Motivation is essential to all forms of accomplishment and success in life. Without it, we languish about and never realize any of our goals. With it, we can accomplish much more than we might now imagine. What are the characteristics of a motivated person? Do you have those characteristics? If not, how can you develop them in your own life? Read on to test and learn about your own level of motivation.

First, do you believe in yourself? I'm not asking about an irrational sense of being invincible. The fact is, we are all vulnerable to injury, illness, and bad judgment. The question is, how do you really feel about your own abilities? Believing in your basic value and worth is a foundational aspect of being motivated. It's like the bedrock that motivation is built on. A realistic assessment of our strong points is necessary to getting and staying motivated.

Being realistic means looking at what you have accomplished in your life so far, and knowing that you can do it again - and much more. Yes, it's important to have a sense of our weaknesses, in order to know the things we need to work to overcome. However, it's much more likely that your faulty notions are in the area of doubting your strengths rather than overrating them. It's also likely that you overrate your weaknesses.

Just believing is not enough to reach success, nor is it all there is to being a motivated person. A motivated person has a passion, a special motive, that drives them. Built on the bedrock of belief, there is a substantial layer of desire. Without a burning dream in one's soul, accomplishments are not likely to happen - at least not the big accomplishments.

In order to motivate a person to succeed, the desire within must be strong enough that it feels unthinkable to not go after the goal. Failure is just not an option. The motivated person feels slightly less than contented about their life until the desired success is within their grasp. Do you have a burning desire to accomplish or have the the things you dream of?

A truly motivated person, though, will have more than a foundational belief in themselves and a strong desire to reach an objective. These two factors will spur them on to action. If the belief and the desire are not enough to inspire action, then the person is not completely motivated. Are your own belief and desire enough to get you moving in the direction of your goals?

Finally, a motivated person is a determined person. It's one thing to get started on a goal. For instance, how many times do people start out pursuing weight loss or fitness, only to be derailed a few weeks later and give up the goal? To qualify as a truly motivated person, you must find it within yourself to keep yourself fired up and working toward the goal even in the face of adversity.

So how do you rate in the motivation game? Do you have the foundation - a deep faith in your own abilities and worth? Do you have a balanced and positive assessment of your value? Do you have a deep desire to reach your goal and fulfill your purpose? Does this passion spur you to action? Do you stick to it even when you're tempted to quit? If your answer to all these questions is "yes," then congratulations! You pass the test!