No Regrets

Andre Agassi is one of the greatest tennis players of all time and one of the few tennis players to hold all four majors in one year. He had great motivation to succeed and his motivation was the fear of loss. In this excerpt from an article, he clearly describes his motivation:

It is 320 yards up the hill Andre Agassi calls “Magic Mountain” on the outskirts of Las Vegas. The desert is on one side; a gated community on the other.

It’s Christmas Eve 1999, 38 degrees. Following two hours in the weight room, Agassi sprints up Magic Mountain 14 times. As cars pass by, on the way to holiday dinners, Agassi is sweating, his lungs burning. There’s a look of pain in his eyes.

Even Gil Reyes, Agassi’s personal trainer since 1990 and the only other person present, wonders what’s driving this man.

‘I actually stopped him to ask: ‘What’s making you go?’ Reyes said.

‘He said, ‘Gil, it’s just something inside. This is my time. If I don’t do it now, I’ll regret it so much. That’s what it’s all about, eh, Gil? No regrets?’

Babe Ruth

The famous baseball player Babe Ruth demonstrated how the ‘never give up attitude’ is almost unstoppable. If you’re the type of person that never gives up, you’re going to be really hard to beat. This goes for competition as well as the universe in general.

Sticking with things until you get what you want is the mark of a winner, not just because it shows an indomitable spirit but because it represents a powerful intention.

“You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.” Babe Ruth

My Mum

My mum is a beautiful, loving, caring person who I have never heard say a bad word about anyone and her favourite phrase is: ‘Think happy and you will be happy.’ She is always laughing, singing, and making people happy – wherever she can, she will lift people up and make them feel good.

What people don’t see is her inner strength and motivation to survive which took her through the horrors of the second world war. She faced and overcame things no-one should ever experience.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou

Motivation Action Plan

1. Visualise in your mind what you want to achieve. Do this with emotion, using all the senses of taste, touch, sound, vision and smell. Experience the feelings of having achieved what you want to do.
2. Ignore any negative voices either from people or in your head, otherwise you will give up before you have completed what you want to achieve.
3. Find the reason this is important to you. Ask yourself what you will get out of achieving this. Then when you have answered that, ask again to get deeper, and then ask again to get to the real benefit to you. This will likely be one of your core values. Write up the list of reasons in a document you can refer to later.
4. Write down a list of all your main achievements in life. This is a powerful tool to help you keep going when things get tough, by reminding you that you are actually good and have had lots of successes in your past. They can be big or small and can be from school, home, social or work areas. For example: passing a driving test, helping someone in need, getting married or starting your own business.
5. Share your vision with someone positive you trust and ask them to hold you accountable.
6. When you hit a difficult obstacle on your way to achieving your goal, go back to the list of reasons you are doing this to remind yourself and to re-motivate yourself.
7. Remember that you need to maintain a positive inner voice and positive emotions most of each day, as you tend to attract what you give out. Work on this, as it is easier said than done. I have found that I am getting better and better at this and, because of that, things are improving in my personal and business life.

Final Thoughts

Motivation is literally the desire to do things. It’s the difference between waking up before dawn to go for a run and lazing around the house all day instead. It’s the critical element in setting and attaining goals. 

Research shows that you can influence your own levels of motivation and self-control, so figure out what you want, grit your teeth through the difficult period, and start being who you want to be.

“What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.” Ralph Marston

Thoughts for the week

1. What do you want to achieve in life?
2. Think about this question and come up with some answers.
3. We are only here once so make the most of it.
4. We can wander around aimlessly, or we can hit some targets we set.
5. Let’s live a life which has purpose and passion.

That’s it for this week have a wonderful weekend and stay motivated.

Warm regards

John

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