Usually, when people think of motivation tools, they often think of some sort of self-help book or a motivational course or possibly a Tony Robbins type of seminar. Go forth and walk over those hot coals and become a super-hero.
Well, what if I told you that the best tools you can use to not only get motivated but stay motivated are simple habits you can do on a daily basis? These tools are practical and they don't cost any money at all. You just need to devote a small part of your day to making them work.
If you're trying to achieve any kind of success or produce some kind of outcome day after day, you probably already know how crucial motivation is. It's one thing to plan ahead and get excited about the kind of outcomes you desire. But actually getting there and enjoying the kind of life you feel you deserve is an entirely different thing.
Most people can get pumped up about living their dreams. Most people can easily get excited about living in a bigger house in the better part of town, driving around in a luxury car or being famous. The challenge is the day to day process of making these dreams come true. Most big dreams take a lot of work from sales to marketing to creating content and building a website and raising money. Initially you are all excited and motivated because your focused on the end result but the challenge is to then keep it up day after day, week after week, month after month, and if need be, year after year. This is where people start to wear out and lose their spark because ultimately, success is not so much the size of one's ambition or the grandeur of one's desire, but it's the willingness to sacrifice and work hard to get what you want and to grind it out day after day. This is the difference between little or no success and massive success. It's a commitment. This is something that you have to keep working at even if it doesn't feel good. Even if success looks like a longshot.
You have to keep going and put one foot in front of the other when you know that there are so many other pleasurable things you could be doing. Why work hard when relaxing and being comfortable pays off immediately? You will be confronted by those feelings day after day. This is especially true if you hit that all too likely wall or series of walls. Do you think people who build successful careers or businesses just had one wall to overcome? Think again! In many cases, their problems all cropped up at the same time and they start to get overwhelmed and fall into despair. What would you do if you were in their situation? This is where motivation comes in because you may not know the answer, but you have the mental and physical energy to keep trying one solution after another until you break through and you eventually get to where you want to go. Do you see how that works? This whole process takes motivation because ultimately, success is rarely easy. It's not a straight path. You're going to have to get up day after day and keep putting one foot in front of another and keep plodding your way towards the final goal. So, how do you get motivated in your life journey towards your dreams? Focus on your morning routine When you start out the day right, you set the tone and intention for the day. You create the day instead of life happening to you. You live a more deliberate life. This can happen by choosing to wake up early, exercise, meditate, visualize and plan your day.
Write down 3-5 things that you're grateful for every morning. Do not repeat items from previous days. Write down your to-do list for the day but importantly prioritize the tasks so you know what is most important for you to day that day. Focus on the priority tasks early in the day before you lose your energy or get pulled into an unexpected issue needing your time.
Play mental movies
When the boredom, physical difficulty, and sheer resistance of what you're up against is beginning to have an effect on you, you can overcome all of that by simply visualizing what needs to get done and what you want to accomplish.
In your mental movie, you envision yourself living the success that your current goals will lead you to. Where will you be? What would you look like? Who are the people that are going to be around you? What would you feel?
Visualize all of that. Imagine that you're watching a movie and you are the star. To take things even deeper, focus on not only the things that you can see, but also what you can hear, touch, taste, and smell.
Watch your mental movie in 3D. Engage all your senses and amplify your emotions. When you do so, you gain a sense of emotional urgency. When your emotions are put in play, you will be able to find a way through your current difficulty or boredom.
Mix things up When you're struggling with motivation, keep in mind that sometimes, when you get stuck in a routine, your mind starts playing tricks on you. Things that used to be easy or straightforward become more complicated and takes more energy to process. What do you do when you find yourself in that situation? Well, one thing is to power through it and a lot of times that works. Basically, you just focus on what needs to be done, and regardless of how boring, monotonous, or even annoying the situation may be to you, you just find the willpower to push through. This can work. But many times, it doesn't because you don't have the energy or motivation. You might be feeling burnout. Also your mind gets used to your motivational strategies and ignores your efforts. Much like an athlete tunes out a coach who gives the same pep talk before every game.
So at this point, you need to mix things up. You can switch up what tasks you are working on. Instead of doing marketing maybe you can do some writing or work on your website. Keep things fresh. Give yourself a break from repitive tasks.
Sometimes you just need to take a little time off. This could just be a few hours or even a few days. Give yourself time to re-charge and have a little time for fun and play. Another approach would be to chop the task that you're doing to even smaller parts. Set smaller intermediate goals so you can see progress and you will feel good about hitting your targets as you go along.
For example, if you want to lose 100 pounds it can seem like its going to take forever to get there and its easy to get discouraged. Instead set your intial goal at losing ten pounds. When that is achieved celebrate your success and move on to the next goal of losing another 10-20 pounds. Build that momentum and feel good about what you have accomplished.
Again you can decide to take a break. So basically, if you're doing something and you're not making much progress, take a break, collect your thoughts, take a deep breath, walk around a little bit, drink water, and then try again or use the techniques described above. The final word Please understand that motivation tools are only tools. In other words, what you can achieve with them really depends on how you use them and how frequently you wield them. Make it a habit to use these tools and the results will come. Of course these aren't the only ways to motivate yourself so seek out other methods and find what works for you. When you do that, you're able to put in more effort and you become more used to a higher level of motivation. The key is to achieve a positive feedback loop.