Motivating Students - A How to Guide For First Time Teachers

A classroom can be run 1,000 different ways, but the successful ones all have one thing in common and that's motivated students. The only way you have of creating this phenomenon is the way you choose to interact with your students on a daily basis. Motivating a student is no easy task. There's no tried and true method that can be relayed with a few words, but here are some general rules of them that will put you in the right direction:

Show that you care about each student individually. If a student knows that you care about them they will be motivated to succeed in your class. The first step was learning their names. You have to get this accomplished if you haven't already, as it forms the backbone to learning more and more about each of your students. Take the small windows of opportunity you have, say when circling the room when you check their work or give back corrected assignments. Try to engage them in small talk. Some will be more shy than others of course, but over time they will establish that trust and will open up to you and you will need to learn how to get them to stop talking.

The students need to know how they can succeed. You already laid the foundation by being very clear about your classroom rules. That was just the start. When the time is right you also need to let your students know what you expect from them with every assignment, quiz, and test, so that they will know what to do to win your favor. If in your student's mind are thoughts like I have no idea what he wants from me!" then you haven't set the correct expectations or they aren't clear enough or they are not consistent on a daily basis.

A student that is motivated views their teacher as a pro. You aren't fooling anyone if you think you're going to phone in your duties and the kids won't notice. They know if you've planned ahead for the class just as much as you know. It is evident by how comfortable you are with the material yourself. If you are fumbling with things and bumbling because you haven't prepared the kids will eat you alive. If they sense that your lesson plans are solid, that you've done the proper preparation, and that you're putting forth a strong effort for them, they will likewise work hard for you. At least in theory.
Once you've explored these three fundamental truths you can do more detailed things to get your students motivated. You can go the extra mile for them and start adding bright spots to their otherwise dreary day, and add a little bit of fun on a daily basis.

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Student Motivation for You

 Student motivation refers to a student's interest,compulsion, desire,  and need to participate in and be successful in the learning process. It is generally accepted that student motivation plays a key role in academic learning.
Highly motivated students actively engage more in the learning process than less motivated students. Motivated students have a positive impact on learning. They take advantage of a given opportunity and show intense effort and concentration in the implementation of learning process. Also, they reveal positive emotions such as excitement, enthusiasm, interest, and optimism during learning.
On the other side, the less motivated were found to be less interested in participating in the learning process. Most of them were physically present in the class room but were mentally absent. They often failed to actively engage themselves in the learning tasks. Such students were more likely to stop learning. Less motivated students should be guided so as to develop a favorable attitude towards the learning process.
A teacher or an instructor has a significant role in guiding less motivated students. A technique called attribution retraining, which includes modeling, socialization, and practice exercises, is used to restructure less motivated students. Its aim is to help students to concentrate on the learning task without the fear of failure.
There are two types of student motivation such as extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is defined as the motivation to engage in an activity in order to obtain rewards or to avoid punishments from an external source. Extrinsically motivated students undertake an activity for the sake of getting good grades or a teacher's approval. Extrinsic motivation is again divided into two such as social motivation and material motivation. Social motivations include approval of teachers, parents, and friends. Good grades, future education, or job security come under material motivations.
Intrinsic motivation refers to engaging in an activity for its own sake, for the pleasure and enjoyment it provides. To be more precise, a student who is intrinsically motivated carries out an action for the learning it permits. Compared to extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation is more desirable as it is the motivation to engage in the learning process for the enjoyment of learning without considering its consequences.

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Hypnosis Motivation and Mind Motivations

