What can you do that helps with increasing your motivation? Finding what motivates you is one thing, it is quite another to stick with it. And even while you have already succeeded in identifying what motivates you, the temptation to give in to more convenient, easier things like procrastination are much more powerful than getting up and going.
Identify that lack of motivation or deliberately making yourself feel demotivated is a bad habit. Something isn’t quite right when you do not get up on time to get to your office. Or, when you allow yourself to be overwhelmed by the power of procrastination when you have deadlines to meet.
You know that something is going wrong inside you when the task you have to finish several days ago sits idly on your desk, untouched. And something is definitely not right when you can’t even force yourself to face a problem that has been eating away at your will to live fully.
The first effective step to gaining back your sense of motivation is to figure out the thing or things that sap your energy. It could be a small thing like not waking up in time or a really serious thing like hating everything about your job.
No matter what it looks like, you can identify the things that sap out your energy by their power to make you feel discouraged.
Start with listing down the areas in your life where you find no motivation to pursue at all and the particular things which you think makes you feel disheartened. This will help you gain some perspective on the entire issue. You can even come up with solutions in simply knowing the cause. This will shed clarity on your issues with motivation.
Then you can move on to evaluating the risks and benefits of not feeling motivated. Believe me, there are benefits to having no motivation – immediate self-gratification in the form of rest for one. There are risks, for sure. Plenty of them. The risks often outweigh the benefits.
Discovering the risks and benefits of not feeling motivated could be very enlightening. In general, you could realize that it is never worth it to procrastinate, to give in to the temptation of hating to move a finger to finish your task, or to deliberately believe that it is much more gratifying to lie around and do nothing.
Finally, commit yourself to change. This is not easy, it never was. But just work on putting one foot in front of the other moving toward your goals and you will find that building your sense of motivation may just be a wee bit simpler than you originally thought!
| Here’s a way of increasing your motivation |
|
The key to increasing your motivation and attracting more calmness and success in your life is having a Savvy Plan in place so you can get out of that sense of being stuck and on the Fast Track to Success… To get all the details of my new eCoaching Program |
Great post, Moira. I had a challenge with keeping motivated at times. I believe everyone goes through this. You’ve shared several helpful tips to keeping motivated. I like this: “Discovering the risks and benefits of not feeling motivated could be very enlightening.” Excellent! Thanks so much for sharing.
Thanks Alexandra – I think we all have challenges with motivation – the best way to get through it is to acknowledge it and take a step in the direction of where you want to be!
Great post, Moira! Sometimes I give into my sapped energy and do more self-care – more sleep, longer hikes, only nutritious foods and more mindfulness practices. That helps, sometimes, as well.
Thanks Lisa – yes sapped energy does have a story to tell and is a great motivator to increase the self care items!
Good points, Moira. I find that sometimes when I am really not motivated that I just have to push myself and dig in to a task. Once I’m into it, the motivation to finish it begins to build.
I agree Marie Leslie – often the challenge of getting started is far greater than the doing of it 🙂
I think identifying those things that sap our energy is pretty important. They effect everything about us, work and beyond. This was a timely read because i am bit low energy today, and now I am going to assess why!! Thank you Moira!
Glad to hear this Leslie – I hope you got to the bottom of what was draining you… sometimes just having an awareness of what it is is enough to get you back on track!
ahh yes! my motivation is low this week ..I think I am just tired of the dreary rainy weather. The sun will shine again I am sure 🙂
It’s a glorious sunny day here Anita… I’ll have to send some of this lovely weather your way!
Thanks for sharing this, Moira! This really is helpful! I struggle a bit with getting it all done at times. Identifying the energy sap might really help!
Yes Elizabeth – it’s important to see if you have any energy drain happening!
Hey there Moira…good stuff, as always (smile). and getting/staying motivated can be a real challenge when you see the same four walls all the time, which is why I love being connected with you and the others who are transforming the world via social media. What a gift.
Hiya MamaRed 🙂 – I agree that it is really great to be connected virtually with many inspiring and supportive people – it really does make a difference.
Procrastination definitely slows down motivation to the point where it is hard to get the strength again to be motivated at all. I agree with you about energy being key! If I do not get enough sleep at night, I am definitely less productive and less motivated:)
Thanks Daniele – yes rest and self care is essential to motivation and productivity 🙂
I like how you remind us to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Simple but very true! Keep on, keeping on!
Thanks so much Carolyn – the truth is it IS simple – it just sometimes takes a wee nudge to take that one step forward in when a person is feeling stressed or down in some way.
Having made a commitment keeps me motivated especially when there are other people involved in my commitment.
Excellent article, Moira! You are so right. Committing to change is never easy. Thank you for reminding us to “keep putting one foot in front of the other moving toward your goals.”.One simple step at a time.
Committing to change can be such an area of resistance … yet, like so many other things, gets easier the more you do so successfully. Sometimes we just need to look back and acknowledge the times we’ve confronted change with success … not focus on the times we didn’t!
If my motivation is down I look for a small job where I can see what I’ve done. Just something simple as sweeping the front porch, I see it’s clean+accomplishment and I always want more of that. From there I slowly work my way up to big jobs.
When my motivation is down I play the “just 5 minutes” card. If I can do just 5 minutes of whatever I’m procrastinating on, I can stop and set it aside again. There are days when my whole day is 5 minutes here, and 5 minutes there. Most of the time though, after those 5 minutes I’m into the task enough to finish.