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Overview
Turn Over All Fears, Leave That Self-doubt Suitcase at the Door, and Get Ready for a Motivational Marathon
After writing her self-help memoir How I Changed My Life in a Year, award-winning blogger and motivational author Shelley Wilson received so many letters asking how she managed to stay motivated and elicit much-needed change in her life, she knew it was time to share everything she’d learned on her journey so far.
How I Motivated Myself to Succeed incorporates fifteen years of research, inspirational tools, techniques, and alternative therapies. Turning to holistic health in a bid to begin the healing process—physically, emotionally, and spiritually—proved to be a lifesaver for the author: “I’m not a floaty kaftan and bells-on-my-fingers kind of girl. I love pizza, duvet days, and reading young adult fiction! So, for me, it wasn’t about discovering an entirely new way of life but integrating the personal development techniques I learned into my usual daily routines.”
Key topics include setting resolutions and goals, list writing, celebrating achievements, life planning and organization, self-care for the body, mind and spirit, freeing yourself from fear, motivational tips, and a twelve-month productivity plan to use those fifty-weeks wisely. Also included are affirmations, uplifting quotes, power words, and happy weeks challenges.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781947727472 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | BHC Press |
| Publication date: | 02/07/2019 |
| Pages: | 192 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.44(d) |
About the Author
Shelley was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire but raised in Solihull, West Midlands, UK, where she lives with her three teenagers.
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
START AT THE END
BEFORE I introduce you to the joys of setting yourself a goal, planning, and organising your success, or before I reveal some of the incredible stories from the productive women I interviewed for this book, I think it's only right to tell you about the one motivational tool that I find to be the most beneficial.
Reviewing what you've already done and where you've come from is more powerful than you could imagine. It also gives you a great insight into your emotions, thoughts, and desires moving forward. There are quite a few of my favourite self-help authors who actively encourage you to review your past year/half year/month or to perform a closing-down ceremony at the end of a year. Two of my favourites include the queen of conquering your life, Natalie MacNeil, author of The Conquer Kit, who believes in setting strong intentions before you begin a task, and Leonie Dawson, who creates the beautiful, colourful, and slightly fluffy My Shining Year workbook, which helps thousands of women plan their best year. Whether you are reading this book at the start of a new year or not, a ceremony to get rid of any negative vibes and focus on the positives is always going to set you up for success.
I don't need you to get all hippy on me and prepare a fire circle in the back garden. There will be no need for flowers in your hair, bells on your toes, or a sacrificial offering of two Jaffa Cakes and a bourbon biscuit. A closing-down ceremony can simply be a few notes jotted down in your notebook; no biscuits were harmed in the making of this book! For years I've done this exercise, and so I thought it was worth adding in here in case you've never tried anything like it. You've picked up this book for a reason, and I'm sure it was in the hope of motivating yourself to succeed. The ability to close down all the parts of your life/year that haven't served your greater purpose is a step in the right direction.
It's so easy to do. I'd suggest grabbing a notebook and pen, so you can write whatever pops into your head. All you need to do is focus on answering the following questions — truthfully. Write everything that comes to you, no matter how crazy it might seem. Our minds are incredible tools for squirreling away bits of information that can have a profound impact on us. By doing this exercise, you will be letting go of the past, working out who, or what, can support you and how. Use these questions at the end of a year, month, or week, or whenever feels right for you.
• What did you do last year that you are proud of?
• What made you smile?
• Did you achieve the goals you set for yourself?
• If not, why didn't you?
• What made you sad?
• What areas of your life do you wish you'd worked on?
• What lessons did you learn?
Be honest and open with yourself because only then can your answers help you plan your successful future.
There is one final question you should ask yourself:
• What's your power word of the year?
I love working out my power word for a new year, and I have a small notebook dedicated entirely to my power words where I write everything I can think of that's associated with a particular word. My obsession with power word doodles came about after stumbling across a blog called Seaweed Kisses. The author is Michelle, who shares her passion for journaling. She reveals her best journaling tips and offers sneak peeks into her own diaries, while also highlighting daybooks from people across the world. One of her guests was José from Spain, who created a journal so breathtaking that it wouldn't have looked out of place on a Hollywood set (think grail diary from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, 1989). After seeing this post, I bought a beautiful leather-bound booklet (it's about 17x12 cm) with a tiger's-eye crystal embedded into the cover, and handmade paper. Using a double-page spread, I write my power word and then decorate the pages using my assortment of coloured pens. I write down my thoughts, feelings, and quotes associated with the word I've chosen.
For example, on my "Happiness" page I have a doodle of books (reading makes me euphoric). I've included a list of what brings me happiness, such as my children, my home, my cat, and a few affirmations, including "happiness is letting go of what you think your life is supposed to look like and celebrating it for everything that it is."
You don't have to go to these extremes when a simple Post-it note suffices, but I enjoy spending half an hour creating my power word page at the start of a year. It helps to cement my intentions for what I'm going to achieve.
