Motivation: Finding It and Keeping It

Motivation is having the desire to do something. You need motivation to start or begin working towards a specific goal. You also need motivation to keep accomplishing the tasks needed until you reach that goal. You can be all excited to start something, and then soon after, when it gets hard, you quit because you lose your motivation. Has this happened to you? It’s happened to me plenty of times. It’s not uncommon. But it stinks. So how do we keep that motivation bubbling inside of us and keep us working towards our goals?

It’s important to know that motivation is completely personal. What motivates one person may provide absolutely no motivation for the next person. And motivation can come in many different forms. It might be something external, like working to afford a new vehicle. It might be emotional, like being a female role model for your young daughters and showing them how strong and successful you are. Or it might be physical, like sticking with a workout routine in order to reach a certain level of health. Finding the right motivation for you, can be the difference between failure and success. 

Here are 8 steps you can take to find your motivation and keep it!

1. You need to determine the WHY for what you want to do. Your why is more important than how or what the steps are to reach that goal. You need to dig deep into yourself and really know who you are. If your why is weak, you will give up. If it’s a must, you will keep on working at it. Your why is the reason behind what you want to do.

2. Be clear on what you want. Take time to define your exact goal. This will help you take that step into actually doing something instead of always planning.

3. Create a plan for what you want. This doesn’t need to be extremely detailed at this point. It’s allowing you to take your vision and break it down into large steps. This provides a guide to help you stay focused on what’s next.

4. Set a time limit to completing tasks. Create a list of things you need to complete by a certain time, and then reward yourself for them. Maybe you tell yourself that if you finish those 3 things on the list by the end of the morning, you will treat yourself to a 10 minute walk before lunch, or treat yourself to that delicious coffee you skipped this morning.

5. Stay focused. Don’t multitask with other little things that don’t pertain to your end goal. Clear out a block of time without distractions to get the steps done that need to be done. You will get a lot more finished in a shorter amount of time, if you can stay focused on the task at hand.

6. Find support. Who do you know that could be an accountability partner? It’s easier to ignore something if no one knows you are skipping it. But if your neighbor is expecting you to meet at the gym every morning and you keep canceling, then it’s harder to say no. What about that coworker who knows you are working on that presentation in order to get this well deserved promotion?

7. Organize your workspace. Do you feel good about your desk, or the table, or office? Make sure your work space feels good and doesn’t distract you from what you need to be focusing on.

8. You must stay positive. The key to all of this is your attitude towards yourself. Create a mental picture of who you will be at the end, once you have reached this amazing goal. Act like that new and accomplished person.  Don’t beat yourself up when something doesn’t work out the way you thought it should. Learn from it, and start again. Keep reassuring yourself just how amazing you are and what you are going to accomplish. Remind yourself what your WHY is!

These 8 steps do not come naturally to all of us. So have patience with yourself. Be proud that you are working towards this big goal of yours. Many people don’t even push themselves to have goals. So be excited. Setting goals and working towards them is the way we keep progressing forward in life. So go on, determine what your goal is and find your motivation.