Do you feel down when you get out of bed? Have you lost your passion and drive for succeeding and realizing your dreams? Have you experienced unexpected setbacks? Are your motivation levels low? Have you lost that zeal that you once had as you went after your goals with passion and enthusiasm?

If you are feeling low or frustrated because your goals are not being realized as quickly as you planned, I’ve got some encouraging news for you. Here is a quote from a Hall of Fame member and the greatest basketball player that I have ever seen.

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Michael Jordan

Failure is temporary. It is not permanent unless you quit. So don’t let a few missteps get you down. The results that you want will come with determination, specialized knowledge, and persistence. You must apply all of these skills and attributes to what you are doing.

But you must do one other thing. Stay inspired. You must find a way to keep your dream in front of you. We have all experienced low points in our lives where we felt like giving up.

“When you lose sight of  your vision you lose the power behind your motivation.”
Anthony D. Carter

It is the person who keeps their mind centered on his desired results who will eventually succeed. Your dream is your inspiration. It is the thing that drives you. If you forget your reason then will you lose your motivation. So, despite the obstacles, set backs and disappointments you can still maintain your excitement by focusing on where you are going rather than where you are.

Use failure as feedback and let it guide you in making the necessary corrections as you proceed towards the accomplishment of your goals. This way you will eventually succeed and achieve the success that you desire.

Remember success is defined as the progressive realization of a worthy goal or desire. Focus on what you want. Let it inspire you to do whatever needs to be done. Keep that dream on your mind and pursue it with all of your heart.

To learn more about hitting your goals while living your life with passion and purpose join Silva Life Success Coach Jessie Bowen and me, Anthony D Carter for the virtual workshop entitled, “How to Live Life on Purpose” Upon attending you will get the tools to help you gain a new sense of direction, increased confidence and a renewed sense of purpose. You can find out more here: http://budurl.com/purposeworkshop

With goal setting it is inevitable that you will miss achieving some of the goals that you set. Recovery from that failure can be hard. You don’t have to stay down long. Here are some survival tips you can use when you miss hitting your goals.

Don’t get down on yourself. When we miss our goal we think all is lost. We look at all of the time and effort that went into the attempt as being wasted. We feel like we could have done more. Failing sometimes makes us feel like a failure.

Don’t take it so hard when you miss hitting your goal. It happens from time to time. As a matter of fact the more goals that you go after the more times you may miss hitting goals. If you gave it your best shot then that is all that you can do.

Think in terms of trying again with a different approach. Realize the missteps can be corrected. Once they are corrected you are actually in a better position to hit your next goal. You can learn from your mistakes and use that experience to help you with future success.

Accept support of others. They witnessed your effort and the can lend you perspective. You tend to be to hard on yourself. As you are questioning yourself on moves that you made that introspection can spiral out of control into a full blown case of frustration and disgust.

Talk to someone you trust. Ask a person who is already successful. If they have encouraged you before in the past then they may have some insight to share with you now. Having another person who is supportive give you their input helps you to see things in more of a positive light. You will almost always find aspect of the goal attempt that you can build on.

By Anthony D Carter

Persistence is a the main ingredient that determines your success or failure. If you don’t persevere through the struggles then you will most certainly meet with failure.
However if you are able to weather the storm in the face of trials, heart aches and disappointments while pursuing your goals you will eventually meet with success.

Here are some ways to strengthen your persistence.

Revisit your dream. Hold a picture in your mind of what is that you want. If necessary get an actual photo of it until you have it memorized. You want to develop the habit of remembering what it is that you are working for.

No matter what it is that you want you need to imagine yourself in possession of it. This works wonders for increasing your persistence and your motivation.  Use this approach for getting a new car, a college degree, or starting your own successful business.

As I mentioned earlier get pictures of what it is that you want and look at them often. Put yourself in the pictures. Imagine what it is going to be like when you get what it is that you want.

Maintaining a clear vision of the object of your desire gives you the motivation you need to keep going on in spite of discouraging circumstances.

Monitor your results. As you are following your plan it is a good to practice to examine your results regularly to see if you are making progress and moving towards your desired target.

Let’s say you had a goal to save $1,500 in six months to use for a down payment on that new car that you want. You make plans to save $250 per month. Then you start to do work your plan over the next six months.

If after 3 months you check your results only to discover that you only have $300. Then you must face the facts. You are not going to accomplish your goal according to your original plan because you’ve gotten off track. If you had just kept your head down and kept working you were headed for disappointment.

But now because you have examined your results you can still hit your goal 3 months later if you make the necessary adjustments.

Far to often we make our plan then we start working the plan, but we don’t stop along the way to take a look at the results. And later after we miss our goals we get frustrated and give up.

The best way to maintain persistence and stay on coarse comes through the consistent examination of your results. This way you can avoid potential shortfalls that are within your control. You will stay on track and thus stave off discouragement. When you are persistent you will eventually succeed.

Take breaks. Be sure to step away from your work from time to time. It may seem like taking time off is counter-productive, but it is quite the opposite. You will find that are actually stronger upon returning after taking a break or vacation.

I have struggled with this one before in the past, but I have discovered the benefits of taking breaks. After I take breaks I usually come back to my work more aware of opportunities that I had previously overlooked.

As the saying goes, I was too close to the forest to see the trees. When we take time off we gain a fresher perspective on what we are doing.

And your energy level will be higher as a result of taking that time off. Also taking a break will give you the endurance that you need to completely follow through with your plans. Taking regular breaks protect you against burn out.

Use these tips to increase your level of persistence. Your dream or desire demands a price that must be paid by you in advance before you can possess it. But the reward is worth it. Stick with your plan. Persist and you will obtain the prize.

Persistence is a vital ingredient in successful goal achievement. When we come to the point where we feel like stopping that is when we must press in all the more. Here are three additional tips for cultivating increased persistence.

Desire. The stronger your desire the more you will be motivated to do the necessary work. So, in order to stay persistent stoke the flames of your desire. Build that desire. Think about what it is going to be like to get what you are working for.

Determination. Stay determined to get what you want while going through good times and bad. You must bear down and continue working your plan whether you are experiencing your desired results or not. Often the positive effects of your work don’t show themselves until weeks or months have passed.

After phases of doing the work consistently we begin to wonder if we will ever hit our goal. Discouragement creeps in and we get weary. Next there is a tendency to rationalize. We then create a reason for backing off.

It is at these times that we must persist. If we do then we get our second wind. We reinforce appreciation of good work habits. We gain skills from the repetition of successful actions. And eventually we see undeniable results.

Habit. Develop the habit and the habit will take over. When I used to work out four times a week I always felt agitated when something disrupted my schedule. I wanted to keep doing what I had done the previous weeks before. I had developed a habit and I wanted to keep it up. That is a benefit that you gain from developing good consistent work habits. Once you get yourself going long enough it actually becomes hard to stop.

Momentum kicks in and you have positive habits working for you. Then it is easier to do what needs to be done than it is to procrastinate.