At the end of this book, I've included a list of fifty-two power words (one for each week of the year) in case you need a prompt or if you fancy creating your own inspirational word book. In short, a power word is just a way of setting your intentions for the project you are planning. It doesn't have to be just one word; you might prefer to work with a quote instead. Write your word in bold letters on a Post-it note, and pin it to a noticeboard above your desk. I also like to log it into my journal, so I see it regularly. As you read this book, you'll get a feel for my obsession with coloured pens and stationery, so you'll understand when I tell you how creative I can get with my word of the year.
It might sound silly to think that one word can help motivate you to achieve success, but it truly can. Stay open to everything that I'm going to share with you. It all works or has for me, but I'll leave it up to you to decide if these techniques fit into your lifestyle. Pick and choose the motivational tools that resonate with you the most.
Think about the power word you would like to use as you begin reading this book; perhaps it's "motivation," "success," or something more unique to you. Make a note of it below, or write it in your journal.
My Power Word:
________________________________________
CHAPTER 2SETTING RESOLUTIONS & GOALS
"Achieving a goal is nothing. The getting there is everything." ~ Jules Michelet ~
IF YOU haven't read How I Changed My Life in a Year, allow me to share a brief introduction. As much as I would love for you to purchase and enjoy that book, you don't need to read it to understand what's going on here. I'll share the back-cover blurb first:
Straight-talking, honest and with touches of humour, Shelley Wilson shares her journey as she sets out to prove that being a fortysomething single mum with back fat and grey hairs isn't the end of life as we know it.
From fighting flab to writing a fifty thousand-word novel in thirty days, Shelley covers a wide variety of themes as she tackles twelve challenges in twelve months.
Now for some opening page highlights:
So much can happen in 365 days, but how many of those days do we squander away?
Take a moment to think about something you've always wanted to do, have, or learn. If you'd started working towards it twelve months ago, it could be yours now.
As yet another year rolled to a close, I decided that if I was going to show my children — and my clients — that it was possible to make your dreams come true, then I'd have to prove it.
Sitting at my parents' house on New Year's Eve, I realised that my string of broken New Year's resolutions would be the best starting point. Regurgitated goals swam around my brain: get fit, read more, lose weight — all respectable objectives until you eat your own body weight in leftover mince pies before the decorations come down! Resolutions abandoned.
I challenged myself to stick fastidiously to completing twelve resolutions, one a month, over the next year. To add to the pressure, I decided to blog the results for the world to see at: www.motivatemenow.co.uk.
When I began the challenge, I had clear objectives: to teach my children that they can achieve their wildest dreams and to show my clients that they are amazing women who can empower themselves to accomplish their own ambitions. I wanted to motivate people with the challenges I set for myself. Never did I expect it to change my life.
It's incredible to think that everything — my blog, best-selling book, becoming a full-time author — started with a simple New Year's resolution list. I'll never doubt my own convictions again, as those initial rumblings of discord allowed me to explore my life with a critical eye.
During my journey of recovery, and self-discovery, I realised one simple thing — I was in charge of my life. Having spent far too many years in a dominant and negative environment, I had unconsciously given my power away.
Understanding this helped me drive my future choices. It was up to me if I wanted to go back to college, retrain for an alternative career, and surround myself with like-minded people. It also meant that I was able to influence everything else in my life. I was in charge, I decided what I wanted, and I provided the motivation to follow through.
If I wanted to sign up for an extracurricular activity, then I would sign up. If I thought a choir group, Zumba class, or book club was a good idea, then I'd join it. It's a small, secret ambition of mine to enrol in an amateur dramatic group, but I have one problem — I'm tone-deaf! When I remember this tiny, insignificant fact, I also remember that I am in charge of my life. Just because I can't sing doesn't mean I can't be involved in other ways; I could paint the scenery, be a backing dancer (gulp) or be an extra in the crowd scenes.
There is no limit to our goals and dreams if we only allow ourselves the opportunity to believe that they're possible. Remember — by being in charge of your life, you give yourself permission to succeed.
A QUICK NOTE ABOUT LIST WRITING
In this chapter, I want to talk about the goals I set for myself and hopefully, help you to think through your ambitions for the future. We could all whip out a notepad on 1 January and write the usual nonsense. My archaic New Year's resolution list looked something like this:
• Write a book
• Read more
• Lose weight
• Do the ironing
• Go out with friends regularly
It waffled on and on, but you get the idea — it was the same year after year, and on reflection, I was setting myself up to fail with every resolution list I wrote.
First of all, I was never going to get to the bottom of the ironing pile because this is one household job I despise. In fact, my ironing pile is so high that I spotted a mountain goat teetering near the top last week. "Write a book" always got the top spot because it's been a dream of mine since I was eight years old. Reading and reviewing is something I adore, so this was a cheat resolution because I knew that I'd get through about fifty books over the course of a year and be able to tick at least one item off my list.
