Whenever you
feel unmotivated, changing your mindset can seem as stretched as store yourself out of a sticky pit of mud. Not only do you feel unmotivated, you feel
unmotivated about trying to GET motivated!
Luckily,
the mind is very susceptible to persuasion – if you use the right stimulators.
Here are three simple ways to motivate yourself:
Remind
yourself why your goal is important.
Sometimes
it’s easy to lose your motivation if the end result doesn’t seem as important
as it did when you first set the goal. Most of us are fired up with enthusiasm
when we first set our goals, but over time that fire begins to die down.
In order to
rekindle the flames, revisit your goal in full detail! If you kept notes about
what you wanted to achieve, re-read them now. If not, simply take a trip down
memory lane. What will your goal do for you? Why was it once important to you?
Is it still important to you? Important enough to override the temptation to
avoid working on it?
If this
activity isn’t sufficient to get you moving again, perhaps it’s time to set
some NEW goals that will get your blood pumping again.
Give
yourself a push.
Very often,
it’s the start that is the most difficult part! Even when you don’t feel like
working on something, pushing yourself to get started can often shake off the
last vestiges of resistance and put you on the right track again.
I like to
play a little trick on myself: when I really don’t feel like working on
something, I’ll tell myself that I have to put in at least 15 minutes of time
on it. I promise myself that if, after 15 minutes have passed I still don’t
want to keep working on it, I can stop. This almost always works for me. Once I
get involved in what I’m doing I have no trouble keeping up the momentum.
Whatever
you have to do to “trick” yourself into getting started, do it. Once you’re
rolling along, you probably won’t want to stop.
Set a
compromise.
If all else
fails, try bargaining with yourself. Promise yourself that you can spend the
rest of the evening watching whatever you want on television if you first work
on your goals for an hour or two. Or promise to buy yourself a new outfit if
you stick to your workout plan each day this week.
There are
two important things to keep in mind with this technique. First, keep your
promises realistic. Don’t promise yourself the moon just to try to motivate
yourself, because somewhere deep inside you’ll know you are lying to yourself.
Second, be sure to honor the promises you make to yourself! If you get into the
habit of making promises you don’t keep, your mind will become ever more
resistant to compromise.
No matter
which method of motivation works best for you, the 3 suggestions above have one
thing in common: a decision to take action. You can play all the mind games you
want, but if you’re not willing to move out of inertia and get moving, a
motivated mind-set won’t help a bit.
Nice post, mate. The first point usually does the job for me.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, interesting blog. Following!
These are really good tips. I use a few of them. Gonna need them when school starts in a week :)
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