Did your mother ever tell you to be sure to keep an extra pair of good underwear in your glove compartment, "just in case"? Well, if you did just that, and even though the occasion may have never occurred to demand you need those special undies, at least you felt better knowing they were there in case you ever did need them. Life is much the same. Allow me to elaborate…

Covering up your holey underwear with pretty clothes doesn’t negate the holes. Think of the holey underwear as your self-esteem. When you feel low and don’t believe in yourself, it’s like you’re wearing a pair of ratty, worn-out undies. Sure, maybe they are comfortable. Poor self-esteem, when unattended to, becomes second nature. Many do not even realize their self-esteem is deficient because they have lived with it like that for a very long time.

Some people have a tendency to attempt to cover up their low self-esteem with things like humor. Rather than taking actionable steps to cultivating a better thought process about themselves, it’s easier to try to cover it up. But no matter how many layers of pretty clothing you stack on, you can’t hide the fact that underneath all that, you are suffering within yourself.

Ditch those old undies.

The truth is, no matter how good you might be at doing just that, hiding how you truly feel deep inside about yourself is never a good thing. At the end of the day, you still go home with holey underwear. Instead of walking around trying to hide the fact that you feel like your world is crumbling to pieces around you (or, that your holey undies are about to fall down around your ankles), start working on your inner issues. Raise your self-esteem and uncover the ugly hidden things that make you feel like you’re dying inside. When you can do this, you’ll be able to replace those holey undies with pretty panties!

They broke the mold when they made you.

The most important reason why you need to believe in yourself is because you are special. There is nobody in this world quite like you. Nobody else has your eyes, your smile, your nose, or even your quirky habits. While there may be some things you want to change about yourself, at the very core, you are an amazing, unique individual.

This world needs you.

You contribute to your society. Your thoughts and actions form and shape the world around you. Everything you do is important and necessary to this world. Without you, your community, church, and country just wouldn’t be the same. Regardless of how small or large the contribution you make, you are needed to help guide future generations. You have the potential to aid in teaching and leading many along the way.

If you don’t, who will?

Let’s face it. No matter how much support and encouragement you might have, you make the final choice whether or not to believe and receive such accolades. It is totally up to you to decide to stand up and become active in your own life, or to sit idly by while every day passes you. If you don’t believe in yourself, who will? When you can embrace yourself as you are and begin to believe in who you are, others will take notice and begin believing in you, too.

You aren’t a nobody.

Despite how low you might feel right now, you have to keep reminding yourself that you are somebody. You are special. You were placed on this Earth for a purpose. Discovering that purpose might lead to a few speed bumps along the way, but nobody said life would ever be easy. So pump up your faith and start believing in yourself today. Take charge of your thoughts and emotions. Live your life like there’s no tomorrow. Give yourself-and others-a reason to believe in you.

1. Play “What if?” Ask yourself a series of inspiring “What if…?” questions. What if you had everything you ever wanted? What if you lived in the perfect home? What if you had an ideal job? Using these “What if…?” questions will help you see where you want to be in the future and will motivate you to keep moving on.

2. Weight your options. If you’re thinking about quitting, sit down and take a cold, hard look at your options. Is quitting a reasonable choice? Or are you letting fear rule your emotions?

3. Plan ahead. It has been said that those who fail to plan, plan to fail. This is so true! If you don’t have a solid plan of action you will be more prone to become easily sidetracked. Start with today and create your plan of action.

4. Set up a rewards system for yourself. As simple and crazy as this might sound, reward yourself for jobs well done with something special. Plan a special night on the town, or your favorite chocolate bar after completing a major project. You’ll probably be surprised at how much these little things can keep you motivated throughout the day.

5. Ask for help. For some reason, very few people like to ask others for help. And that is precisely why so many people are frustrated and worn out at the end of the day. Instead of pushing yourself to do too much, ask someone for their help.

MAKE A PLAN

The groundwork for motivation is a plan. Without a solid plan of action, you’ll stay stuck doing the same things again and again, even though you get nowhere. Make a list of your goals for 1, 5, and 10 years. Envision where you want to be, what you want to accomplish.

