Motivation is a critical factor in the pursuit of our dreams. Whether it’s starting a new business, pursuing your degree or taking up a new hobby – staying motivated can be challenging. However, with a few simple tips you can actually achieve this!
In this article, we’ll explore 7 easy tips for staying motivated and achieving your goals!
Table of Contents
Why is Motivation Important?
Without motivation, life can be very dull and might even seem pointless. This is because motivation is a big reason why we just get up and do things! It’s the reason you got up and had breakfast today, or the reason you decided to go to university!
A lot of the decisions we make in our life are related to how motivated we are to do them in the first place. We need it because it drives us to act on the things we want to do. In fact, having motivation is something that we as humans need to develop mentally, emotionally and physically!
If the entire population of the world had no motivation, then we wouldn’t have half of the inventions we have today! There would be no computers, no smartphones and even no electricity! So you see, motivation is practically the backbone of most of the progress we’ve made as humans.
Now that you know how important motivation is, you can follow the steps on how to achieve it!
The Truth About Motivation
When I was younger, I would always complain that I had little to no motivation to do anything. Studying was dragging, the idea of starting a new hobby was too challenging and my overall mood was pretty low.
A lack of motivation can stem from a lot of things, ranging from your personal life to your work life. Sometimes, life gets in the way and holds us back from being the person we want to be – or doing the things we want to do.
Still, there is a misconception about motivation and where it comes from! The way that we see things is that we start a task or an activity because we are motivated to do so. The only issue with this tactic is that if motivation does not come to us before, then the likelihood of us actually starting that task is very low.
If you continue to wait for motivation to strike before you do anything…you’ll probably be waiting for a long time.
The truth is that motivation begins after you start a task, not before!
So what does this mean?
You need to stop waiting for motivation to randomly come to you! You need to instead start your activity/task before so that you can actually become motivated to continue!
This is actually a great advantage. Once you start your task, there won’t be as much of a struggle to remain motivated because of the way motivation actually work.
Let’s see what can help us keep our motivation going!
1. Build a Routine to Stay Motivated
Routines are great for a number of reasons. They help us regulate, plan and go through our day! Although it’s true that not everyone will benefit from a routine, a lot of people will and it’s worth a try.
Once you have a routine, you can actually prepare yourself for the day! Sometimes, it can be very overwhelming to take on a day with absolutely nothing planned. It’s hard to know where to start like that.
Your routine should ideally begin with something relaxing, so that you don’t start your day off too rough.
This is actually very important once you’re creating your routine, because it actually prepares you for the task you will take on later on that day. This could really be anything from having a relaxing breakfast to a simple 10 minute meditation!
Starting your day like this will make it ten times easier to start new habits, or continue older commitments!
If you’d like to know more about building a routine, read my article which gives you detailed information about how to make your own!
2. Keep your Routine the Same
Creating your routine is the first step to keeping your motivation going, but for the best results you’re going to need an additional step.
Firstly, look at your routine as if it is a series of a show. If you’re watching a show you won’t skip an episode and continue watching another, right? Well, if you do that chances are you won’t fully understand what is going on in the plot.
Just like you should remain consistent with how you watch your shows, you should also do the same with your routine! The pattern of your routine should remain the same so that you give yourself the best chance at keeping your motivation levels up!
In fact, ideally you will begin to associate your routine with the task you wish to carry. This will instantly shift your mentality towards work, which is exactly what you want to stay motivated!
Essentially, by following this pattern you will no longer have to wait for motivation to strike, all you will need to do is start your routine and work your way up to the task!
3. Choose tasks which Match your Abilities
If you’re taking on a task which is a little bit of a challenge, that’s alright. After all, you do want to challenge yourself from time to time. With that being said, if your task is far too difficult for you to complete, then you are not giving your best chance to remain motivated.
In fact, if you choose a challenge too hard or too easy, you will actually be demotivated! For example let’s say that every time you try to work on your task, you find it too difficult to continue. Do you think that would motivate you more? Or demotivate you? I’m pretty sure that it would easily demotivate you.
For this reason, you should choose a task that is actually within your abilities! Something that will challenge you enough so that you can learn from it, but also something you can actually achieve! This is actually known as the Goldilocks Rule, a rule created by James Clear.
Try it out, you’d be surprised with the results!
4. Make use of Extrinsic or Intrinsic Motivation
Both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation can be useful in different circumstances. Some people will decide to use both during their working/studying time, others will make use of the type of motivation which works best for them.
First, we should clarify what each of these terms mean.
Intrinsic Motivation – This is the type of motivation which results in the satisfaction that you feel for working on a goal/task.
For example, if you want to do well in your biology exam, your intrinsic motivation will be pushing you along to achieve a great mark.
You won’t be studying just because you have to, but also because doing it makes you feel good about yourself!
A great way to make use of intrinsic motivation is by tracking your progress, as this really keeps it going!
Extrinsic Motivation – This type of motivation is different, because it has nothing to do with the innate satisfaction you get from working.
Instead, the motivation comes from an outside source – a reward. It works like this, you will work on your task on one condition: that you can reward yourself with something after it’s done.
It’s something we often use with children, but it can still be very helpful with teenagers and adults.
You can choose which motivation you work with best or make use of both. It’s up to you!
5. Use SMART Goals
Creating SMART goals is a method which allows you to create very realistic and specific goals.
It stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Based. In this case, the task you want to finish should align with your SMART goal.
The idea behind this method is that it helps you create a goal which you can actually work towards, by making everything very clear.
Often, we end up not completing our tasks because we don’t have a lot guiding us to get there. If your goal to finish your task is too vague, it’s probably only going to leave you without motivation, not with it!
That’s why this step is a great reason to sit down and spend a few minutes making a SMART goal, where you can rest assured that your goal will be achievable.
If you’d like more information about how to make your own SMART goals, go read my article all about it!
6. Use Positive or Negative Motivation
Just like we spoke about the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, there are also another two types of motivation. Both positive and negative motivation can be very useful, however it is up to you to choose which you might benefit from the most.
Positive motivation is usually more effective, as it relies on positive affirmations rather than negative ones.
For example, you know that if you finish your assignment you will then have free time left over and the satisfaction of knowing you finished it! Those are the type of positive effects that can really help you stay motivated!
Negative motivation on the other hand, is the complete opposite. It can be effective in some cases, however it can also promote anxiety and fear.
Instead of thinking about the positive things that will happen after you finish your task, you will think instead about the negative repercussions if you don’t finish it! In the long run however, this can actually end up demotivating you.
It’s up to you to choose which to use, however, both can be useful in specific cases. You decide!
7. Remain Flexible
I know that I talked about the importance of sticking to a consistent routine, and I still do believe that. Still, that doesn’t mean that you have to overwork yourself either. The truth is, sometimes things don’t always go as planned.
Prioritising your health is above all, the most important thing. If you cannot fulfil your goal on a specific day, that’s alright, it happens! You cannot expect to remain motivated all the time, it’s close to impossible.
In fact, in the long run, remaining flexible is great because you aren’t berating yourself for not working on your task! When we don’t take care of ourselves, it’s easy to become burnt out and unmotivated. So, remember, your health is more important!
Conclusion
Staying motivated and achieving your dreams is clearly possible with a few simple tips. Remember that the journey towards gaining motivating might not be easy, but with persistence and dedication you can achieve anything you set your mind to!
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