Have you ever heard of the quote that says " Knowledge is power."? I think most of us have. Yet when it comes to motivation this oldie but a goodie does not seem to cut it. No matter how much information we seem to get on the topic it still seems to be a fleeting idea for most of us more than anything else. So what is the deal? Well it has to do with ownership rather than using tips and tricks, motivation is about making those ideals yours. Read the following steps and make a decision today to begin to own you're motivation.

1. Success and Fear

It seems to me that one of the largest issues that will hold people back in their pursuit of happiness is fear. To be more specific it is the fear of failure, let's face it no one wants to feel like a failure. So then why is it that some of us are willing to move toward that which may bring failure and some of us avoid it like the plague? It comes down to our evaluation of success and failure. Try looking at failure as a learning experience a way for you to gain more information and more power, and then be willing to take that new knowledge and power and use it in your next attempt. Imagine it like chipping away all the other possible realties other than success.

2. Forget the list

How familiar does this sound; it is New Years Eve and everyone is running around being jolly, stuffed with a little too much turkey and eggnog. You sit down at the end of the night and decided GAD NAB IT!! This is going to be the year that things change. So what do you do? You set a goal! Then because you read in some trashy magazine that you should make a list of all the benefits you're goal will bring, you do you make a list that is two miles long. The problem is all the things on that list generally tend to be logical. Human beings as much as we may not like to admit are not logical, we are emotional. The solution? When looking at the benefits make a great effort to only choose benefits that are extremely emotional. This will guarantee some extra fire in your engine!

3. Negative is not bad

When you are collecting your thoughts and stacking the deeply emotional benefits of your goal do not to forget to ad in the deeply emotional negative consequence that you will face if you do not go along with or stick to your goal. Having a strong and clear image and feeling of what might happen or what it might feel like to sacrifice your goal can be massively motivating. So get out there and think negative! (But do it with passion!)

4. The View from Above

Another habit we often carry with us that can keep us from our motivation is our vision. I am not talking about literal vision, rather our ability to see the future. It becomes extremely difficult if not impossible to become motivated if we do not have a crisp clear picture of what our life will be like once this goal is ours. We tend to be very moment oriented; don't you find this to be true? We generally are more interested in what will make us happy in this moment and not what will make us happy a week, a month, a year from now and sadly far too often we pay the price because of it. So use you're gift of imagination to paint a vivid picture of the future, and all the splendor that comes along with it, do not be content with the present and you're improvement will be never ending!

5. Act for the Sake of Action

There will be a time when you use all these tools and ideas, and even start to make them become a part of who you are and still will see your motivation shrinking. Now this is when you're personal power matters more than ever. It is at this moment when you are really making an effort to improve and you are on the edge of break through that your old lazy self will fight with all it's got to ensure things do not change. So what do you do? You would do what any person that has a cause would do; you fight back with all of your soul, all of your heart, and all of your might. When you feel like you just can not take another step or get out of that bed when the alarm goes off that is the exact moment whether you want to or not that you must act. You must trump you're your negative thoughts with positive action. Just do it, do not think just make your body do what you know it needs to. Do this and soon you will completely own your new habit and motivation will seep from your pores.

Keep in mind all great things take time. But if you are willing to use these steps and commit to owning them and not just using them then I can say with certainty that you're life will improve. Thanks for reading and always remember to live like a champion!

Shannon Graham is a professional life coach that works with people to help them reach higher levels of confidence and empowerment. At only 25 years old he has been studying success principles and personal improvement strategies for over a decade. For more information visit: www.success4rlife.com