Have you ever noticed that some people manage to be motivated ALL the time? They just seem to have some secret technique that helps them keep it all together. Whatever new thing life throws at them, they just take it in stride and go with the flow. Often, things we never think we'll achieve are actually quite attainable. Hypnosis motivation and other mind motivations are two of the things we'll be talking about to help you on your way.
THAT Person
Whether it be sitting for exams, cleaning the backyard, wanted to work harder, the zest to earn more money or the way they have fantastic relationships with everyone they come into contact with, watching OTHER people be motivated simply isn't enough to motivate most people in turn. What's stopping you? Is it that the other person better looking? Or that they come from a better family? Maybe they have a better job, a better car, better financial security or perhaps they are just plain luckier than you? Be honest, how many times have you been green with envy over a colleague getting a higher pay rise, or your best mate buying a big house. What would you say if I told you all these "negative" thoughts are, in fact, POSITIVE?
See the Signals
It may not seem like it, but these jealous, negative or self-depreciating thoughts are actually really good because they are signals for you to watch out for. What do they signal? That something needs to change. If you are quietly watching everyone else accomplish what you want to accomplish yourself, it's a signal to get your head in the game, because you are MORE than capable. You know it, but there's something holding you back. You might not think it's your motivation to commit to the certain goal you have in mind, but if there's something else there - it's your motivation to face what's stopping you that is really getting in the way. Now we're going to discuss a few techniques, like hypnosis and mind motivations, to help you do something about it.
Hypnosis Motivation
Hypnosis motivation is becoming an increasingly popular way for people to keep themselves on track when it comes to getting what they want. A good example of this in practice is as weight loss motivation. You might think that the idea of looking slimmer is enough weight loss motivation but more often than not, it simply isn't. Some people turn to friends to help keep them on track through group gym sessions, some people turn to healthy eating programs and others turn to a motivation hypnotherapist. The idea of a motivation hypnotherapist is that he or she helps you to strengthen your conviction to achieve a particular goal. For example, you might want to loose weight and become healthier. When it comes to weight loss motivation there are many directions from which a motivation hypnotherapist may approach. Do you have any eating problems? Are you an emotional eater? Do you have a tendency to binge? Are you simply unable to resist certain foods? A motivation hypnotherapist can help you identify why you have these problems and once you know what they are, you can plan a strategy for confronting the problems. It's funny how some of the challenges life throws at us seem unsurmountable when we really just have to teach ourselves the proper way of facing them. A motivation hypnotherapist can also help to reinforce your conviction to loose weight on a subconscious level.
Neuro Linguistic Programming
If you have an emotional problem like hurt, stress, anxiety, fear, guilt or sadness, your mind motivation solution is the Neuro Linguistic Program. What is this? It's an amazingly powerful model of human experiences and communication that arose from the studies of three "master psychotherapists" - basically, researchers identified the communication patterns which supposedly made Fritz Perls, Virginia Satir and Milton Erickson more successful than their peers. Using NLP as a technique individuals like you or me can learn strategies to develop our behaviour. Some points of NLP are knowing what outcome you want and being flexible in your behaviour, generating different kinds of behaviour to see what response you get and having enough sensory experience to recognise when you get the result you want. This model is a kind of mind motivator which can make many of the difficulties in life disappear. Using it, you can put spins on the events in your life so that pain becomes pleasure and with this, we can change our lives for the better. Finding out more about NLP and other mind motivations, and using them in your day-to-day life is the most successful way to change your life from procrastination to a positive energized life of motivation. How you feel about yourself in the present moment is the very source of all your behaviour. Your behaviour creates your life. So what are you waiting for?

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Self Motivation Tips - How to Motivate Yourself

In order for us to perform our best we need to be well motivated. Motivation plays an important role in our life since it is what keeps us going despite the many obstacles that hinder our path towards success. Moreover, motivation gives us the courage and encouragement to stand up each time we fall.
No two individuals are exactly alike according to psychology. People differ in outside appearance as well as in characteristics. We also have different ways on how we motivate ourselves. If you are one of those people who don't know how to motivate yourself, then you need some self motivation tips to help you out.

