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I was having coffee with my friend the other day. He just joined a multi-level marketing company. The company sells aromatherapy products that improve air quality and help people to have a healthier life.

My friend had tested the products himself and he is very convinced with the effectiveness of the products.

But my friend told me, "I have problem motivating myself."

"The products are excellent. The rewards system is good. There are a lot of success stories from those who have made it to the top. But I can't keep myself going." My friend confided.

Have you felt this before?

This is a common problem that happens to everyone. We all have plans to achieve success in life. But what is lacking is the motivation that keeps us going to convert plans into action.

Usually, you feel very 'excited' at the beginning when doing something new for the first time. But after a while, somehow you feel that you lack passion and motivation. The excitement that you had in the first few days just disappeared for no reason.

I had the similar problem. But I did not let the problem of motivation stop me from achieving my goals.

Here are the ways that I use that can effectively curb the problem of motivation. I use one or more of these techniques.

• READ A BOOK. Just grab a book and read; especially an inspirational book or a book of success stories. By reading these books, you not only learn from others but the story will motivate you to move ahead with your plans. It also makes you re-focus your energy on your goals rather than focusing your energy on the problems at hand. I especially like books written by Mark Victor Hansen.

• THINK OF PURPOSE OF WHAT YOU DO. If you don't feel motivated, think of why you want to achieve what you want. That is the purpose of doing what you are doing. Your purpose could be to improve the life of others, or help people to do things more efficiently, or to help people to make more money. Thinking of your purpose is an important way to motivate yourself.

• TALK TO A SUPPORTIVE FRIEND. Talking to a supportive friend would be able to overcome the problem of lacking motivation. You can also talk to your business partners regarding this. Find someone that you are comfortable with and share your problems with him. After sharing your problems, you will feel re-charged and re-energized.

• LISTEN TO AUDIO TAPE. If you don't like reading, get a motivational tape and listen to it. The contents of the tape can motivate you and help you to look at things from the different perspective and from a positive outlook. Besides that, you can also read and browse through a list of motivational quotations of famous people. There are gems lie in these quotations. At our web site, you can find more than 100 quotations from famous people at: http://www.financiallyrich.com/success-quotes.asp

• GO THROUGH YOUR GOALS DAILY. Prepare a list of goals that you want to achieve. Write them down on a piece of paper. You should go through your goals at least once every day. You need to do this even more if you feel down and de-motivated. By doing this, you refresh your mind with the goals you have set for yourself and avoid other distractions.

• DO IT. Another way to prevent the problem of motivation is to get your hands dirty and get started with what you need to do. Sometimes you don't feel like doing what you want to do. But by 'forcing' yourself to just do it, you'll probably gain momentum little by little and without you realize, you have actually finished the task on hand. No matter what, just start with what you need to do, either you like it or not.

Having said all these, intrinsic motivation is far more effective than extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is like fulfillment, satisfaction, sense of achievement and enjoyment. If your motivation is only to make more money, in which money is an extrinsic motivation, your success will not last long. I'd advise you to focus on the intrinsic motivation for your long lasting success.

All the best to my friend in his new venture...