Jul
5
Three Simple Ways to Motivate Yourself
When you feel unmotivated, changing your mind-set can seem as strenuous as hauling yourself out of a sticky pit of mud. Not only do you feel unmotivated, you feel unmotivated about trying to GET motivated!
Luckily, the mind is very susceptible to persuasion - if you use the right stimulators.
Here are 3 simple ways to motivate yourself:
Remind yourself why your goal is important.
Sometimes it’s easy to lose your motivation if the end result doesn’t seem as important as it did when you first set the goal. Most of us are fired up with enthusiasm when we first set our goals, but over time that fire begins to die down.
In order to rekindle the flames, revisit your goal in full detail! If you kept notes about what you wanted to achieve, re-read them now. If not, simply take a trip down memory lane. What will your goal do for you? Why was it once important to you? Is it still important to you? Important enough to override the temptation to avoid working on it?
If this activity isn’t sufficient to get you moving again, perhaps it’s time to set some NEW goals that will get your blood pumping again.
Give yourself a push.
Very often, it’s the start that is the most difficult part! Even when you don’t feel like working on something, pushing yourself to get started can often shake off the last vestiges of resistance and put you on the right track again.
I like to play a little trick on myself: when I really don’t feel like working on something, I’ll tell myself that I have to put in at least 15 minutes of time on it. I promise myself that if, after 15 minutes have passed I still don’t want to keep working on it, I can stop. This almost always works for me. Once I get involved in what I’m doing I have no trouble keeping up the momentum.
Whatever you have to do to “trick” yourself into getting started, do it. Once you’re rolling along, you probably won’t want to stop.
Set a compromise.
If all else fails, try bargaining with yourself. Promise yourself that you can spend the rest of the evening watching whatever you want on television if you first work on your goals for an hour or two. Or promise to buy yourself a new outfit if you stick to your workout plan each day this week.
There are two important things to keep in mind with this technique. First, keep your promises realistic. Don’t promise yourself the moon just to try to motivate yourself, because somewhere deep inside you’ll know you are lying to yourself. Second, be sure to honor the promises you make to yourself! If you get into the habit of making promises you don’t keep, your mind will become ever more resistant to compromise.
No matter which method of motivation works best for you, the 3 suggestions above have one thing in common: a decision to take action. You can play all the mind games you want, but if you’re not willing to move out of inertia and get moving, a motivated mind-set won’t help a bit.
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