Here are some self motivation tips on how to motivate your self:
o Know who you are
You can motivate yourself easily if you know exactly how you can be motivated. Motivation may be extrinsic or intrinsic. Ask yourself which form of motivation appeals o you the most. Are you motivated with external rewards like material things? Are you motivated intrinsically wherein you are more after the fulfillment and joy you will get out of doing something right? Try to ask yourself these so you have an idea on how to motivate you.
o Visualize your prize
Coaches would often advice their players to visualize themselves doing the right moves and winning the game. The same thing should apply to you. Close your eyes and visualize yourself achieving that thing you aspire for the most. Think of the prize you will receive, the happiness you will feel, and other rewards you may get out of doing something. Visualization helps you remain focused and determined to go after what you want.
o Think positive
Your negative thoughts can dampen your enthusiasm and make you doubt your capabilities. If you want to be able to motivate yourself effectively you have to let go of your apprehensions and negativism. Think positive despite the problems you may face. Everything happens for a reason and it is how you look at things that matters the most.
o Pray without ceasing
Anything is possible through prayer. Having a silent moment with the Lord and telling Him everything that is on your mind can give you encouragement. Knowing that there is someone out there who understands you, listens to you, and has the power to make things happen can motivate you into working hard to reach your goal.
o Be with the right people
The kind of friends you have can greatly influence your performance and personality as an individual. Avoid people who have the tendency to put you down and discourage you into doing the things you must do. Instead, be friends with those who think positively or those whom you can always count on.
Anything is possible once you are well motivated to perform your tasks. The self motivation tips presented above are tested and proven to help you motivate yourself. Apply them in your daily life and see your performance soar.

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Motivational Speaking - You Will Be Inspired by It

We live in busy times where we have no time for ourselves. Today, depression and tension go hand in hand with our daily lives. Many people are greatly surrounded by depression. We need some booster to help us move up in life. Motivation is providing enthusiasm. Motivational speakers are inspirational both to the one who is the speaker as well as to the listener. Motivation can uplift any depressed soul. In such circumstances we need someone to lift us up and get us motivated to return to a normal healthy life.
Listening to motivational speeches can steer our lives towards positive thinking and towards changing our lives positively. Many today take it up as a career and try to help other people to get motivated and move out of their depressed lives.
To take up motivational speaking, a person has to be really dedicated towards their career and need to aim at improving lives of people positively. Such speakers need to have the ability to improve people's lives. Motivational speakers set up workshops and seminars on particular topics or subject. Motivational speakers are in great demand in this tech world today as the world is continuously in need of emotional support.
The Role of Motivational Speakers in Business
People in business are driven by pressure and need constant motivation and support. Motivational speakers provide great impetus to business people and many others to keep cool under pressure and remain driven in their place of work. Therefore, motivational speakers contribute greatly in business. Such business people can do their work well if they are balanced and out of depression and tension. They can thus become more productive and cooperative with their work.
Motivational speakers can assist every class of person in the society. Being emotionally motivated allows people to be more focused on their work. People need motivation not because they are unable to perform effectively but because people are not adept at carrying the load of pressure and demand of their jobs. Constant work pressure and load can deplete a person's resources to remain focused and motivated. That is why motivation is so important to allow people to remain focused on the job in hand and to take charge in life. It is generally seen among many business houses, where they hire motivational speakers on a regular basis, to keep their staff and personnel focused and emotionally motivated.
Motivational speaking is the work of experts who know their job and know what needs to be done. Experts can convey the message easily on any topic. Since motivational speaking is a blurred and multifaceted subject, experts are really needed. Many companies today are deeply involved with the topic of motivational speaking in their place of work. Constant motivational speaking and motivation can help peers to cope with their work pressure.
According to the new age business management, managers and executives new with the company are given special training to provide an insight into human nature. Since such managers and executives are well versed with the human psyche they are able to give out the best in their place of work through motivational speaking
Motivational speakers have the ability to challenge your thinking and let you arrive at a different and positive platform of life. Where the need arises motivational speaking can be personalized. If a person is not able to cope with the problems of his life and solve his own lives queries he can turn to motivational speakers to help them personally. Such speaking has changed many people's lives.
A motivational speaker can prove to be a management tool to improve their place of work or work environment in a better way. Motivational speakers can really transform people's personal as well as professional life. It is imperative that we know how we react to people around us and vice versa and the effect of motivational speakers in our lives and attitude.
A good motivational speaker needs to have good presentation skills. They can convey their messages correctly and directly. Such people can provide incentives to people to remain in their work place for long. They need to have the ability to speak on any subject and therefore need to have the right amount of experience and skill. They need to be trained in such a way that they are able to talk on any topic.
Many managers are doing extremely well. But what makes them feel that they have achieved success? This is a query in the minds of most people and this is needed to be answered. Motivational speakers have the stories to give out of such successful managers. Motivational speakers can stop employees from leaving their jobs. This can help the company to retain its good and experienced work force. Motivational speakers provide and help people and give them the right direction to succeed.
Motivational speaking has made a tremendous impact on our lives in many ways. Therefore, we need to respect their contribution to society. It is regarded as a profession that has its features as being able to understand people, their way of thinking and changing their attitude in life. Therefore, motivational speakers have to be themselves very motivated people that have a high amount of energy aura to influence and steer people in the right direction.