If I truly wanted to succeed, I would have to use an alternative tactic. Why? Because the old way wasn't working. I realised, when faced with a task or a problem, I invariably pigeonholed it into a familiar setting. I'd got far too comfortable at failing. As I looked at yet another New Year's resolution list, I understood that I was following the same path but expecting different results. It was quite an uplifting revelation. My addiction to list writing meant that this was my default setting for anything and everything I wanted to complete. Willpower had nothing to do with it!
If my deeply ingrained list-writing habit was a hindrance rather than a help, then I knew I had to re-evaluate my actions. I decided to use my list as a guideline for the next part of my challenge. It was the blueprint on which to base all the changes I needed to make to succeed. The list was just the beginning. I discovered that working out what to write down was a much more important task.
What does your resolution list look like? Do you notice a similar pattern? Don't panic — it is possible to choose goals/tasks/resolutions, whatever you want to call them, which are so meaningful that you look forward to working on them.
The final list that ended up being the basis for How I Changed My Life in a Year covered something from every area of my life. It might look immense when you see it in list form, but I'll get to how I broke down each section later.
• Lose weight
• Get fit
• Do something creative
• Give up the demon drink
• Do something I've never done before
• Adopt better habits
• Appreciate what I have by giving something up
• Get out and about more
• Learn something new
• Be happy and grateful
• Conquer my fears
• Make homemade gifts
The media is flooded with articles on goal setting, resolutions, and weight-loss regimes at the start of a new year. There are plenty of challenges available for us to take part in, but is it right to sign up for the first experience we come across? No, this would be disastrous for our development and our soul. Working out what we want to achieve takes time and thought.
You may rush to add a trek to Machu Picchu to your to-do list. This is a noble goal and one that I have on my bucket list. Deciding to travel across the world and climb to the top of a mountain isn't something that many of us can just do. It takes planning and funding — all of which take time.
As a single mum of three, I know that taking a trip to Peru is a long-term goal — something for when my children are self-sufficient and can cope without me for a longer period. At the moment, I can't even take a bath without them camping outside the bathroom door demanding to know why the Wi-Fi isn't working, if there's anything to eat, or if I have any money in my purse for a school trip.
When I finally settled on the twelve topics for my challenge list, I was pleased with the outcome. It had taken some weeks for me to decide on the areas of my life that I wanted to change. Don't get me wrong; my life is pretty great. I'm healthy(ish) and happy(ish), but there's always room for improvement. Do you ever feel like something is missing? That's what it was like for me. I loved running my business, my kids were in a great place emotionally and did well at school, I had loads of friends and a supportive family, but there was a void that I needed to fill — I just didn't know what it was.
Eventually, I recognised that for many years I'd drifted through life. Work, play, sleep, eat, and repeat. There was nothing exceptional about me or my life. I had no great aspirations beyond paying the bills and filling the fridge. That was the wake-up call I needed to turn everything around. I'm sure you must be thinking, but why bother? How could writing a to-do list help change your life?
WHY BOTHER?
Think back on all the sporting events that you've watched over the years: the Olympics, Paralympics, Rugby World Cup, Tour de France, Super Bowl, or Wimbledon. What do they all have in common? The answer is top-level athletes. These guys set themselves a goal and give 100 percent to achieve it. The majority will have personal coaches who work with them to focus their mind, train their bodies towards a specific deadline, and manage their time effectively. This is personal development at its best. They have a clear outline of what is needed to succeed.
Setting a goal gives you a starting point; it helps you to think about yourself for a change, and it's the ideal process to visualise a better future.
Deciding on what goals you want to set will be personal to you. Your interests may include abseiling, calligraphy, running a marathon, teaching adult learners, launching a new career/business, or any number of incredible opportunities. Writing down all the possibilities is a great place to start; it allows your brain to open up to new ideas and work through outdated ones. Once you start writing, your subconscious mind will kick in and dig deep for all the hidden gems, long-forgotten dreams, and ideas that you might have been playing around with but never nailed down. I can't tell you what to add to your list, but I can show you how I chose the right things for me, and hopefully it will unlock something in you.
WHAT DO YOU WANT?
Corporate businesses help their workforce decide on weekly/monthly/yearly outcomes by adopting the SMART goal-setting acronym. I've even heard one of my son's teachers use it to help him revise for an exam. SMART stands for
Specific: You know exactly what you want to achieve.
Measurable: You know the targets and milestones to track your progress.
Achievable: Your goal can be achieved.
Realistic: Your goal fits in with your life/business needs.
Timely: You have a deadline to achieve your goal.
"A goal without a plan is just a wish." ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery ~
It's a winning formula for setting goals and is used worldwide. Can we adopt the same principles for our lifestyle aims? Yes, of course we can — once we know what we want to achieve.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "How I Motivated Myself to Succeed"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Shelley Wilson.
Excerpted by permission of BHC Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
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