Note: This article is adapted from blogger Ramya Karamsetti, where she talks about the 10 best ways to motivate ourselves.
Most of the time, we start working towards our goals with a lot of enthusiasm and eagerness, but at some point, we lose interest in that goal, and the only thing that can get us back on track is motivation. When we get excited about something, we enjoy what we do without feeling that it is a burden to us.
Tips to motivate yourself:
1. Celebrate small victories:
At first, your small wins may seem small and insignificant. However, the truth is that small victories are as important as big wins; they help encourage you and often play a critical role in motivating you. For example, let's say that your long-term goal is to save enough money to be able to travel. You may find it challenging to save money because you are a wasteful person.
You always spend all your money without saving anything, but today you have saved a small amount of money, so celebrate this. It does not matter if what you have saved is a small amount, as the truth is that you tried to save your money, and this is the first time. Celebrating your small victories can boost your confidence, make you happy, and basically motivate you to work to achieve your great wins as well.
2. Take a break:
We all have limited attention; either we get bored with the task at hand and have to accomplish it, or our performance is affected. What can help in this case is to take a break between them. If you are working hard on something and feel that you are slacking off or losing interest in it, this may be an indication that you need to take a break.
Lie down and relax at regular intervals. Perhaps you can take a short nap or go out and hike. You can even call a friend and communicate with them a little or watch a short show. In addition, consider taking a long vacation.
For example, if you've been working on a project for months, you might take a weekend off and go on a short vacation or do something as simple as a road trip or an excursion to the outskirts of your city. Taking a break restores your vitality and gives you a sense of renewed strength and motivation to return and deal with your task.
3. Organize your day:
When you organize your day, you first get a clear idea of the tasks at hand, and you have to accomplish them. So, you will know what to do and how you can take a systematic approach to your daily schedule. Time management also helps to save a lot of it. When you are busy a lot in your day without a plan in mind, you may miss some tasks, or spend a lot of time on only one task.
However, if you've organized your day from the start, or maybe the night before, you can mentally prepare yourself to finish specific tasks within the deadline you set for yourself. There are plenty of online and great tools to help you organize your day in fun ways.
4. Ask yourself “Why?”:
- What are you working for?
- What exactly do you need motivation for?
- Is it the completion of an ongoing project?
- Or is it important to lose weight?
At some point, you lose enthusiasm to keep working. That's why you should stay motivated. When you find yourself lacking motivation or interest, ask yourself “why” this goal was so essential in the first place, and remind yourself how much you would benefit from it once it was accomplished.
You've been working toward something, and you may have come a long way from where you started. In all this rush to do so, you may have forgotten why you did what you did in the first place.
5. Give yourself rewards:
What makes a reward special is that it is granted only when you deserve it. Rewarding yourself, basically after completing a task, can be one of the best ways to motivate yourself. There is also a scientific reason associated with the reward system. Your brain connects the reward to positive emotions. When you reward yourself, your brain begins to link that with a good feeling, which in turn motivates you to earn more rewards, and you will soon connect all your hard work and the following awards with a pleasant feeling.
6. Meet a new friend:
Meet a friend with the same interests, so both of you can achieve goals together. First, it can be fun and exciting to have a friend who shares your interests. Second, if you are reluctant to work, your friend can help encourage you or help you through your failures, and vice versa.
You can build the support your friend needs - and vice versa - and when you support your friend, you'll see that you end up motivating yourself too. It's helpful to have someone who understands you by your side when you want to say what's bothering you.
7. Start your day early:
Night owls may not like this advice, but the truth is that the earlier you start your day, the better your chance to control and focus on all your business. You are more productive in the early hours of the day, so why not make the most of it?
Finish all your essential work early in the day. When your motivation is at its highest, once you've done all the essential things, you'll have time to add to your list of fun activities or enjoy some time to relax. Waking up early can help lower your stress levels and manage time better.
You don't have to deal with things hurriedly in the early morning, forget things, or miss deadlines if you wake up earlier than usual. If you're not used to waking up early, you can smoothly start by waking up thirty minutes earlier than you usually would. Finally, you can begin your day with sunrise, which is the best time to wake up.
8. Divide your goal into smaller goals:
The idea behind setting goals for yourself is to create a clear path and a sense of what you want to achieve so that you can achieve what you have in mind. There is always a big goal that you seek to achieve, which is great. However, when you think about attaining a big goal, the work to accomplish it becomes monotonous sometimes. To deal with this, you can divide your aim into smaller goals. It is great to strive to achieve your big dreams, but allow yourself to work on the small dreams that you have set at some point as well, as it keeps you steady and prevents you from feeling overwhelmed.
9. Focus:
When you are working on something, no matter how small or insignificant, make a conscious effort to focus on it. We live in a fast-paced world where everything is within our reach, making it easy to be distracted. We need to be more aware of what we are doing than ever before. To be able to do our best, concentration paves the way for clear thinking, better problem-solving, logical thinking, and decision-making.
10. Take a break:
Life is about successes and failures. There will be days full of enthusiasm and motivation, waiting to carry out all your tasks and work to achieve your goals, but there will also be days when you can barely get out of bed. Let alone prepare for what you will face in the day. On days when energy levels are low, you will need additional motivation to motivate you to continue working. However, it is necessary to remember that you are just a human being, and it is very usual to feel the need to stop working on some days, so do not exhaust yourself when this happens.
Take a break, do what you can, and do your best to accomplish it. Putting more pressure on yourself than is constantly allowed may lead to fatigue and extreme stress, and this is something difficult to deal with. Do not forget that the goals you are thinking about are what you set yourself and for your own benefit, so do not compare yourself to others. It is okay if someone else will achieve the goal faster than you. What matters is that you do your best.
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