How To Get Motivated!

Motivation could be the subject of many blog posts as it’s such a wide-ranging subject, so this post is only really going to scratch the surface, but, as with anything in life, you have to start somewhere!

We think of motivation as something we either have or have not, something that can come to us in waves which carry us along for unspecified periods of time, but that often ride out in the end, just like a wave crashes onto the shore.  Or maybe we don’t consider ourselves to be a motivated person at all, just getting by on the humdrum of life and not making any real progress to speak of.

Something else that we need to consider is that motivation and procrastination are two sides of the same coin.   One day you can toss the coin and motivation turns up, other days, no matter how many times you toss the coin, it always falls on the side of procrastination.  I’ve explored procrastination in an earlier post, and you will doubtless see some similarities in this post, but recognising each side of this magical coin will help you to identify your triggers so that you can more often flip on the side of motivation.

So what exactly is motivation?  Here are two definitions I particularly like.

From Wikipedia:  Motivation is an inner drive to behave or act in a certain manner;

And from the Oxford Dictionary:

[Motivation is] a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way.

The thing I like about both these definitions is that the former refers to the ‘inner drive’ to do something and the latter refers to the ‘reasons’ for doing something, which of course could be both internal and external.

So where does our ‘inner drive’ come from?  I believe the inner drive comes from identifying our reasons for wanting to achieve something in the first place.  In motivational-speak, this is our ‘why’.  If we know why we want to achieve something and that why is particularly important to us, then the theory goes that our inner drive will engage and we will pick up momentum in the direction of our desired outcomes.

So if this is the case, then it should also be true that if our why is not true to ourselves, then whilst we may be initially engaged due to the excitement of the moment, we are unlikely to follow through in the longer term as our motivational wave will hit the shore too early and dissipate.

It’s important to be aware of this, because sometimes we’re very hard on ourselves when we don’t follow through on our stated goals.  We may feel embarrassed for our ‘failures’ and consequently delay trying something else.  But it’s quite likely that behind this ‘failure’ to follow through was a weak ‘why’.  It sounded good at the time of inception, but it wasn’t really what we wanted to do or have, or, possibly circumstances have changed since committing to the goal and we now need to amend our direction of travel.

But it’s important to realise that we can actually take control over our motivation levels.  In the end, it comes down to taking control of our thinking.  If we believe that we will procrastinate, then we probably will.  We’ll visualise ourselves doing the things we would normally do, like watching tv, chatting on the phone or surfing the internet.  These actions will very familiar to us, and as we know, familiarity is comfort and comfort is the zone we prefer to be in most of the time!  Bingo!  Procrastination!

By contrast, to remain motivated to do something that is unfamiliar, we have to step outside our comfort zone.  We’ll be thinking actions into being which we are not familiar with.  This not only takes effort, but actually requires innovative thought as we’re not likely to have executed these thoughts previously.  In other words, we will be moving outside our usual routines and comfort zones.

So with all of this in mind, what techniques can we use to become and stay motivated?  This is a difficult question of course, because some things will work for some people but not for others.  Also, some things will be affected by our moods!  Did you ever hear yourself saying or thinking…”oh, I just can’t be bothered..!”, well this one is probably driven by our mood, rather than anything else significant!

But anyway, here are a few hints and tips.  Use them as and when they are needed!

Be ‘Publicly’ Accountable

This is by far my biggest tip on getting and keeping motivated!  Once you publicly declare that you plan to do something, it can be pretty difficult to then publicly capitulate.   I use this technique every day on my facebook page to publicly declare my goal actions for the day and then to report back on my progress…or lack of!  I dare anyone to try this method and fail to at least achieve some momentum…give it a try!

But for anyone who finds this idea a little too public, why not buddy up with a friend and let them know what your plans are and then keep each other accountable?

Get like Zig!

There’s a fantastic quote from Zig Ziglar about motivation:

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last.  Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily!”

So how can you get a daily dose of motivation?  Well how about subscribing to a few websites or facebook pages that give you a daily motivational quote.  Or maybe find the stories and inspiration that works for you and set up a montage as your desktop wall paper, or even print it off and keep it where you will see it daily.  Alternatively post your goals where you will see them daily as a reminder of what you’re trying to achieve!

Write a ‘To Do’ List

Sometimes it’s hard to get motivated simply because there are too many tasks vying for our attention.  Writing them all down helps to clarify our thoughts and pinpoint those that we really need to do.  Peppering this list with things we want to do too will help to keep our motivation higher as there will be a mix of should dos and want to dos.  Just remember to use this technique wisely.

Write a Bigger Plan

Linked to your ‘to do’ list should be a longer term plan.  Sometimes the act of writing out and visualising our longer term plans is motivating in itself and therefore propels us into action.

Accept that sometimes you need a break

Don’t beat yourself up for days when procrastination is at the helm.  Sometimes that’s just our body and mind telling us that it’s time to take a break.  Taking a break will allow us to recharge and come back feeling more motivated.  Also bear in mind that when we take a break, our subconscious will continue to work on our goals and we will receive new insights when we take control of the helm again.

Don’t Double the Workload

Finally, when you have had a day’s break – either by choice or through procrastination, don’t plan to make up for the deficit that you’ve created.  Planning to ‘punish’ yourself by insisting on a double-the-effort comeback is a sure-fire way to more procrastination.

Instead, just pick up where you left off and carry on.  If, by some happy chance your motivation is particularly high when you get back to your goals, then by all means ride the wave and keep going, but if it’s not, well that’s fine too.  Just do what you planned and leave it at that til the next day.  We’re after progress, not perfection.

As I mentioned at the start of this post, this really is just a short tour of motivation!  I could write much more and provide lots more motivation techniques.  But, since this post has already rambled on far too long, I’ll draw it to a close here but I’ll do a separate list or motivational techniques in the future.

What have been your best and worst motivational techniques?  Please share and let us know!

 

Photo: Don DeBold