Why we need motivation If you wish to excel in your life, achieve your goals, satisfy your desires then you have to be motivated. Self improvement and motivation are essential to live an excellent satisfied life. If you are not motivated then you will lead a life which is mediocre. Reading books on motivation and motivation tips, will give rise to motivational thoughts in your mind. You will see results and achieve your goals when motivational thoughts in your mind get coupled with the energy and passion within you. Everything is within you. Self motivation is most important to achieve your goals. Positive thinking, positive thought and always looking at the brighter side of issues will make you energetic. It has been found that this energy flowing from you will attract others towards you.

Motivation is required when you want to achieve a goal, perform an act, or in simple words when you want to do something. If you don't have a goal or don't wish to do anything, then you don't need any motivation. The first step in self motivation is identifying the cause/goal. Once the cause/goal is identified it will give you the energy and passion to perform the act or achieve the goal. The cause or the goal becomes your dream. For dreams to inspire you they must be realistic and achievable. It should be challenging so that you can go that extra step to perform the dream and achieve your goal. Desire alone is not adequate. You should have that hunger what you call 'fire in your belly' to do it. If you only have a desire then there is every possibility that slowly the desire will reduce and you will lose interest or motivation to complete the task or achieve your goal.

While performing to achieve your goal don't keep comparing yourself with others. Compare with yourself. Keep a target and follow up to finish the task as per the target. Targets should be meaningful and achievable. You cannot have a target like earning a million in a day. Such a task is meaningless and cannot be achieved. When you feel that you are falling behind your targets, you should not allow the feeling to quit overtake you. Only losers quit in the middle. Winners don't. They analyse and change their plans, if necessary, but never quit. Athletes and other sports players remain always motivated because they are always concentrating and focussing on the next step. In this way they reach their goal which is to win the race or game. Ralph Waldo Emerson says "Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could." Only self motivation can take you to your goal. And self motivation is within you.

If you begin to think negatively about the events which are happening to you, then you will begin to lose motivation. Negative thoughts and fear only make you lose your energy and feel exhausted. The solution is to find the the positive side of everything. What ever happens there is always something positive you can get from it. If you are not able to achieve you goal then find out why and correct it. Instead if you just curse yourself by saying that everything that happens to you is bad, forces are always working against you, etc., then these though will only give rise to further negative thoughts and completely sap you of your energy. To keep yourself motivated just think of the useful things you can get out of it.

Determination
In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.

Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.

Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.

The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move.

"We told them so."
"Crazy men and their crazy dreams."
"It`s foolish to chase wild visions."

Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.

He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.

It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.

He touched his wife's arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.

For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man's indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.

Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.

Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realised with determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are.Even the most distant dream can be realized with determination and persistence.