Checklist for Better Motivation

Here is a checklist of one-liner reminders you can use to motivate yourselves and others.

General

• Be on fire.

• Bend the rules to bring out your best.

• Create some space.

• Create the arena that serves you.

• Cut the dead wood.

• Do the opposite.

• Don’t let anybody tell you can’t do something, or that you’re not good enough.

• Eat, sleep, and exercise on a cadence.

• Empower yourself.

• Find a way.

• Internalize your success.

• Switch to the past, present, or future.

Action

• Act on your inspiration.

• Build momentum.

• Do worst things first.

• Find your flow.

• Finish faster.

• Keep moving forward.

• Just start.

• Make it a “MUST.”

• Simplify it.

• Stick with it.

• Switch gears.

• Turn “have tos” into “choose tos.”

Anxiety, Stress

• Don’t let anxiety or worry get the best of you.
• Use stress to be your best.

Change

• Be the change you want to see.

• Be part of the solution.

• Call it an experiment.

• Embrace the change.

• Rattle your own cage.

Clarity

• Figure out what you want.

Comparison

• Be YOUR best.

Decisions

• Decide.

• Say “No” to the stuff that drags you down.

• Say “Yes” to the stuff that lifts you up.

Discipline, Self-Awareness, and Self-Control

• Build your inner strength.

• Don’t let other people push your buttons.

• Inspire yourself with skill.

Emotions, Passion

• Be confident and calm.

• Change your state.

• Change your thoughts to change your feelings.
• Do passion work.

• Energize your approach.

• Link it to good feelings.
• Love the mission.

• Play your favorite music.

• Turn your anger into action.

• Want it with a passion.

Fear, Failure

• Change your approach.
• Conquer your fears.
• Conquer your problems with confidence.

• Deflect the setbacks with skill.

• Divide and conquer your problems with skill.
• Don’t let fear stop you.

• Don’t look for excuses.

• Don’t play the blame game.

Focus

• Ask questions that move the ball forward.

• Focus on one pitch at a time.

• Focus on the greater good.

• Focus on the numbers.

• Focus on the things that empower you.

• Focus on what you want.

• Focus on what’s working.

• Point your camera at the things that fire you up.

Fun

• Don’t take yourself too seriously.

• Get your game on.

• Go for the epic win.

Goals and Limits

• Set a deadline.

• Set a time limit.

• Set a quantity limit.
• Set extreme goals.
• Set mini goals.

Mental Models, Mindsets, and Metaphors

• Be a force of one.

• Change the frame, to change your game. .

• Choose the metaphors that light your fire.

• Model the best.

Pain and Pleasure

• Remind yourself how short life is.

• Remind yourself, that It could always be worse.

• Use a big stick.

• Use pleasure and pain.

Perfectionism

• Don’t be a perfectionist.

Progress

• Chart your progress.

• Count the wins.

• Reward your effort and your results.

Purpose

• Choose significant tasks that are meaningful for you.

• Choose the words that mean something to you.

• Find your “one thing.”

• Find your “why.”

Strengths

• Play to your strengths.

Teaming Up

• Build your band of merry men.

• Team up to tackle the tough stuff.

Thinking, Self-Talk

• Ask yourself, “What would <<fill in the blank of favorite hero>> do?”
• Be a coach, not a critic.

• Change the story you tell yourself.

• Don’t play the same broken record.
• Think the thoughts that serve you.

Visualization

• Choose the scenes that serve you.

• Create a wall of inspiration.

• See it in your mind’s eye.

• See what’s possible in a way that blows your mind.