Everyone struggles to be productive from time to time. There are several self-motivation tactics that make it easier to get back on track. If you want to be successful in life – you need to get, and stay motivated! Children have the benefit of parents, coaches, and teachers. As adults, we have to learn to manage ourselves. Unfortunately, few of us are taught this skill and we must learn it on our own. Teach yourself the art of self-motivation!
A few tips and new habits might be all you need to enhance your results dramatically.
Use these techniques to enhance your self-motivation:
- Use pleasure to your advantage. Make a long list of the benefits of taking action. What will you gain? A better body? Improved social life? More money? Self-respect? When you find your self-motivation lagging, return to this list and rekindle your enthusiasm.
- Use pain to your advantage. If you fail to act, what is the likely outcome? You’ll be forced to live another day in your current existence. Or maybe your financial situation will become a little bit worse. Perhaps your income taxes will be late. Give yourself a list of painful outcomes to avoid.
- Reinforce your lists daily. Create a running action list of things to accomplish to achieve your goals. It’s helpful to break them down into bite sized pieces.
- Take a walk. A change of environment can help to clear your head and increase your level of motivation. It’s a great time to breath deep, think big thoughts, consider long-term goals and refresh yourself.
- Create habits that support your goals. Ideally, you can structure your life so you don’t require motivation. Are you motivated to take a shower or brush your teeth? Not really – you just do them out of habit. Creating habits that move you toward meeting your goals is the best motivation tool of all! Try attaching a new habit to an already existing habit. For example, you get up and make coffee and read the paper every morning. Why not substitute one inspiring blog or article with that morning coffee and create a habit that gets you in motion.
- Identify obstacles to your goals. Are you afraid? Tired? Restless? Figure out what’s stopping you from taking aggressive action and getting things accomplished. Then take action to resolve the reasons for your inaction. An inspiring quote that applies here “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage.”
- Make a plan for the day. At the end of your work day, make a list of everything you’d like to get done tomorrow. Then get started on those items early in the day. Build momentum and the rest of the day will go more smoothly. Success builds on success.
- Get started. Have you ever noticed that motivation happens after you get busy? It’s interesting how challenging it can be to get started, but how easy it can be to continue. Pull out every trick in the book to make yourself begin. The resistance you feel will decrease markedly.
- Reward yourself regularly. Rewarded behaviors are more likely to reoccur in the future. Give yourself little rewards on a regular basis. You deserve it.
- Compete with yourself. Strive to create small improvements in yourself each week. This can be more motivating than competing against others. There might be plenty of people ahead of you, but you can always do better than you did last week.
- Eliminate distractions. Everyone has a preferred method of distraction. It could be the internet, television, or ice cream. Avoid allowing yourself to indulge in your distraction until you’ve accomplished something worthwhile. Be strong.
When you’re feeling unmotivated, avoid the belief that you’re stuck. There’s always something you can do to lift your spirits and tackle those big projects. Develop the skill to motivate thyself! Try these suggestions and find out which work best for you.
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