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This is a guest post by Marju Raadik-Kantsik. Read her bio below the post!

First thing you always have to realize about motivation is that nobody can motivate you – not your boss, coworker, friend or any other person. The only and only person who can motivate you is yourself. Real motivation comes from inside you. It is our inner strength that makes us move the mountains and make the difference.

Dare to dream and allow yourself have a big challenges, big goals and purposes. When you really know what you want then it is very easy to find motivation, time and energy to follow your dream.

When somebody else motivates you, then very often it happens to be that it is their goals and dreams to fill, not yours. Yes you can be inspired, yes you may feel exited and happy, but as long the actions are not connected with your own purpose, it is not really motivation either. That is also the reason why money is not so good motivator – it works only temporally or    in certain period of life. The real motivator is a goal to reach, is a dream to fill and YOUR OWN way to go step by step.

When you have reached first milestones then you already have the wings to fly to your dream.

I also strongly ask for feedback. Usually very many people are afraid of getting feedback, especially when it is not something unexpected. That is why I recommend you to be open-minded and ask yourself a feedback for your actions. Because feedback is like a compass to you it shows us are we in a right track, are we heading in right direction? And it helps you to improve yourself, so you could really develop the better version of yourself.

Some more tips:

• Write your goals down. Otherwise it is only a dream. When you need to write it down it becomes a goal to reach and have. Then you have to put your dream into words and it becomes to live in your conscious and subconscious. To make it come true.

• Much more important is to manage your energy than manage your time. You may have very carefully arranged time schedule, but if you have no energy to follow it, there is no use of it. So learn yourself and know yourself – what helps you to gather the energy, reduce things that takes too much of your energy and empower the things that gives you more energy.

• Have your own personal board of directors, from whom you may ask for advice at any question that arise or any obstacle to concur on your way. It can be one person, someone who has made a great impact in your life. Or it can be a group of friends around you. It can be that in different aspects we need different people to help us. Have a backup plan and have someone to discuss it over with.

• Don’t compare too much yourself with other people. We all have a different speed and different goals. Find someone to learn from and be inspired, a real star to follow but still follow your own way, not somebody else’s.

I wish you all the best and more motivation that comes inside you!

“Your own decision to be successful is the most important thing” – Abraham Lincoln

About Marju:

Marju is 34 years old, graduated Tallinn School of Economics and Estonian Business School as an international business administration (bachelor). Marju has fulfilled all additional trainings that Estonian Banking Association offers. Marju has worked as securities settlement back office manager in Estonian Foreksbank and Cresco Investment bank. Work experience is also from manufacture company OÜ Maisan. From year 2000 Marju has worked in Hansabank as a Client Relationship Manager in Private Wealth Management. In 2001 Marju was elected as  a most outstanding star attendant in Hansabank. In 2007 Marju has established her own training company named Tip Tap Consultations.

Marju hobbies are books about strategy implementation, researches and also cooking, singing and hiking. In people Marju values honesty, accuracy and cooperation.

Her blog: www.tipatapakonsultatsioonid.blogspot.com

I am playing around with new templates for this blog. I grew tired of the all-white style, and wants someting a bit more up-to-date. Please expect many changes in the days to come - and please leave your comments :)

I just love this cute video ! This is what inspires me for sure!

 

Cloud

Here is the link to todays radio spot. Only Norwegian, sorry about that :)

http://www1.nrk.no/nett-tv/klipp/511920

The other day, I run into a girl I had not seen in a long time. We first met in one of my courses, she where there to learn how to befriend computers. She had no challenges with this at all, and spent her days helping the other participants. She where a very confident person with a huge heart, a heart she used to make a better day for those around her.

She never shared her full story with me. Her age could be 28 to 32. She had long, light-curly hair, dyed so black it was shone in blue tones. She would usually wear a face with heavy, dark eyeliners, shadows and purple or black lip stick, all painted on a white background. She dressed in black too, sometimes in baggy pants and tees with Marilyn Manson, AC/DC or Sepultura printed on them. Other times, she would wear a skirt, dark, of course, and a short-sleeved shirt with blonds.

I knew that she came with a history. Everyone in this course came with one. They came to the training of different reasons, but they all had one ting in common – they had to be here if they where to reach their goal. For some of the participants the goal was to continue to receive their paycheck every fortnight. Some had a plan of creating their own business, and for some the goal was to get back to work after years of illness.

Linda, as her name where, had to document her skills in computers before she could move on to a bachelor in administration. Her goals where clear, and she where working hard to reach them.

When the course ended, I had spent eight weeks with the gang, 14 persons from different countries, cultures, languages and backgrounds. They had put up with all my craziness, and allowed me to challenge them. And they allowed me to learn how to motivate, inspire and work with a group of people over a period of time to reach a common goal – they did not even know that there was a common goal, yet they allowed me to continue. And I moved on, not expecting to see them again any time soon.

The other day, I run into this girl I had not seen in a long time. She wore huge sunglasses covering half her face. Her hair black with this bluish color shining true, the evidence that she dyed her hair. She had dark, loose pants on, worn over a pair of black Doc Martens boots. A black tee with an image in light blue color hang loosely over her torso. In her left hand, a Whopper cheese burger.

It took me a few seconds to recognize her. She had lost some weight. She came out as older, more tired, on the brink of giving up. I could still see the fire in her eyes, the fire that so clearly shows that this is a person with willpower, dreams, and goals. A person you could trust with your life.