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Motivation, Must for Successful Life

Motivation:
1. What is motivation - Motivation is the virtual force which causes us to achieve goals or we say that one of the most important factors that leads one to their goals. It may be required for human specific needs like eating and resting, or a desired object, goal, state of being, ideal, selfishness and morality. Motivation has also been described as a desire or need which indicate and energizes behavior that is oriented towards a goal. Motivation has two types one is Intrinsic motivation which is explained as a motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself, and exists within the individual rather than relying on any external pressure and other is extrinsic motivation that comes from outside of the individual. Common extrinsic motivations are rewards like money and grades.The factors that motivate an individual keep changing as one climbs the ladder of age and maturity.
2. Why it is necessary - Motivation is necessary for all type of peoples like employee, student, businessman etc. For example a student is motivated for good ranking in his class, a employee motivated for his good work and a businessman is also motivated to increase his business, the same is true for every people known for excellence. They have a group of motivations that work in concert to help them perform at a higher level. The beliefs you hold about yourself determine the goals you are able to manifest in your life. Dream big, for when you do, truly you will see that your life becomes one filled with rich life experiences.
Here are few motivational quotes to motivate you -
>>In my experience, there is only one motivation, and that is desire. No reasons or principle contain it or stand against it.
>>Motivation to participate and contribute represents one of the most important element in the success
>> The person who achieved their goal had a Vision that Motivated them.
>>Motivation is Required for Excellence.
>> Motivation is a key of success.
>>Life's like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending.
>>You may close your doors but open them every time someone knocks.
>>Motivation comes from within.
>>Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.
>>Choosing a goal and sticking to it changes everything.

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8 Easy Steps To Motivate Employees

