How to Get Motivated and Set Goals: The Top Ten Tips

It’s easy to get motivated to do something you enjoy. The trick is to learn how to self-motivate to accomplish the things that involve practice that you don’t enjoy. Follow these Top Ten Tips to increase motivation and to set goals that are truly achievable.

Define your goal. You’ve got to clearly understand where you want to end up before you begin any journey. Set goals that are realistic and specific.

Don’t try to do everything at once. Limit your goals to follow a one-at-a-time model. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Make your goals public. Tell those close to you what your goal is and that you want their feedback and support as you work toward your set goals. Ask them to ask about your progress.

Break down your goal into manageable mini-goals. Get expert help in how to organize your plan to achieve success.

Set personal rewards for achieving each of your mini-goals. Behavioralists are right—positive reinforcement stimulates sustained effort.

Start small, but start. Starting small can produce big results. Even the longest journey begins with a single step, but you have to take that step. Start by spending just ten minutes extra each day, working toward your set goals.

Practice correctly. More golf swings do not improve a golf game. Expert advice and coaching makes a difference.

Practice consistently but don’t over-do. Limit practice to avoid burn-out. An object in motion tends to stay in motion. So keep moving to accomplish your set goals.

Avoid procrastination. An object at rest tends to stay at rest. Make consistent effort a habitual practice. However, if you miss practice, forgive yourself and then start again.

Evaluate your progress toward your set goals and be flexible. What is working and what needs adjustment? Do the set goals or practice need refinement? Get expert, or at least, objective help to properly evaluate.

Share by: Mark Pennington

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Paying For College With College Scholarships and Student Loans

It is getting harder to pay for a college education these days, but it is by no means impossible. Getting college scholarships is still the best way to go, and there are plenty of them still around - even though money may be getting tighter. Here are some tips about how to get money to pay for your college education with college scholarships and student loans.

GET AS MANY COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS AS YOU CAN

The best way to go to college is to go free. College scholarships can enable a student to go to college without cost - if there are enough of them. In order to get as many as is needed to go without cost, you will need to apply to as many scholarships as possible. Of course, you want to only apply for those college scholarships that you have a good possibility of actually winning.

Finding the right college scholarships to apply to will require some work - and possibly some imagination, too. There are college scholarships for just about everything you can think of these days - and possibly some that are almost out of reach of the imagination, too. You can find them for academics, sports, hobbies, uniqueness - like a special last name or for left-handers, etc., your locale, and some that are just plain weird - like the duct tape prom college scholarship.

In order for you to learn about what college scholarships are available, you will need to do some homework. This includes researching them online, in the library, letting scholarship groups help you (be careful of these - some are scams), talking to your school counselors, and more. You can also look at the Web sites of the colleges that you are interested in, and they will show you what college scholarships are available there.

LOOK FOR COMPANY SCHOLARSHIPS AND INTERNSHIPS

Many companies also offer college scholarships, too. They do this because they want to have a qualified and trained pool of potential employees available when they need them. They usually look for exceptionally bright prospects that can bring much to the table if they should hire them.

Getting a college scholarship or an internship with a great company can lead to a great job right out of college. Sometimes, you may even be able to find your needed college scholarship simply by looking at the various companies you would dream of working for after you get your college degree. Look at their Web sites for more information.

APPLY FOR COLLEGE STUDENT LOANS

Because college scholarships may not cover your entire school bill, you may also need some college financing. Direct loans are available from the government, which will also give you the lowest interest rate possible on education loans.

Direct student loans, which includes the Stafford loans and the PLUS loans, accumulate no interest while you are in school (because the government pays for it while you are in college), or drop to less than half-time. You will not need to make any payments on the loan until you have been out of school for 6 months.

Graduate students and families of college students have access to PLUS loans for education and they also have the same terms as the Stafford loans - but a little higher interest rate. All government loans can be consolidated after graduation for easy payments.

GET STARTED EARLY

If you want to get the most out of college scholarships and student loans, then you will need to get started early. In fact, you should get started earlier than was necessary in previous years. With less money going around and with some college scholarships going on a first-come, first-served basis - you have no time to lose.

Finding the right college scholarships takes a considerable amount of time, and so does filling out scholarship applications and writing scholarship essays. In addition, in order to get a Direct loan, you will need to have filled out the FAFSA form, which is required for all government student loans.

FILL OUT SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS CAREFULLY

College scholarship applications require that they be filled out accurately and carefully. A little carelessness (or haste) in answering a question or two could needlessly cost you a college scholarship. This could mean that you may need to take much longer to pay off a college loan - when you didn't have to.

Writing a quality college scholarship essay that will win a scholarship requires that you understand what the group offering it is looking for. Make yourself look like the person that they would like to represent and promote their company, college, etc., and you could walk away with the free college education you want. Be honest, though, in what you write - and you'll be glad you did.

Share by: Mark B. Allen

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