Self-Help Maven's Key Ideas from 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself
by Steve Chandler

9. Build a track record

• Prove beliefs about yourself through real accomplishments. Small wins build confidence.

10. Welcome the unexpected

• Be open to surprises and new ideas. Creativity comes from the unexpected.

11. Find your master key

• Discover sources of motivation to unlock your potential. Books, mentors, experiences can provide this.

12. Put your library on wheels

• Use drive time to listen to audiobooks. Feed your mind while commuting.

13. Definitely plan your work

• Make plans for what you want to accomplish each day. It brings focus and control.

14. Bounce your thoughts

• Shift negative thoughts to optimistic ones through practice. Like bouncing a basketball.

15. Light your lazy dynamite

• Jumpstart motivation by easing into tasks slowly. Momentum builds.

16. Choose the happy few

• Surround yourself with positive people who support your growth. Limit time with negative ones.

17. Learn to play a role

• Act confident and motivated even if you don't feel it yet. Emotions follow action.

18. Don't just do something...sit there

• Make time to reflect in solitude. It fosters creativity.

19. Use your brain chemicals

• Do activities that release motivating neurochemicals: laugh, sing, hug.

20. Leave high school forever

• Don't let others' opinions limit you. Focus on growth, not judgment.

21. Learn to lose your cool

• Take risks socially, be vulnerable. This builds confidence.

22. Kill your television

• Reduce passive entertainment. It drains energy. Read, create instead.

23. Break out of your soul cage

• Leave your comfort zone. Challenge yourself to grow.

24. Run your own plays

• Be proactive in creating your day. Let life respond to you.

25. Find your inner Einstein

• Unleash creativity by imagining solutions. Like Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge."

26. Run toward your fear

• Do what scares you. Growth happens outside your comfort zone.

27. Create the way you relate

• Bring creativity to your relationships. Apply this to business and personal connections.

28. Try interactive listening

• Ask engaging questions. Listen fully. This builds stronger relationships.

29. Embrace your willpower

• Know you have willpower, it can be developed like a muscle.

30. Perform your little rituals

• Create routines that spark motivation like reading goals or inspirational quotes.

31. Find a place to come from

• Generate happiness now, don't wait for external circumstances.

32. Be your own disciple

• Build willpower through small victories, like resisting temptation.

33. Turn into a word processor

• Change self-limiting vocabulary like "have to" to "choose to."

34. Program your biocomputer

• Control what information you take in. Garbage in, garbage out.

35. Open your present

• Appreciate and focus on the current moment. Be fully present.

36. Be a good detective

• Ask questions and listen deeply to understand people and situations better.

37. Make a relation-shift

• Uplift others instead of focusing on yourself. This builds connections.

38. Learn to come from behind

• View setbacks as natural ups and downs, expect renewal.

39. Come to your own rescue

• Take responsibility for your life. Don't wait for "someone" to save you.

40. Find your soul purpose

• Discover what makes you come alive and pursue that. Serve others.

41. Get up on the right side

Shift negative thinking to positive, solution-focused thoughts.

42. Let your whole brain play

Engage both creative and rational parts of your mind fully.

43. Get your stars out

• Express your gifts and talents fully. Don't play small.

44. Just make everything up

• Approach goals playfully, not rigidly. Make it a game.

45. Put on your game face

• Take on challenges with confidence and motivation. Be a competitor.

46. Discover active relaxation

• Recharge through activities that engage the mind like games or art.

47. Make today a masterpiece

• Make each day meaningful, don't just react. Create purposefully.

48. Enjoy all your problems

• See problems as opportunities to learn and grow.

49. Remind your mind

• Revisit motivational ideas often. Post inspiring quotes, repeat affirmations.

50. Get down and get small

• Set mini-goals and milestones. Achieve them for motivation boosts.

51. Advertise to yourself

• Post your goals and vision where you'll see them daily.

52. Think outside the box

• Get creative, don't limit yourself with assumptions. Break boundaries.

53. Keep thinking, keep thinking

• Turn obstacles into opportunities through persistent thinking.

54. Put on a good debate

• Argue against your own negative thinking. Develop optimism.

55. Make trouble work for you

• Reframe difficult situations positively. Ask "How can I use this?"

56. Storm your own brain

• Brainstorm solutions, even unreasonable ones. Get ideas flowing.

57. Keep changing your voice

• Build your vocal power through practice like singing. Energizes confidence.

58. Embrace the new frontier

• Keep growing and learning. Skills matter more than credentials.

59. Upgrade your old habits

• Improve habits gradually through replacements, not elimination.

60. Paint your masterpiece today

• Craft each day purposefully like a work of art. Care about details.

61. Swim laps underwater

• Do exercises that increase lung power and oxygen to the brain.

62. Bring on a good coach

• Seek objective feedback to stretch your abilities.

63. Try to sell your home

• Let go of old, limiting habits and beliefs. Move forward.

64. Get your soul to talk

• Dialogue with yourself for motivation and answers.

65. Promise the moon

• Make public, bold commitments to drive achievement.

66. Make somebody's day

• Surprise others with generosity and encouragement.

67. Play the circle game

• Align daily actions with longer term goals through planning.

68. Get up a game

• Add fun competition to grow beyond your current level.

69. Turn your mother down

• Don't accept others' limiting beliefs about you.

70. Face the sun

• Focus on the positive, not the negative.

71. Travel deep inside

• Look within to find your potential, don't seek external validation.

72. Go to war

• Create urgency, act as if your life depends on goals.

73. Use the 5% solution

• Take small, gradual steps to achieve big goals.

74. Do something badly

• Don't wait for perfect conditions, just start. Momentum builds.

75. Learn visioneering

• Mentally rehearse goals as if they're already real.

76. Lighten things up

• Add humor and absurdity to disempower fears.

77. Serve and grow rich

• Contribute value to earn more. Help others succeed.

78. Make a list of your life

• Write goals, desires, people to connect with. Makes them real.

79. Set a specific power goal

• Energizing goals are bold, vivid, and have deadlines.

80. Change yourself first

• Lead by example. Live the change you want to see.

81. Pin your life down

• Have a clear plan of attack to drive achievement.

82. Take no for a question

• Don't accept rejection, get creative. Persist.

83. Take the road to somewhere

• Know your purpose. This drives motivation.

84. Go on a news fast

• Limit negative input that breeds pessimism.

85. Replace worry with action

• Act on anxieties instead of feeding them.

86. Run with the thinkers

• Rise above complaints by proposing solutions.

87. Put more enjoyment in

• Do activities that fully engage your skills.

88. Keep walking

• Movement drives energy, creativity, motivation.

89. Read more mysteries

• Mysteries build observational skills and wit.

90. Think your way up

• Shift from emotional to rational thinking when stuck.

91. Exploit your weakness

• Turn weaknesses into strengths. Know their benefits.

92. Try becoming the problem

• Take full responsibility, see yourself as solution.

93. Enlarge your objective

• Set wildly ambitious goals to spur creativity.

94. Give yourself flying lessons

• Let heroes inspire belief in your potential.

95. Hold your vision accountable

• Judge goals by their power to motivate, not details.

96. Build your power base

• Control your knowledge intake. Garbage in, garbage out.

97. Connect truth to beauty

• See honesty as empowering, not restrictive.

98. Read yourself a story

• Read aloud for double impact. Like Lincoln did.

99. Laugh for no reason

• Fake positive emotions until you feel them.

100. Walk with love and death

• Reflect deeply on life's meaning to build courage.