“How to stay motivated” is the topic for today and boy there is no better time to talk about how to motivate yourself when we are in the middle of a Global Pandemic and half the Worlds population are working from home. Some lives and businesses are falling apart, kids are not at school driving parents crazy. So just how do you motivate yourself when there is absolutely nothing to look forward to?
In this post I am going to talk about the different scenario’s of when you might need to motivate yourself to do more, then I am going to offer some general tips from my life on how to stay motivated. It isn’t easy and even I have dropped a few times during this pandemic but you know what, when you see what you have to gain over what you have to lose by staying motivated it will all start to make sense.
Some of the motivational factors in life revolve around believing in your journey and yourself. You see if you have a goal to achieve then it is so much easier to bring motivation back into your life. Having a true meaning and purpose in life will definitely help you to stay motivated along the way. This is mainly because you will have something to aim for and you can record your success along the way.
Life is about being valued, receiving recognition and obtaining rewards, none of us want to walk through life thinking we are worthless or we hate our lives. What we want is to live a happy and content life that we can look back on and be proud of and say darn it I had a great time life. That is where the self motivation aspects come in, because no one else can do this for you, you have to do it for yourself.
Scenario’s Where You Might Have To Motivate Yourself
- At home – This can be difficult to stay motivated because you will be tempted to watch the tv or flicky flack through your phone or computer and before you know it the day has been wasted. This comes down to setting yourself goals at home and writing down your jobs for the day. Everyone needs a routine and if you are just laying about then that will become a habit and motivating yourself will just get harder and harder. You might have seen this during the current pandemic as the kids know they haven’t got school for 6mths, so the boys are staying up at night and sleeping all day gaming and the girls are slowly losing motivation also. You have to set yourself jobs to do and then when you finish them you can sit down and relax. So set the goal, work hard completing them, see what a great job you have done, reward yourself for your hard work and be proud of what you have done. Then chill out and know that you have achieved something.
- At school or Uni – You really do need to be properly self motivated to get through this but hopefully you have been sensible enough to choose subjects that you enjoy and are at least interested in. Yes it can be boring at times, but so is life sometimes and still at school and Uni you have to have the attitude that this is just a step towards your future you. Have an idea of what you want in life and use school or Uni as the learning curve to get to where you want to be in life in the future. Not planning your future now will only leave you in trouble at a later date, because you will wonder aimlessly through life and will miss out on living the dream life you can have if you want it badly enough.
- During exercise and at the gym – You are going to be dealing with the can’t be bothered syndrome here more than likely. Those little voices in your head that tell you that you don’t feel like doing exercise or going the gym. The sensible voices however will tell you how great you are going to feel once you have finished the exercise. Fitness is really important and if you look after the body the mind will look after itself. The best thing to do here is do exercise that you enjoy, so join a class or a sport and just learn how not to question yourself about whether you want to go or not, just go and when those thoughts come into your mind, push them out and say no I am going because it is going to make me feel great. Once you are into a proper routine on this then self motivation will be less of an issue and you will just get on with it.
- Before Exams – We all hate exams but this is just temporary and everything you do in life will need some sort of motivation to stay focused on something for short periods of time. Exams are no different, put in the work and you will get the rewards for it. Don’t put in the work and you will regret it later which is not the best way to do things if you want to live a content lifestyle. The best thing you can do it put a timetable together, treat it like you would a job and allocate time slots of which subjects to study, put lots of breaks in there and have a reward afterwards for when you finish. If you feel as if you are not taking anything in then it is time for a break. You will be much happier doing things this way as you will not feel anxious when you do the exams or waiting for the results afterwards either. So give yourself a kick up the bum and get focused.
- At work – Work can be boring and if you are saying you hate your job or you are not interested in it. Then there are only two things you can do, change it and look for another one or make things better at work. Go and ask your boss for more to do, more responsibility and things that might challenge you. This will work wonders because if you look after your boss then the likely hood will be that you will be the one who will get all the pay rises and rewards for it to. Put in the work and make your day as filled as you can to pass the time quickly. This involved being proactive and not sitting there getting bored all day.
- Cleaning – It is always a ball ache for most people this one but don’t you feel proud when you look and see how great everything looks when you have finished cleaning. The sparkly bathroom and kitchen, the car. Yep you know afterwards you are going to be rewarded for your hard work so just bang some great music on and do it when you have free time or just schedule cleaning time each week so you have a routine you need to stick too and go from there.
- Sticking to a diet and healthy eating for weight loss – If diets and weight loss were easy then we would all be thing right? This is the hardest one because you really do need to learn how to stay motivated because if you don’t you will just pack it in. So lower your expectations in the first place, don’t say you want to lose 10 stone in a month because that is just no practical and it won’t happen. Don’t expect to get straight back in the gym and beast yourself thinking that will do it, it won’t you will be aching that much it will put you off. So set yourself sensible goals, exercise to the level of your ability until the weight starts to come off and you will have the motivation to do more. Sometimes you don’t have to lose the weight either, you just need to change your shape. In regards to dieting it is easy less calories in compared to calories you are burning and you will lose weight. So eat smaller portions and more of it throughout the day to increase your metabolism. The important thing here is to manifest in your mind what the ideal you will look like. See yourself in the mirror two sizes smaller and know also that when you conquer this one you will feel amazing. I lost 5 stone in 2 months and I train 3 times a day because it keeps anxiety at bay, I can eat what I want and it easy for me stay concentrated on the things I need to get done.
