Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a magic wand? Instead of having to put in the effort to get things done, you could just wave your wand, and ta-da, you have your perfect life?

Unfortunately, magic wands don’t exist, and in order to achieve your goals, you need to put in the effort and take action. This means that you have to be motivated to do so.

The inability to stay motivated is the main reason people give up on their dreams. When you lack motivation, you find yourself wishing for something instead of achieving it. You will find yourself procrastinating instead of trying something new and you will find yourself giving up when times get rough.

All you have to do is hop online and you’ll find tons of articles on how to motivate yourself from creating vision boards to forming support groups. While these techniques can help, sustainable self-motivation comes from your mindset. If you’re positive and optimistic, you’re more likely to stay motivated and determined in achieving your goals. However, if you’re very negative, there’s a good chance that you’ll procrastinate or throw in the towel as soon as you hit an obstacle.

Fortunately, you can change your mindset and become more positive, and here’s how to do it:

Feeling Unmotivated? These 3 Tricks Will Completely Change Your Mindset

1. Create a “Can-Do” Attitude

The biggest demotivators are a lack of self-confidence and the fear of failure. They cause you to focus on all the reasons why you should just give up and can make you feel completely disheartened. However, you can overcome these thoughts by using a sort of mental positivity switch.

To power up your mental positivity switch, you have to focus on all your positive attributes and accomplishments. When you set a new goal or face a new challenge, take a moment to write your “I can do it!” list. Jot down all the reasons why success is possible for you. List all the skills, talents and traits you have that will enable you to achieve your goal, and think about similar events from the past that show you that you can do it.

Use your “I can do it!” list as your personal mantra and repeat it to yourself frequently so that they become ingrained in your thinking habits.

Every time you start to feel down or unmotivated, bring out your list. Sit somewhere quiet for a few minutes and say your list out loud. Fill yourself with determination and really focus on what you are saying. This will help you get out of your negative thinking and start feeling more motivated and determined.

2. Focus On Your Rewards

In management, we often apply “force field analysis” to weigh up the pros and cons of decisions. You can apply this to keep you motivated to your own dreams and goals. It is human nature to resist change. Change means moving out of your comfort zone and this alone can demotivate you.

To use the force field analysis as a motivation tool, create two lists: one for your current situation, and one for your future situation. Write down the pros and cons of each situation so that you can see how the benefits of change outweigh the benefits of staying as you are. Then whenever you start to feel unmotivated, take a look at the benefits of change to remind yourself why you set your goal in the first place.

[RELATED: Staying Motivated When You’re Completely Exhausted]

3. Visualize Success

This last step is the most powerful one and leads on from focusing on your rewards. It is to visualize success. Any time you feel unmotivated, press the pause button on your life for a few moments. Find a nice quiet place, take a few deep breaths, close your eyes and visualize your life as it will be once you have achieved your goal.

Feel the emotions you’ll feel, go through the activities you’ll be doing, and really live your ideal life in your visualization. This exercise will uplift your spirits and give you the motivation to continue through the tough times so that you can achieve your goals.

Getting over a lack of motivation is about focusing on the positive. It means believing in yourself and your goals even when times get tough.

As Audrey Hepburn said, “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’m possible!’”