I've borrowed a quote from someone to set the context.
"In thinking about motivation from a management perspective, It's very important to appreciate this point: You can't motivate people, you can only influence what they are motivated to do."
While motivation is intrinsic to an individual, motivation levels can be increased or enhanced by managers / leaders. It is an advantage to have a motivated team however this advantage can be translated to higher productivity and higher level of performance only if managers / leaders are consciously and continuously making efforts to keep the motivation levels high for their team members.
It is also important to recognize that motivation triggers for every employee may be different and as managers it is extremely important to have the pulse of every employee and his/her motivation trigger. The one size fits all technique of motivating employees does not work in organizations anymore. Having said that, some of the motivation techniques often work with most number and kind of people if the managers take adequate measures to practice these in daily workplace.
Various motivation theories have been deliberated upon, researched upon and also sampled in many organizations to crack the right set of motivation steps to be followed by an organization to motivate employees. Across the world, managers have tried to discover and honed their skills to draw out the best qualities in each of their employees build and maintain high employee morale. Some of their efforts work some don't work, even if the ones that work, they are not sustainable in the long run. Managers across geographies and industries in various companies struggle to discover the 'magic mantra' to keep employees motivated and get the best performance out of them. Intelligent and efficient managers understand that it is imperative to have a motivated work force to attain success in business performance and achieve targets. Their individual success lies in getting work done from people and people will only give their best shot for any assignment if they are motivated to their jobs.
The most influencing leaders/managers recognize the fact that their performance depend on the performance of their employees and hence they attempt to create a synergized and comfortable work environment and they are often rewarded with superior employee commitment and performance. As a manager, it is imperative to infuse employees with passion for work and motivation to achieve. This will not only ensure success for the manager but also benefit the organization immensely. As an outcome of this, it will ensure the success of the manager.
If you are a manager and you want to motivate your employees to get their best performance out and help benefit your success and organization success, you may want to follow the 8 easy steps of motivating employees and see your workplace transform from just motivated employees to highly motivated employees who are willing to turn every assignment into a success.
The following 8 tips may help you, as a manager to understand your role better and get your employees to give their best and help you succeed in achieving your targets.
1. Build a Motivated Work Place
As a Manager it is important to know why your employees would want to be motivated by you. If you have the answer to this question, you will find yourself better equipped to engage your employees and influence their behaviors that in turn will make them more enthusiastic to do their job at hand well. Secondly, to recognize that motivation is intrinsic. Each employee draws his/her motivation from within and external factors like work environment, recognition, pay checks, bonuses etc only affect/ influence that intrinsic motivation. Thirdly, it is imperative for every manager to inspire employees to be their best, to take risks and unleash the limitless potential each one of the have.
2. What Drives People
Managers need to primarily know what drives the employees. It is important to put people in jobs that help them meet their individual needs while doing their work/job and that will reward you with a bunch of motivated employees who will perform their best and that will benefit the organisation. As a manager it is imperative to appreciate every employee is unique that their uniqueness should be recognized and each employee should be treated accordingly. Because each one is unique his/her drive/ motivation is unique too. It is hence necessary to shift gears and manage them uniquely too. Once you know as a manager what drives each employee, you can use that to make their work more fulfilling and merging their individual needs to those of the organisation by providing them work that meets their individual needs.
3. Employees Do It For Themselves
As a manager, if you aim to influence the employees' motivation, you have to first understand their reason for doing things. Employees are not truly energized or motivated by your reasons. They need to know what is in it for them. If you can help them connect their personal goals to those of the organizations, it will affect each employees' performance on the job that they do. It will benefit immensely if you are successful in setting up an approach that promotes personal and purpose for every employee. As a Manager when you emphasize personal growth and development as a tool to influence employees' motivation, you help them maximize their productivity and help them impact organisation achievement in a positive manner.
4. Encourage Intelligent Risk Taking
It is important to remind the employees the benefits of intelligent risk taking, it is critical to encourage risk taking behavior as a learned behavior. The more risk they learn to take over time the greater those risks become and if they are coached well to take intelligent risks it becomes easier over a period of time and the pay offs are sure to benefit the organisation and you as a manager.
5. Show the people the Larger Business Environment
As an Influential Manager, it is your responsibility to help employees understand the organization, its finances, operation mechanisms, competition environment, innovative thinking to name a few of the facets. It is important to share with the employees about the organizations, the strategic perspectives rather than just about how to do their jobs or complete their assignments. As an effective manager, you will stand to gain immensely if you aim to develop smarter, more skilled and highly motivated employees who shoulder stretched targets and impact the organisation overall performance. To achieve this, sharing the larger business context and its nuances is mandatory. This will also foster more ownership behavior among the employees. So, share the financial dashboards, operational efficiency indices etc with your employees.
6. Make Employees Feel Like Partners
The Best Managers make their employees feel like Partners in the organisation rather than mere team members. Why do they do so? because when employees feel the ownership of something, they care for it more and work for its betterment, often to achieve the best. It is a defining quality of a good manager to encourage entrepreneurial thinking among the employees, explain how the business is run and help employees feel as if they own the business. The transformation in your thinking as a manager increases the employees' movement from an employee to a partner in the business.
7. Know Your Competition
Competitive environment energizes employees and when they who and what they are competing against, their motivation levels automatically rises. It is great tool to bring people together and make them perform at higher levels than its competitors that in turn help the organisation grow. As a Manager you will stand to gain if you help employees to compete in the market by showing them how to compete by teaching them to learn more about the industry and stay abreast with the current developments in the market place. You may nominate employees to track competition data, circulate competition analysis reports, creating a learning repository of competition success factors etc. Being an effective manager, you may want to induce the culture of knowing the competition and constantly striving to measure up against them and better the organisation dashboards.
8. Nurture creative and innovative thinking
The big leap in any group performance happens as a result of a breakthrough in the collective thought process. The Big idea gives rise to novel actions that impact organisation results and growth and that takes them to a different dimension. It is a key responsibility of the manager to nurture innovative and creative thinking in each employee by using tools like brainstorming, ideation sessions, investigation of innovative and creative ideas, experiment creative and innovation solutions at work etc. Continuously emphasizing the positive aspects of creative solution finding and advantages of innovation approach to work will help foster the culture of innovative and creative thinking among the employees.