GIVE YOURSELF INCENTIVES

Sometimes it’s necessary to trick your brain by giving yourself incentives. Set benchmarks for your life plan, along with special incentives for reaching each one. When you can see measurable accomplishments, reward yourself with an incentive.

GET EXCITED

If you can’t get excited about your goals, you’ll never become motivated enough to do something about it. Setting goals that are boring and dull will only lead to you quitting early on. When you can truly get excited about what you are doing with your life, you will find this gives you an extra boost of motivation.

BE HAPPY

Depression and lack of self-esteem and confidence plays a huge role in loss of motivation. When you feel like nothing you do is good enough, and you are miserable and unhappy, you are much less likely to become proactive towards reaching your goals. Find your happy place and your motivation level will rise.

TALK TO YOURSELF IN THE MIRROR

What often seems the silliest thing to do is precisely what you need to do to give yourself that boost of motivation you need. Stand in front of a mirror and talk to yourself. Tell yourself what you like about you. Practice some positive affirmations. There’s no better source of motivation, than from yourself.

MOTIVATE SOMEONE ELSE

Many times helping others will in turn help you. Notice people around you. See someone who seems lost? Give them some encouraging words of wisdom and help get them motivated again. When you do, you’ll feel a great sense of pride and will be motivated as well.

COLLECT QUOTES

One of the best ways to give yourself a quick shot of motivation is to collect positive quotes that will inspire you. Buy a wire-bound index card notebook. Write down inspiring quotes as you find them in your notebook. Keep the note cards handy so when you’re feeling down you can grab it and open it to find a quick dose of motivation.

Motivating yourself isn’t difficult. It can be very simple, if you actively do it on a daily basis. Don’t wait for someone else to come along and motivate you. Motivate yourself!

• Give yourself an incentive. Do you have an incentive to keep moving forward? If not, then it’s no surprise if you’re feeling discouraged or want to give up. Give yourself an incentive to continue on. Set yourself a reward for completing the job.
• Think positive. You might find yourself unmotivated simply because of your attitude. If you are pessimistic, you will not be able to see the good in just about anything. Remind yourself to think positive when things get tough.
• Acknowledge your success thus far. Do you take time to stop and reflect on your current successes? Or do you always look at your failures? Take an hour or so once a week just to think about everything you’ve already accomplished. This might motivate you more than anything else will!
• Make it fun. Dull, boring tasks can be very hum-drum and leave you devoid of motivation. Spice up your tasks by throwing in some fun and you’ll be much more motivated to finish them.

These self-motivation tips are simple, but they work. Go ahead and give them a try. Come back and tell me how they helped you.

Has your drive for life been side-tracked? Self motivation is an important part of every person’s life. The ability to motivate yourself when there’s nobody else for you to talk to can mean everything in the midst of trials. Here are some fast self-motivation tips to get you started:

Self motivation Tip #1: Discover your passion. What do you love to do? Sometimes the “snags” that life hands us causes us to stop and take a hard look at our lives. Are you living a passion-filled life? Are you following after your heart’s desires? If you only had 48 hours to live, what would you do with those precious moments? Discovering your passion can play a huge role in motivating yourself.

Self motivation Tip #2: Make a list. You’ve been thinking about your passion. Now that you’ve given that some thought, start writing a list. Write down every single thing you can think of that you love. It doesn’t matter how small or silly it seems–write it down. After you make a list of your passions, decide which one you want to start working towards first.

Self motivation Tip #3: Break it down. Take your number one desire and get ready to develop that idea further. Break it down. If one of your dreams has been to learn how to golf, write down the steps you think you will need to take to learn how to play golf. If your passion is something that you know nothing about, just do some quick research. Once you know what you want, you have to break it down into measurable steps that you can take to achieve it.

Self motivation Tip #4: Take one step at a time. Now you have a complete list. You know what you want. You brainstormed a list. You took your list and honed in on one particular goal. You broke that goal down into measurable steps. Now you’re ready to get to work. Take it one step at a time. Don’t expect too much from yourself. Set reasonable timelines for yourself and just get busy working towards what you want.