Do you want results? You better have a plan. Inspiration is not necessary.

So I’ve been thinking about this topic for the last month banging my head against the wall. Is it really necessary to be inspired in order to keep following your goals and if so how to keep yourself motivated? The first thing that hit my mind was that every time I achieve part of the big goal which I have set myself I was feeling happy for a short duration of time. That’s right but I always set the bar so high, I can’t jump half the distance from the first try. I felt that I was actually putting no milestones in-between the point where I started my progress conquering the top and the last final bit where I’m already up there. Something turns into a fixed idea the moment I am sure I want it and I don’t lose my time evaluating am I becoming better in it until the finish line. That means I may not sleep, forget to eat and even lose my right judgement of how fast time pace. That seems to have its positive side. My mind is only seized by that one thing or all the things I’ve put on my “WANTED” list and is distracted by nothing. On the other hand, when you continuously push yourself to the limit you start to feel desperate that you are not where you want to be, lose your inspiration and motivation because of the repetitive action you are hopelessly doing. It’s just like you walk in a tight spiral which for you sometimes almost seem similar to walking in circles. So what’s the solution to that problem?

Have a plan. Is it really that simple?

Yes, I believe it is. Having a plan will help you draw a map to the final goal which you can follow anytime and be a little bit prouder knowing where exactly you are. Also, this is going to deliver you tiny bits of joy every time you reach the next milestone. Following your OWN progress, not what you’ve seen people can do, because what you are not seeing is the route they took and the time they spent behind their development. Otherwise, there is a chance you’ll be suck in this competitive modern world especially if the bar you are setting doesn’t comply with your own capabilities at the time you are looking up to it. I am not saying to stop competing, I’m just saying that nowadays you have access to so much information online. You are looking up to people who are confident enough to show themselves and their craft in a professionally looking videos and you can imagine what is possible to be achieved. Back in the day people were only comparing themselves to the known, familiar part of the world which wasn’t that much. Getting excited and amused by a juggler was a common thing. Try to search “juggler” in Google now. Google automatically picks the best search results. We are living in a very competitive environment.

How to organise and make a plan according to your current state?

At first, projecting the whole picture inside your mind will help you a lot. I know this may sound odd but it really helps. The first few times you may not be really good at this technique but you’ll get better and better. Using only this technique I managed to improve my results drastically in a matter of months and to be honest I am using it from the day I started to consciously live my life. Secondly, there should be good motivation coming from the inside. It may even be a sacrifice for a greater good.

One more principle I learned is that one motive is almost never as good as having two more. You should dig deep and realise why else besides the main motive you should be doing something and put energy to it. I’m not talking pulling it out of thin air type of search. I’m talking about really finding out how else can it benefit yourself and your cause.

How to make an effective plan? The magic recipe for success.

Do you have an idea? Just write it down. You are jogging in the park or climbing the mountains, chatting with a friend or on a big business deal. I don’t care… we live in a modern world where all you need is in your pocket. Just grab your phone, open the app you write your thoughts in and write them down. Don’t worry too much, ask your interlocutor for complete silence and tell them “this one thing they said really had an impact on you and you have to write it down in order to have it later”. That would be partially true because obviously, you got that idea during the conversation. I personally use Telegram – “Saved messages” to write down something fast. (Don’t forget to keep a backup!) The idea can be the title of a new plan or just a short route for another. It can be a milestone you missed earlier. Anything, just write it down.

Next step is to READ THEM. I’m not even kidding if you just write every random idea you have without taking the time to read it and visualise it later, it won’t magically transform itself into a matter. It’s you that have to go through the whole process. So here is your magical recipe you hoped to find out while searching on Google in order to achieve your goals with a plan.

THE MAGIC RECIPE FOR SUCCESS:
THINKING – > VISUALISING – > WRITING IT DOWN – > FOLLOWING THE PLAN

Knowing when to stop and what’s the point.

There are people out there that don’t take “STOP” as an option. These people will succeed nine out of ten times. They are ready to pay almost any price in order to achieve their goals and I admire their sacrifice. My personal advice would be to find the balance for yourself and what are you willing to give for the results WANTED. In my personal opinion damaging parts of your body or long term physical injuries are foolish moves. Where psychological stress can often be taken as a bad thing for most people and put them off the course I am confident enough I am mentally strong (crazy enough) to completely ignore this.

If you found this article while searching Google for “How to stick to the plan?” or “How to stay motivated all the time?” or “How to achieve results when I have no motivation/inspiration?”, well you are probably here to try and implement what you’ve already learnt. If your search was made just to find an easy way, I’m sorry but there is no such and you can always find excuses to quit.

Having a plan is not enough you need to follow it till the end.

People often love to complain they have no inspiration especially if they are more art-oriented. I want to assume motivation and inspiration are totally different things besides in this text until now they could be used as contextual synonyms. Let’s give us a simple example to see how they differ.

Let’s say that you are interested in getting a promotion and this is why you are working your fingers to the bone. You want that promotion in order to improve your lifestyle and afford to buy yourself a handy tool (example: expensive professional headphones) for enjoying your hobby more complete in your free time (example: music engineering). So that’s motivation, right? Now let’s say you eventually got promoted and now you sit down and start producing music in your free time but everything you come up with is odd and unpleasant. You know you can do better because you know yourself and what you’ve done before is levels above. In this case, there are two options. You rather chose to take a break as long as you need and continue trying to come up with a better melody later or you push yourself every second you have free time because your plan is to become a full-time music producer and having a portfolio is a significant part of that plan.

Let’s talk about inspiration and is it really needed a hundred per cent of the time?

The truth is finding the balance will solve all your problems. If you are obsessed with achieving your goal but you are trying and trying and trying constantly for days and you have that creative blocking maybe it’s time to take a break. On the other hand, if you continue trying, in the end, you’ll have different variations and even if they look like trash on the first look my advice is to keep them all. This was exactly what happened to me. I came to the realisation I better work all the hours that the Universe send and have something done in the end instead of complaining and waiting for my inspiration that will eventually come anyways. Then I’ll use that inspiration in order to make even a greater product.

Final thoughts and possible outcomes.

It’s that simple. Do you want results? Just keep grinding. You would either achieve what you were aiming for or not but what better do you have to do with your life? Create, improve and leave a trail behind everything in the physical world is transient. Show you are worth something to this place and pick the fruits of your hard work later. I myself struggled a lot with being productive all the time, no matter what crazy obstacle I face so I wanted to share my personal experience with you. Hopefully, it was helpful. I am opened for suggestions and thoughts on the topic and everyone is welcomed to share theirs in the comments below.