Page 24 - 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself

anything is completed.”

He then asked whether I could give him some affirmations that might alter
his belief system. He correctly saw the problem as being one of belief. Because
he did not believe he was a good finisher, he did not finish anything. So he
wanted a magical word or phrase to repeat to himself that would brainwash him
into being different.

“Do you think affirmations are what you need?” I asked him. “If you had to
learn how to use a computer, could you do it by sitting on your bed and
repeating the affirmation, ‘I know how to use a computer. I am great at using
computers. I am a wizard on a computer’?”

He admitted that affirmations would probably have no effect on his ability to
use a computer.

“The best way to change your belief system is to change the truth about
you,” I said. “We believe the truth faster than we believe false affirmations. To
believe that you are a good finisher, you must begin by building a track record of
finished tasks.”

He followed my suggestions with great enthusiasm. He bought a notebook
and at the top of the first page he wrote, “Things I’ve Finished.” Each day, he
made a point of setting small goals and finishing them. Whereas in the past he
would be sweeping his front walk and leave it unfinished when the phone rang,

now he’d let the phone ring so he could finish the job and record it in his
notebook. The more things he wrote down, the more confident he became that he
was truly becoming a finisher. And he had a notebook to prove it.

Consider how much more permanent his new belief was than if he had tried
to do it with affirmations. He could have whispered to himself all night long, “I
am a great finisher,” but the right side of his brain would have known better. It
would have said to him, “No, you’re not.”

Stop worrying about what you think of yourself and start building a track
record that proves that you can motivate yourself to do whatever you want to do.

10. Welcome the unexpected

Most people do not see themselves as being creative, but we all are. Most