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We Give You The Seven Keys to Motivation

Motivation. It's a complicated subject that is studied by many and understood by few. Virtually every aspect of human life -- from the mundane to the life-changing -- is guided, swayed and altered by motivating factors. For instance, what to have for dinner may be motivated by a
desire to lose or gain weight. Whether or not to attend a business seminar may be motivated by the speakers, location and cost. When and where to buy new clothing may
be motivated by a long list of personal preferences as well as the changing seasons and weather conditions. Even reading this article is a motivated behavior. Do you
like the style of writing? Are you curious about the subject matter? Do you have a desire to learn new information? Do you have enough time to finish reading? If the answers are
no, you probably won't continue reading!
But since you have continued, you are obviously motivated.
You want to learn more about how to get and stay motivated, and how this motivation can help you become a better business owner.
THE BUSINESS OF MOTIVATION
Motivation is one of the most powerful driving forces in the workplace. It can mean the difference between tremendous success and failure.
Motivation stems from two sources. The first part of motivation is external or extrinsic (outside the person) sources. Other motivating factors come from internal forces, which are mainly your thoughts, patterns and collective experiences.
However, humans are unique, so what motivates Jack will not necessarily motivate Jill. You -- and only you -- will be able to determine what works.
Take the time to examine what internal and external factors are motivating you as a business owner. What can you do to enhance and refine your motivation to make yourself more productive and more fulfilled?
Here are seven keys to motivation that may prove helpful.
1. INSPIRATION
Inspiration is critical to getting and staying motivated. If you are not interested in your business, your motivation level will never be high and you won't be able to sustain interest forvery long.
On the flip side, if you are energized and excited about the work you are doing, you will have more persistence, energy and intensity.
Take an honest look at your inspiration level. Are you excited about going to work or is it an obligation? You would be surprised at the number of people who choose a
business that looks good on paper, but in reality does not interest them in the least. These individuals will grow weary and uninterested pretty quickly because they have no inspiration or passion to sustain them during the difficult times they will encounter as a small business owner.
If you don't really enjoy your work, then think how you can re-focus your small business to better match your needs.
Or consider making a change entirely. That's pretty drastic advice, but inspiration is that important.
2. SETTING GOALS
Short and long-term goal setting is vital for any business owner. If you didn't set goals, you would be adrift with nothing to strive for and no charted course to follow.
How could you possibly be motivated if you were unsure about the direction of your company?
Take the time to put your goals in writing. A business plan may sound daunting, but it is really nothing more than goals, strategies, implementation and a budget. Write your own business plan and update it at least annually. Include "mini-goals" that can be accomplished in a matter of hours, days or weeks as well as the more ambitious "grand-goals" that may take years to complete. Refer to this plan throughout the year.
But can a business plan really help motivate you? Yes!
Written goals will make you feel more professional and certainly more connected to your business. It will also free you from having to reinvent your business goals every single
day.
3. NETWORKING
Another key factor in getting and staying motivated is networking with other small business owners. One person can't move huge mountains. However, when a number of people begin working together the mountains are suddenly only small hills -- simply challenges waiting to be
surmounted.
In fact, the isolation of working alone is of one the most difficult parts of being an entrepreneur. Mutual support is motivating. So, make it easier on yourself by connecting with others either in your community or online. Even when businesses are not related, you will often find common
ground and ways to work together.
Many successful entrepreneurs report that finding the right networking group was a turning point in the growth of the business. Working together, a networking group can help its members generate more qualified sales leads and solve problems faster and more efficiently. Sharing ideas, expertise and experience is also an invaluable aspect of networking groups. And, don't forget about sharing costs, possibly by buying in bulk or with joint marketing projects.
Your own personal team of business owners will help re-energize you when the burdens of running your own business seem too much. With your networking team to rely on, you can accomplish more in less time and probably have more fun in the process. Certainly, you will feel less alone.
4. REWARD YOURSELF
Small business owners will always have to work hard, but all work and no play is a huge mistake. Your motivation will soon begin to fall if you never take any time away from the demands of running the business.
