At this time of year, it’s easy to find yourself stuck in the motions. You’re spinning the wheels over and over again, working as hard as ever but not feeling like you’re actually getting anywhere.
You’re so busy doing your day-to-day job done that you can’t find a minute to connect back to those big goals you set for the year, or that big vision you have for that future you.
You’re feeling stuck, exhausted and unmotivated. You think, ‘tomorrow’s the day!’ as you fall asleep the night before, only to wake up feeling tired, stressed and already consumed by your inbox.
Motivation takes solid effort and serious work all the time. Motivation won’t just find you and stick around. She’s constantly trying to run for the hills, looking to be doing anything and everything other than what you need to get done right now.
So here’s how to strike up the motivation, and keep that fire in your belly going constantly throughout the day.
Goals and visualisation. Do you actually have goals? Or a shopping list of things you think you should be doing? If it’s the latter, it’s time to chuck the list of ‘shoulds’ and establish some clear-cut goals on what you actually want and need to get motivated for. Get specific about these goals. Write them down, now edit them into short, sharp lines you can repeat over and over again.
Stick ’em up. Get those goals on pieces of paper and stick them up where you can see them. On your fridge, on you laptop, next to your bed, on the back of your phone. You need to see these goals as soon as you wake up, and constantly throughout the day. The visual cues will allow you to continually connect back to what you should be doing.
Get a goal partner. Yes, it’s as daggy as it sounds, but it’s a great way to keep you accountable. Find somebody who, like you, has big goals and is looking to get some motivation. Share your goals, and schedule time to continually check back in with each other to evaluate progress. Be brutal when it comes to asking your partner why he or she is falling behind.
Get grateful and express it. Self pity destroys motivation. It slowly eats and eats at it until it simply can’t survive. Gratitude is the enemy of self pity. It re-energises and helps you climb out of the pity pit. And gratitude is the simplest thing in the world. You just need to be thankful for the people you have and the things you’ve got. Just being alive is one seriously tremendous thing and it happened, to you. So appreciate life. Appreciate love and friends and family. Appreciate the food and shelter and water. Be thankful for all of that, and respect it by being a better person than somebody who sits around procrastinating, aiming only to get through the day.
Revel in success. That is, the success of others. Research and investigate others who have achieved similar goals to what you’re aiming for. And take a look at those who’ve achieved seemingly impossible feats. Read their stories. See what you can learn from their habits. Enjoy their success and remember your own similar success is possible, as long as you put in the continuous (and often monotonous effort). While you’re at it, find some way-off sources of inspiration to get you on your feet, people who chase the ridiculously difficult goals — and achieve them.
Quit having ‘bad days’. We humans have this horrible ability to get stuck in a rut when things don’t go our way, but also this wonderful ability to simply reset and lift ourselves out of it. If you’re slumped or feeling down, don’t commit to ‘starting again tomorrow’. Don’t blame it on ‘having a bad day’ and make no attempt to fix it immediately. Call it a ‘bad minute’ and move on to the next. Find a quick trick that helps you reset. Try shaking out your arms, jumping on the spot, or simply looking at the sky and breathing. Find your reset button, and hit it as many times as you need throughout the fay
Find five minutes at the end of the day. Five minutes is all it takes to evaluate your day and determine how to best use the next day in order to get closer to your goals. Do this in your head if you must, but ideally get out a pen and paper (or download a journaling app on your phone) and write down how the day progressed, what you learned, and what you can do better. It takes 21 days to create a habit, so set reminders and make yourself available just before bed to spend time evaluating your day. Within a few weeks, this will feel as natural as brushing your teeth.
