Mad Skills
Could you be really good at something if you just practiced? Yes. If you have a spark of talent at something, you can work at it until your talent is perfected. Most people in the world aren't just born with amazing skills. They are born with talents which they have to work to refine over years of practice. In the meantime, there is the sticky part of staying motivated to practice while you still aren't as good as you would like to be. Less than half the people who look like they could be really talented at something actually pan out because they aren't willing or motivated to put in the practice to make it to the next level. How do you stay motivated to practice day in and day out so you can achieve your dream? Here are some helpful hints to get you moving on developing your mad skills.
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Find Inspiration
Goals worth achieving are motivational in themselves. Find a thought, idea, or person that inspires you and set your goals to a worthy end. If you are inspired to achieve an end, your practice becomes a joy instead of a burden. What is it that inspires you? If you are practicing a sport, do you listen to music, like the, "Rocky," theme song? A great beat and inspirational story can give you the drive to keep going when practice becomes drudgery. If you are practicing playing an instrument, do you keep a piece of difficult music you are working toward being able to learn to play? That difficult piece of music becomes your goal and inspires you to keep practicing so that one day you can play it. Find inspiration to practice. When you are working toward a goal or can psyche yourself up before-hand, you are much more likely to stay motivated to practice whatever skill you are trying to develop.
Get into a Routine
Habits are hard to break, so if you really want to stay motivated to practice your skills, develop it into a habit and make it part of your daily routine. Make space in your schedule that is meant solely for practicing your skills. If the time is available and you are used to filling it with practice, you are more likely to continue filling the time with practice. Adults and children alike find comfort in a routine. As a human being, you'll do what makes you comfortable, so if practice is part of your routine, you'll do it. Get into a routine and you'll find the motivation to practice your skills.
Garner Successes
Success propels us forward to do more. When you experience success, one of the feelings involved is the want to keep going, to experience success again. One of the best things you can do for yourself while trying to stay motivated to practice is to garner successes. If you can gather things that remind you of the success you've had in your skills, or if you can write down how you feel when you have a success, you will be compelled, or motivated, to keep moving forward. During the times that you are not feeling motivated to keep going, pull out the things that remind you of what you have already achieved and you'll find the inspiration and motivation to keep going. You are going to come to rough spots in your road, but if you have prepared yourself for them by buffering yourself with your success, you'll find the ride over the rough spots much easier to whether through. Garner success until your drive to keep going becomes a part of your very being.
