Motivation is a tricky thing for some people. Some of us are self motivated all of the time, some of us are great at motivating others, but when it comes to ourselves we just can’t do it… consistently, and some of us believe we completely lack all motivation. So what do people who feel they lack motivation, but want to achieve a goal do?
Here are six tips I have put together to get yourself motivated (and keep you motivated):
1. Start with the end in mind. Create a blueprint for the goal or outcome you are trying to achieve and work backwards. Once you have created the plan, the blueprint, you can break down your goal into smaller chunks. Too much at once can be overwhelming and de-motivating, so start small.
2. Write it down. Whatever your goal or vision is for your life write it down. Get crystal clear on exactly what it is you’re trying to accomplish. I write my top goals down daily, and I do this so that I always remember them, they always stay at the top of my mind and I can continuously make decisions that align with those goals.
3. Know your WHY. Big deep and truly know why you want to achieve this specific goal, how will it make you feel once you achieve it, how will your life change, how will you see yourself when you’ve accomplished this goal, how will others see you, ask yourself the questions to get to your true meaningful WHY. Once you know your why, connect with it every single day, think about it, breath it in, and every day when you need that motivation to take the action to get you closer to achieving your goal, think about your WHY, think about the significance of what achieving this goal means to you.
4. Reward yourself during your milestones. Shower yourself with gratitude. Reward yourself and celebrate your successes. And no, I’m not saying if you’re trying to change your habits to eat healthier, that your reward should be to go binge out on cupcakes. Maybe your reward is buying a new pair of pants, or treating yourself to a movie, or a nice long bath. Create rewards that mean something to you, but won’t derail you or take you off track from achieving your goals.
5. Remove any distractions. If you’re trying to eat healthier, remove any foods that will go against this goal or lifestyle. If you’re trying to write a book, set yourself up in a space with minimal distractions, keep yourself in an environment that won’t take your mind off of where you want it to be.
6. Get yourself an accountability partner. Have someone hold you accountable. Talk to your family or your friends, tell them what you’re trying to do, ask them to check in with you once in a while to make sure you are staying on track, to see how you’re doing. If it’s in your budget hire yourself a coach, there are all kinds of coaches out there, business coaches, life coaches, health coaches, spiritual coaches, whatever your goals are get a coach to hold you to the highest accountability you need to get you to achieve your goals.
A few more things to keep in mind when achieving a goal, be kind to yourself when you stumble, when you have an off day, approach the situation with curiosity rather than judgement. If you get too hard on yourself, and judgemental on yourself, than you’ll start to get angry at yourself, and your self talk will turn negative and often times will make you have the belief that, “if I failed today, I might as well give up now”. Rather, if you approach the situation with curiosity, ask yourself why was yesterday, today or that moment an “off moment”, get curious, was it something someone said, was it that you didn’t get enough sleep, whatever it was, once you recognize why then you can acknowledge it and move on, you can accept it and think , “ok from this point on I won’t allow other people’s thoughts or beliefs to affect my motivation or my goals”. Understand that setbacks are valuable lessons, so learn from them. Ask yourself what is one thing you can learn from this setback, from this obstacle? And finally, trust the process, trust that you are exactly where you need to be and if you continue to be crystal clear on what you want, the universe will help guide you there.