People who want to achieve their goals know that a huge part of achieving them boils down to the ability and knowledge of how to consistently stay motivated. But how to do it? How to stay motivated? That’s a question that a lot of us ask ourselves on a daily basis and today we’ll try to answer it.
What is motivation?
In everyday use, the word “motivation” describes why someone does something. Motivation is the process inside us that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. It’s a reason, a driving force, for acting in a particular way, whether it is getting food to reduce hunger or watching some tutorials to gain knowledge.
How to consistently stay motivated?
Honestly, it’s not an easy question to answer because the answer will always depend on the individual person. Every person has to find their own way to stay motivated. But we’ll list some effective ways that might help you and at the end tell you what keeps us motivated.
Do what you love
It’s no secret that when you do something you really love it’s easier to find the motivation needed to keep going. If you are doing something that you don’t feel truly passionate about, something that doesn’t speak to your heart, it’ll probably be very hard for you to find the motivation to stick with it. So, don’t force it and find what you really love doing.
Have a clear vision & set goals
If you want to succeed in something, you need to create a clear vision, something that you can relate to. Once you have a goal you need a plan that will take your vision to the next level. A goal without a plan is just a dream so always have a list of short-term and long-term goals. They give you something to work towards. Short-term goals ensure that you are able to taste victory on a regular basis, providing motivation to push hard towards achieving the ultimate goal.
Manage your time effectively
If you’re serious about your goals, then you have to get serious about how you spend your time. Distractions can really sap motivation. If you want to stay motivated and achieve your goals, you need to eliminate anything that can interrupt you. Yes, it’s not easy but it’s necessary, especially in this modern world when everyone is fighting for our attention.
Be consistent
Even if you’re totally not in the mood, do one small thing that will move you towards your ultimate goal. Get in a habit of moving forward on a daily basis. No matter how small these steps may be. Even the tiniest step is better than nothing at all.
Visualize your success
Visualization is a powerful technique that can help you to stay motivated and focused. By creating a mental picture of yourself successfully finishing a project, even the worst tasks can feel like part of achieving something bigger. Spend some time visualizing the future by writing a description of how life will be like when you achieve your goals. Where will you live? What will you enjoy in your free time? What places will you travel to? You can also create a vision board – pictures can be powerful motivators.
Be optimistic, look for the positive side
Of course, the possibility of failure exists but you can’t think that way. When you’re optimistic you focus on the positives, which helps you stay motivated and focused on reaching your goals. Take control of how you think, how you feel & how you act. Try to find something positive in everything you’ll face.
Take breaks
Sometimes even the most determined person gets overwhelmed. Getting a break increases productivity and creativity. And it could be a short break during the day or if you feel like you are burning out, a longer one might be just what you need. So go on a pizza, to the cinema, read a good book or go on a vacation.
Work-life balance
Don’t let one side drag you more than the other – you need time for both work and other aspects of life. A good work-life balance has lots of positive effects, including a lower risk of burnout, less stress and a greater sense of well-being.
Work out
Working out is really great for our health. It can lower the risk of many diseases and even light physical exercises can affect your mood and make you feel more motivated. So go for a short run, go to the gym, or workout at home. Whatever suits you. It’s amazing how much energy one can have after a great workout.
Have a good night sleep
It’s also well-known that sleep is essential to our physical and mental health. Without sleep, your body isn’t able to perform well. When it comes to staying motivated, being tired isn’t something that is going to help you – your motivation will drop significantly. So take a short nap when you feel like it. And remember to sleep around 6-8 hours per day. How much sleep is enough is different for each person, so experiment. Maybe you will find that 6 hour is enough for you instead of 9?
Watch motivational speeches
What does a good motivational speech do? It motivates. Stay elevated by watching videos of inspirational moments so you can suddenly feel a sense of motivation to keep striving. Yeah, we know it may sound cheesy but it actually works. Try it especially when you feel bummed and don’t feel like doing anything. Instead of watching another funny cat video try a motivational one.
Listen to music
A simple but effective method to get and stay motivated is to listen to music. What music motivates you? What music inspires you? Create your own motivational soundtrack (or listen to ready ones on YouTube or Spotify). and visualize the bright future while listening. There is real power in music – learn to leverage it for your benefits.
Join the communities
Get together with like-minded people working towards the similar goals you are. This is a great way to stay motivated because it’s very refreshing to see that there are so many other people thinking about, doing and failing at the same things that you do.
How do we stay motivated? For sure we both love what we do. But what motivates each of us?
For me, the biggest motivation is the vision of the future – of where I want to be & how I want to live. Visualization of it keeps me really motivated. I’m also a very optimistic person and always try to stay positive and look for a bright side. I also have all my short & long goals written down – they keep me on track. Oh, and I really like to cross out completed ones! What’s also important to me? Taking breaks and doing something else – preferably going on a trip, but good books or movies are ok too! When I’m tired or with no desire to do something – I don’t force myself. – Sonia
The thing that motivates me the most is a vision of accomplishing something big and meaningful. Throughout the years I’ve developed a habit of moving forward toward what I want to achieve and I’m very patient with that. I like to learn new things and that helps a lot too. Sometimes I get a great motivational boost when I get angry at something and put some heavy music on. Other times just staying in a state of flow with easy tunes and crushing a difficult problem will give a solid kick. I probably listened to every music type in my life and I learned to use it to steer myself towards preferred mood whenever I need to. I highly recommend that! – Wojtek
Summing up
Each of us is different and nobody can tell you how to keep yourself motivated. In the end, it’s you, who must find your best way to do that. We believe that you can do it! 🙂
At the end of this post some wise words that I found on the Internet: When you lose your motivation, you lose the ability to achieve your goals.
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