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Have you ever had a day when nothing goes as planned? You've missed deadlines, late to meetings, the car won't start, traffic is awful or your kid is ill and can't attend school when you must make an important presentation and you have no alternative child care! You are experiencing anxiety and extremely discouraged but you continue to mask to others that all is well. Hey, we've all been there. When no one is there (or you prefer not to share) you must motivate yourself to go on and get through this mood. Try these three self motivating strategies to get back on track.

Mission Statement

Create a personal mission statement to review and remind yourself of what you are working to become, have or create. A personal mission statement defines your core values, goals, visions and what's important to you, the principals by which you choose to live your life. What are you pursuing? Why do you do what you do? Why is it all worth it even on the most challenging days? Your personal mission statement should answer those questions.

Review this personal mission statement: To use my education, experience and God given talents to empower others and to create a six figure salary within three years doing the type of work I love. Imagine having that statement near by to review when you feel like giving up! Your personal mission statement should motivate and inspire to continue on your course of action until you reach your desired outcome. Create your personal mission statement and keep it within arms reach for those challenging days or read it daily as your personal motivator.

Meditation

If you feel that you are at your boiling point, stop! Sit down at your desk, close your eyes, relax your shoulders, and take deep breaths while thinking of nothing. Although thoughts will come, honor them and then let them go. Try this meditation exercise for 10 ' 15 minutes if possible, incorporate it into your daily schedule. Meditation can reduce high blood pressure, help you gain focus and most of all defuse negative emotions. Once you have meditated, you can focus on the positive as oppose to the negative and take care of your physical needs because carrying around stress is not good for your overall health.

Change Your Mindset

Change the way you think about challenges. It may seem as failure to you, however began to view failures or setbacks as challenges and as a learning opportunity. What have you learned about the experience that may help you in the future? If you missed deadlines in the past, what can you now do to your schedule to meet future deadlines? What about creating self-imposed deadlines that are set three to four days prior to the actual deadline? In the case of the ill child example above, what if you did not have alternative child care in an emergency situation when you can't miss a meeting, this would be a great time to secure a backup baby sitter to eliminate this type of a challenging reoccurrence. Embrace challenges as a learning opportunity of how not to do it again or how to better plan. Learn, improve and move on.

' 2007 Bridgette Boudreaux