I also perceive something else. A sort of sadness. A sense of her giving up. We only spend a few moments together, I am running to a meeting. In those few moments, she tell me her dream of getting a bachelor degree seems battered. She is ill again. The cancer is back, an on going fight that drains all the energy. She sleeps up to 18 hours a day. She is about to loose her faith in her own future, she is giving up on her dreams.

As I rush on to my meeting, one thing is she said is ringing in my head. “You care for everyone, Kai. That is how you are different”.

She is having the worst time of her life. She obviously needs someone. And I run away to a meeting that in the big picture is just as important as any other meeting – not at all. And yet she finds the strength to make me feel good about myself. When I should be spending my time helping her feeling good about her, comfort her.

Linda. People like you are amazing. Thank you for letting me know you. You can do it!  

My good friend Filipe Carrera interviewed me about training tips when we where in Europe.

The video is currently posted on Facebook, which means you will need a Facebook account in order to see it. You can find the videos here!

The first one is about time management as a trainer - how do you control the time, and what do you do when you run out of time: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/video/video.php?v=124895591674&oid=472...

The second video discuss how to get training hours as a trainer in JCI: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/video/video.php?v=124898746674&oid=472...

What motivates you? This question churns in my head as I force one foot before the other. My mouth is dry. My arms are stiff, almost locked up completely, and bent at 80 degrees by my elbow. Hands almost closed as if I am clutching a staff in my hand, softly yet firm. My legs are still moving. One step at the time, keeping the rhythm.

I run.

There is a distinct pain in my right side, just behind my lung. Is my lung collapsing? Nay, it must be the accident I had some years ago, the accident that almost broke my back. Perhaps running is not good for my body? After all, I experience pain in all sorts, forms and locations I no longer remembered I had. Is it time to stop now? Should I just suck it up and walk back home?

Nay.

Again, Nay.

The pain will go away. It is simply a temporary distraction trying to get me to loose sight of my target. I force my brain to change focus.

What motivates you?

In my mind, I envision running half a marathon. 21 km. A long distance. Only six months ago, I had never, ever run longer than three km’s. And even then, I ran slowly, and would walk instead of running as soon as no-one looked. I simply never saw the point in running.

One year ago, I decided that it was time to get out of the couch, and get my body back into shape. I went to a nearby gym, and started working out twice a week. Spinning, strength and coordination where my focus. I only wanted to get in what I considered “good enough” shape to live a good quality life. I did not care about building muscles, and I did not care about the fact that I was the only male in the class. Nor did I care about the fact that I spend almost six months before I where able to follow the ladies in their intricate jump-dance-step-bend-stretch movements at high speed. It was a challenge, and I simply love challenges.

After these six months of working out, I noticed a dramatic change in my moods, in my physical conditions and in my well being. When I then moved from this place, I decided that I wanted to keep up working out, but not at a gym. I bought sneakers, and started with the sport I so dreaded. I started running.

I keep telling myself that I love it. I tell others I love it. And I know all the time that this is a lie. I simply hate running. It is so boring, it is like being in a void. And I know it. I know exactly how I feel about running.

But more importantly, I know what running does to my body and my health – physically and mentally. And that is what keeps me running!

When I took up running, I figured it a cheap way to stay fit even when I travel as much as I do. All I need is a shorts, the sneakers and my iPod Nano with some great music on. And I saved a bundle by no longer being a member of a gym I no longer had the time to visit on a regular basis.

As with all amateurs, I started out way too hard, with a circle of eight kilometers. I had no idea how far it was, all I knew was that I wanted a real workout when I first took the time to do it. A ten minute run around the bloc did not do it for me, way too much hassle, I decided.  

The first run, I ran a few hundred meters, then I had to walk. I regained my breath, and could run a bit again. In less than one-third of the circuit, I was dead, my lower legs so stiff I could hardly move them, and I had to force myself to walk the reminder of the circuit. And I did. A few months later, I ran half the circuit before I had to walk. And four months in, I where able to run the full circuit. Not at a high speed, but speed where never my goal.

At this point, I decided that I would attend a ten km run in 2010. And a few days later, I was asked if I would like to join the Oslo Marathon in 2009. I realized that they had a 10 km circuit available, and that the Marathon takes place late in September. A long, long time ahead when still in April. I said yes, I will join.

A week later, I ran my circuit, and this time I used my GPS to track the distance, for the first time finding out how long I run. Surprised that I already are able to run eight km’s, I announce that I will run a half-marathon at the Oslo Marathon in September. After all, running eight km once a week in April, I should be able to run 21 in September. Right? Right. Right!

What motivates you? I focus on this question when I force one leg in front of the other. I can feel my body is getting used to running. I know I can run 12-14 km in hilly forests and survive. I know my body is changing, evolving and tuning itself. I know my physical condition is good enough to complete today’s course.

I envision my goal of running along the sea of Oslo, seeing the finish line. Approaching the finish line, feeling the power of my body carrying me one more step ahead. And one more step. Feeling the pain in body parts I never new about. And moving one more step. Feeling the tarmac under my shoes as I move on. And on. What motivates you? One more step.  

As I cross the finish line, I fall over, black out and grasp for air. I smile. I feel euphoric. Knowing that I have reached my goal, a goal I never dared dream about one year earlier. A goal that changed my life and that will continue to do so as I advance to new challenges.

What motivates you? Please share your own experiences!

(Picture from http://www.expressnightout.com)