- During Tough times – This is a real difficult one because your motivation will be up and down during these times and you will find it hard to say consistent. One day you will feel you have loads of motivation and other days you will feel you have none. The important things again here is to spend some time envisioning your life getting better and what it will look like when the tough times are over. The law of attraction is a real phenomenon that you can use to help you through these times. I have used it several times when I have been made redundant, been out of work, been single and thinking your life will get better then setting some goals and a plan of how you can achieve it and then staying motivated to get it will help you considerably. The more you sit there and think oh shit life is going down the toilet the more it will. This is what they call like attracts like in the universal laws. So always try and stay positive where and when you can.
- During periods of Unemployment – You have to believe that everything does happen for a reason in life. So if you don’t get the job you applied for then know and believe that a better one is around the corner. Keep applying and adjust your cv to different jobs and show your achievement rather than just what you have done. Contact recruiters in linkedin, get job listings on the job boards and just stay positive and keep moving forward. Don’t take rejection personally and just move on as quick as you can because when you stay focused and you can see what the ideal job will look like it will come to you and at the right time too.
- After failing at something – The way I deal with this is I expect to fail at things but does it stop me from doing things? Absolutely not, we are going to fail in life, the good thing is we are trying and the more you fail at something the more lessons you will learn and the better you will get at it. Don’t be put off by people ridiculing you along the way, people are evil some times and you shouldn’t let anyone put you off your dreams, this is your life live it and stay motivated in your own mind and don’t let others stop you. Keep going and going and eventually you will get there. Just don’t give up when you could be so close to success.
- Getting out of debt – We have all been there and taken on too much debt and the only thing you can do here is learn by your mistakes. When this has happened to me in the past my motivation has been around paying it off as quickly as possible which meant, moving money around to 0% interest, not going out and paying off as much as I can all the time. Just make sure you do not miss any payments and dust of your cv and look for other jobs that will pay more. See what you can cut back on and get them out of the way. By following the above I now have a credit rating of 999 and get loans and interest payment so low it is unreal. So don’t panic, sit down in clarity and work out how you can get rid of those debts as quickly as possible and put a plan together on how you can do it and follow it.
My Top Tips On How To Stay Motivated
- Live life – Life really is what you make of it. The only thing that is stopping you from getting there is yourself and your own motivation to follow things through. If I told you that if you ran 10 miles I would give you a ferrari for doing it, what would you do? Yep I bet you said you would do it, so for everything that you want in your life go and get it. There is absolutely nothing stopping you apart from your own self doubt on what you think you can achieve in life.
- Stop the excuses – Excuses are the biggest cause and lack of motivation because we will always put barriers up as to why we can’t do something. I will do it when, or I can’t yet. You have to stop this way of thinking, see what you want, feel it and taste it and then got off your bum and go and get it. It doesn’t matter if you fail, if you keep going you will get there you just have to believe in the journey you are taking is going to be worth it.
- Believe you can do anything – Life is amazing when you make the decision to take it by the balls and do whatever you want to in life. When you stop being controlled by those negative thoughts and just run towards your dreams. You can achieve anything you want to if you want it badly enough. The art here is having enough motivation to actually go and get it.
- Always follow a plan – You are not going to be motivated by anything if you feel that you are not getting anywhere near towards your goals. So you have to monitor the actions you have taken to get there and the achievements you have made along the way. Unless you can see progress you do not have the right to quit or make excuses. Like with babies that start walking, yes the will fall over, some will walk quicker than others but they all learn to walk. So set yourself a plan of what you want and measure it along the way.
- Control your thoughts – You are going to have loads of thoughts along the way that you cannot do this and your motivation will suffer as a result. Stay on top of your thoughts, they are your thoughts, it is your mind and you control it. Rather than letting negative things come in just go nah I don’t care what you say I am going to do this and I am going to what I want out of life. Adopt the eye of the tiger approach, grit your teeth and just keep moving forward.
- Do it now – Don’t put things off, if you want to live a motivated lifestyle, when things need doing just do them. Stop the, I’ll do it in a minute, see the benefits of what you are doing and reap the rewards. Doing things straight away allows you more time to get other things done and stops the anxiety of putting things off.
- Gratitude – Be thankful and grateful for the journey you have taken. There is no point doing anything unless you are happy with what you have done in the first place. So always be grateful for the things that you have managed to achieve and give yourself a big pat on the back for coming this far in your journey.
- Happiness – Do things that make you happy and more of it. Your motivation will go through the roof if you do things that make you happy. Happiness is a choice and massively effects your relationships with yourself and your family and partner. If they see you have the motivation to succeed and you are doing anything to get there, you will find a new and unfound appreciation of yourself that you didn’t know existed. So find your passion and use that to drive your new found appreciation forwards.
So there you have it they are all my thoughts on how to stay motivated and enjoy life. Yes I know it sounds easier than it is and I have had some real down days in my life that have brought me down but I refuse to give up and give in.
That is why I also put together my transformation program at https://changeyourlifeforever.co.uk and it will help you to get motivated, to be kind, to give love freely, to get over that anxiety, to see life for what it is and what you want it to be. So make sure you sign up and I will send you daily videos for inspiration to help you through your journey in life too.
In the meantime have a great day and I’ll catch you soon Scott
