Reasons Why Motivated People Win in Life & Business

Motivation is not the same as enthusiasm. Enthusiastic people are energized and engaged, but those who are motivated want to achieve goals beyond the level of just being excited. They are committed to working through problems and succeeding in spite of drawbacks and issues that may occur along the way. In fact, they see drawbacks as a necessary part of the process to help them win.

Motivated individuals are, by nature, geared to win and be successful. These are people with a focus on meeting miniature objectives to maximize the achievement of the overall goal. They can strategically plan how to win, and they have a level of creativity to work around problems and to see the diverse ways to reach their goals.

Learning how motivated people win involves learning a little about how they are motivated. According to Jonah Robins there are two different sources of motivation. Motivation can be external, or it can be internal.

External motivation is based on rewards or, less commonly, on avoiding penalties or negative consequences. For example, winning a cash prize for the highest sales or earning a spa weekend for being voted as 'employee of the month' are sources of external motivation.

Internal motivation is something that is unique to each individual. It is the ability to challenge oneself, to strive to continually improve and grow as well as the desire to reach success as self-defined.

Internal motivation is a key factor for winning in professional and personal settings. External motivators are helpful, but they don't have the power and the sustainability of internal motivation.

Think of individuals who have overcome incredible odds. These people became winners in spite of the negativity or lack of support from external sources. Learning how to become self-motivated on an internal level is a powerful tool. Once learned, you can use this to chart your course to personal success.

Winning needs to be carefully defined. It is not always based on a specific, tangible outcome. Winning can also be in learning something new, becoming better in a given personal or professional area, or making steps towards your ultimate goal. With each success, you will find the capacity for internal motivation increases, which continues to support your efforts in the future.

Learning how to stay motivated and how motivated people win is key to finding long-term success in your personal and professional life.

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5 Mental Habits That Will Increase Your Happiness

In the last 20 years, science has learned a lot about the links between spirituality and happiness. Studies on spirituality, specifically on certain spiritual or mental qualities like altruism, generosity, faith, hope and gratitude, have shown repeatedly that they increase our level of physical and mental well-being.

Spiritual practices that incorporate these positive mental qualities and habits increase our happiness while practices that incorporate negative mental qualities and habits such as fear, hate and suspicion lead to the opposite effect.

These findings provide the scientific basis for good spiritual practices throughout the world. All major religions advocate these healthy spiritual practices. On the other hand, deviant religious practices advocate the negative mental habits and qualities, and it is in this way that we can recognize them as deviant.

Here are five positive mental habits that will increase your happiness when you put them into your daily practice.

Savor the Present Moment

The ability to savor the present moment, such as savoring the food you are eating or the moment you are sharing with your child, requires a certain degree of mindfulness of the moment. This habit of savoring the present moment leads to a sense of awe and connection, a feeling of joy and contentment -- all positive emotions that increase happiness.

Be Thankful for the Good Things you get

According to Jonah Robins Gratitude is an attitude that rewards you repeatedly. Those who have the habit of being grateful for what they have and what they got tend to find more joy and contentment towards life. Being grateful also makes one feel at ease - a sense of being at peace with the world. A mind of gratitude is open, expansive and relaxed. All these increase the level of happiness experienced.

Aspire towards a Meaningful Goal

Having a sense of purpose in life leads to hope, happiness and a sense of optimism, so set yourself a worthy goal. The goal need not be huge or materialistic. It can very often be immaterial, such as being of service to others, being a good role model for your children, or simply spending quality time with your family. You can start off with a small achievable goal. Once you have attained this goal, you can gradually increase the challenge and aim for bigger goals. Know that if you can do a small task well, you can also do a big task well. All it takes is planning and persistence.

Give Generously

Give or share generously with others. Regardless of how rich or poor you are, you can always give or share things, skills or services. There are many things you can give that will not cost you a lot, such as giving your time to listen attentively to a friend in need, to console a grieving person or to encourage a disheartened friend. Genuine giving such as these again leads to a mind that is open, expansive and relaxed. It leads to a sense of having, not lack. It leads to a sense of purpose and self worth.

Empathize

Empathy means being able to put yourself in the other person's shoes. A person who can empathize well finds it easy to understand the sufferings of others. They are also more willing to listen and help. Empathy has been found to be an important aspect of emotional intelligence. It helps us greatly in our interaction with others.

Science has shown us that people who consistently practice any one or more of the above positive mental habits daily are happier people. Science has also shown us that these skills can be learned. So start learning and putting them into practice in your daily life today and increase your level of happiness.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com