I just can't remain motivated.......

A diamond is just a piece of charcoal that handled stress exceptionally well. ~Unknown

Im great with short-term goals. In fact, I prefer them. Work my butt off for a few months to reach a goal? Im down with that. Ill give up a social life, down time, spending money, eating yummy food,drinking alcohol—whatever it takes, for the short-term. Long-term goals—ugh, not so much.Despite this preference for pretty immediate gratification, I have followed through with many long-term goals in my life.

I, like many of us, have noticed a pattern of finding it much more difficult to stay engaged once the initial excitement of starting something new has worn off.Through this learning process of motivating myself to follow through with longer-view goals, Ive come up with a few steps that have really helped me to stay focused and on track. Maybe somethings I do can help you....

Remind yourself that youre in charge

There are loads of reasons we get off track with goals. Self-doubt, fear we wont succeed, and concern that we are not setting realistic goals are just a few of them.This is really important to remember: You can change this goal if you want. You can keep going, you can revise it, or you can dump it altogether.When we are experiencing doubts, its easy to feel like we have no power; its easy to feel like we dont have a choice. However, most often, we do.I find it helps to simply remind myself that Im in charge. Many times, when the going gets tough, we begin to feel like the choices we made are not our own. Sometimes a reminder to ourselves that we are the ones who originally set this goal is a good way to rev the engine.

Look back at all youve already achieved.

If you have been taking steps towards your goal for a while, then it can be great to take some time to consider all that you have already accomplished. All long haul goals take multiple, incremental steps to attain. Pat yourself on the back, and remind yourself of these achievements.The thing is, once an incremental step is attained, it can quickly feel like not quite so big of a deal. It becomes commonplace, and its not as exciting as it was when we first accomplished it. Thats normal, and understandable, and its great to look back occasionally and remind ourselves what a big deal reaching that step really was at the time.When Im frustrated about what feels like a lack of movement toward a goal, I sit down and make a list of the steps I have already enacted to reach it, and what the results of those steps have been. I am almost always surprised at how much Ive produced. This clarity helps in releasing those feelings of frustration.

Explore the reasons youre going for this goal, and remind yourself often.

When Id start to get too caught up in all that noise, I would literally sit down and remind myself of the reasons Id chosen the path I had.Taking the time to have these talks with myself helped to re-invigorate me, to renew my focus, and encouraged me to continue.To really follow through with a longer-term goal, we have to have solid reasons that make sense to us.That said, goals arent set in stone. Like everything in life, its good to approach them with flexibility and open-mindedness.If you cant successfully remind yourself of your initial reasons for going for the goal, and get re-ignited about those reasons, then it might be time to re-assess.Only we can decide what is best for us, and that can change over time. Its so important to give ourselves permission to go for goals with full-on focus and gusto, or to change them, or put them aside for a while, or whatever else we decide is right at that time.

What techniques do you use to keep yourself motivated on your goal-getting journey?