Starting a new business, a new course, writing a book, turning professional; all of us have goals and dreams.  We set our goals and put in the effort, it’s exciting to think about and visualize the results. But what happens when the excitement fades? When the work becomes a slog, you become distracted, even bored with the routine?

Anyone can work hard when motivated, but when boredom kicks in, achieving that goal can seem a long way off. We have all hit the wall at some point or another. The difference between a successful person and someone who gives up is not just the passion, but the ability to feel the boredom, continue through it, and stick to the plan.

Here are five top tips that can help you to stay motivated.

Fall in love with the process, not just the result

You’ve set a goal, you’ve got a plan, and you can see how to complete it.  Perhaps your aim is to lose 15 pounds, get your business into the New York Times, or write a song that goes viral.

We mainly see our goals as the result of something, success as something that can be achieved and finished. But don’t forget about the process of getting there.

If you want to lose weight, you have to accept and enjoy the process of eating healthily and exercising to achieve your goal. If you want an article published, you may get rejected over and over again, so you have to love the process of writing. If you want to be an Olympic athlete, you have to get used to the daily schedule of workouts.  A great musician didn’t become great without practice. Enjoy the process of what you do and the results will follow.

Stick to one or two goals

You can narrow your focus by sticking to one or two goals.  Don’t think about any other goals until these are completed, unless your priorities shift for any reason.  Write them down and make them your key goals. If you have many other things you’d like to achieve, write them down too, but put them away for now on a ‘someday’ list. Put your key goals in front of you.

3 What motivates you to keep going?

When boredom strikes, you need to think beyond the financial and the personal reasons for your goals. Is there a higher purpose to what you’re doing?  Why do you want to achieve this dream or goal?

Perhaps you would like others to follow in your footsteps, maybe you’d like your children to read what you’ve done, or you want to raise awareness about certain issues.

Tell others what you’re doing

By making your goals public, you are almost being held accountable for achieving them.  The more people you tell, the more it will force you into taking action.  It also helps to have a network of like-minded people who may encourage you to keep going.

5 Push yourself further

If you’re feeling bored, it may help to set yourself greater challenges. Perhaps your work is getting monotonous, too familiar, the same old routine, then maybe you need to push yourself further. You could join a new class, start a completely new sport, set your sales targets higher, set new goals to grow your business, new targets for social media marketing.

We all have goals and dreams and strive to achieve them. But sometimes we can get bored and tired of chasing them.  The real success comes with consistency. Put in the effort consistently even through the monotony and you will reap the rewards.