Have you ever noticed how a lack of motivation can leave you feeling completely uninspired? One great way to turn that situation around is by consciously getting into a joyful state of mind.

What exactly should you feel joyful about? Well, it doesn't really matter, almost anything will do. But here are some ideas to help you get started:

One of the best things to feel joyful about is the end result you are working toward. If you are working on a goal and can't seem to get motivated enough to take action, start thinking about how good you'll feel once you achieve that goal. Imagine the feelings of excitement and satisfaction you'll experience when you can finally say, "I did it, I really did it!"

However, it's important to do more than just think about how you will feel; you actually want to fully experience those emotions. Allow yourself get all wrapped up in the feelings of joy and satisfaction as if it was already a done deal. Mentally and emotionally, you need to put yourself in that space and you need to do so convincingly.

Once you're there, take it to the next level by considering how achieving that goal will contribute to your life and the lives of others. What do you stand to gain from your achievement on a physical, emotional and financial level? How will it benefit others? How do you feel about those benefits? Imagine that you and everyone else involved are already enjoying those benefits right now. How does that make you feel?

Still not feeling the joy?

No problem. Start focusing on something wonderful that you really want to see happen in the future. It doesn't need to be something you're working toward right now, but it does need to be something really big and amazing. Make it something that you know will absolutely change your whole life and cause you to overflow with joy.

Here are a few examples you could use: Imagine that you're business efforts have just paid off with a huge unexpected windfall that will open up possibilities you never dared to dream about. Or imagine that you've closed on the house of your dreams, the title is now in your name and you're going to start moving in tomorrow. You might want to picture yourself as newly engaged to the love of your life, feeling that incredible rush of excitement and anticipation!

Whatever you choose to focus on, pretend that it's happening right now and allow yourself to get fully immersed in those intense feelings. Stay in that space and with those images for as long as it takes to completely fill you with joy.

Once you're feeling totally excited and joyful, immediately get moving on the project where you were previously lacking motivation. Take those joyful feelings with you and don't give yourself time to come up with any excuses. Just get started while the feelings are still strong.

Make sure you allow those feelings of joy and enthusiasm to flow into your current activities to keep your motivation going strong. You'll probably find that your energy stays high for a much longer period of time. As a result, you will end up accomplishing more than you imagined you could. Another great benefit is the fact that joy can make any action seem almost effortless. This can be a big help when you're pursuing a large goal or undertaking a difficult task.

Once you develop the habit of using joy to stay motivated, you'll have no trouble keeping your motivation strong and your productivity at consistently high levels. In the end you'll be happy and successful, and really, isn't that the way it should be?

My name is Jonathan Wells and your personal growth and development is very important to me. You can find loads of practical self-improvement information on my blog at http://AdvancedLifeSkills.com/blog Advanced Life Skills is focused on simple steps that have the potential to quickly transform the quality of your life. I also want to invite you to take advantage of our free 7-day ecourse: "Developing a Mindset for Success" available at http://AdvancedLifeSkills.com/successmindset.html