So, plan frequent rewards for yourself. No, it doesn't need to be a trip to Hawaii (although this is a great idea). Your reward can be as simple as a lunch out with an old friend, a matinee with your significant other, an afternoon of shopping or a relaxing massage.
If your budget and time will allow, take a few days off for a short trip or simply schedule a vacation from work for a few days. Make it a real vacation -- even if you don't leave town -- so no checking email, voice mail or the fax machine. You need to get away, unwind and renew yourself. This "down" time to regenerate will help improve your attitude and perspective. It sounds corny, but you will come back to your business with a new sense of motivation.
5. EXERCISE
While it isn't always immediately apparent, there is a powerful connection between the mind and the body. It is vital for every small business owner to take breaks and exercise -- everyday. If your body isn't healthy, your motivation will certainly suffer.
These exercise breaks don't have to be huge blocks of time, and you needn't spend money joining a gym or hiring a personal trainer. Start by walking briskly for 30 minutes before, during or after work. After you have incorporated a walk each day, then try doubling the time or doing two walks each day.
Whatever works for you is best, but the important thing is to start. You will begin to feel better.
After the walking is part of your routine, add some basic light weights. Buy a tape or go online to find out how to properly use the weights so you won't injure yourself.
You can keep the weights under your desk, and use them for just a few minutes at a time. Buy a timer the next time you are at the grocery store. Set the timer for for three minutes to start and then add a minute or two until you're up to 10 or 15 minutes each day.
Some small business owners have a television at work and they schedule a CNN break along with their weights. This way, they are catching up with world and local news while simultaneously getting some moderate exercise.
6. ORGANIZE
Organization is critical to motivation. How can you feel good about your work, when you can't find important papers or you are constantly late returning messages? Your business will falter and your motivation will suffer.
Some people just can't get organized. If you are one of them, then consider bringing in someone -- a business friend, family member or professional -- to help you get the clutter and mess cleaned up. You will be amazed at how this one important step will help you get back on the
organizational track. Don't stop there. Now really get organized by creating business systems that will help you streamline your operations.
The real challenge will be keeping yourself on track by maintaining these systems. For many, it is a daily challenge, but if you use your organizational systems you'll be free to think about other important issues.
7. MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKERS AND AUTHORS
As small business owners, it seems we are bombarded with motivational ideas and materials-- tapes, books, CD's, seminars, workbooks, videos and more. Why are there so many different motivational products, authors and speakers? Because people are buying these materials.
Used effectively, they are effective and therefore they sell!
However, there are so many different motivational gurus that it is often difficult to see through the clutter to find someone that makes sense for you -- someone who can get you "fired up" about working and improving your business.
Try talking to your mentor or networking group members to see who they might recommend. Start being aware of the motivational industry and how it might help you become more enthused and positive about your business. Do some light research of your own to find some authors and
speakers that interest you.
Before you invest in motivational materials, you can probably find some inexpensive ways to obtain the materials. Check out your local library, tune into your local PBS station, buy
materials with a networking friend, visit used bookstores or buy used materials online. Don't make a huge investment, because you will probably want to sample many different
viewpoints.
But do these materials really work? Yes, but only if you make the effort. Just like exercise, you have to work the muscles -- in this case your mind muscles. It is up to you to take that information and apply it to your own life and business. Really use the motivational ideas over a period of time and you will begin to see results.
KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING
Motivation is what moves us forward in our daily and business lives. Take the time to examine your motivating factors and use some of these keys to improve your focus and renew your enthusiasm. If you keep on track, the motivation momentum can't help but carry you forward.

Nancy Wurtzel is the founder and of All About Baby, an ecommerce company that offers  personalized and memorable gifts for children. In addition to a wide product selection, All About  Baby also featured helpful and interesting site content. In addition to running her own business, Nancy consults with other small business owners providing advice about growing their  ecommerce sites.

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