We’ve all felt it; that moment when we have experienced a sharp decline in our motivation. Bed often feels like our only option and our key to survival. Whatever the reason for the occurrence, one thing is certain, the sooner we focus on joining the living, the sooner things change.
Knowing that each of us finds ourselves experiencing life’s cycle, I thought I would share nine ways that I set about increasing my levels of motivation when I feel the need to reengage.
9 Ways to Increase Your Motivation
1. Check your attitude; stay positive
See yourself as unstoppable be quick to adapt. That way when obstacles surface you will proactively troubleshoot and achieve a positive outcome. Treat your mind like a garden; fertilise it regularly with great thoughts. I find when my attitude plummets, I ‘hit the pavement’ with an interesting eBook. Putting interesting thoughts in, encourages cultivation of thoughts that grow.
2. Don’t catastrophise!
Keep things in perspective; don’t catastrophise. What’s the worst thing that can happen? Worrying intensely about things that can happen achieves little; proactively planning sees our energy channelled in a worthy direction. I head straight to my journal to start settling my thoughts. There are so many great decision making tools that I can use to help structure my ideas. I find that once it’s down on paper I can easily share my perspective on topics of interest or concern.
3. Build awesome work relationships
Sharing your vision, thoughts and ideas, brainstorming creatively with colleagues is a great way to build trust levels and get your creative juices flowing. I invest time collaborating with my team and find that the opportunity to share information strengthens our project outcomes and relationships. Stephen Covey acknowledges in his best-selling book ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ that strengthening emotional connections at work impacts directly on our productivity.
4. Meet regularly with your personal board of directors
Making yourself accountable, establishing and reporting on your goals is a great way to ensure that you always remain focused. I find my efforts more targeted when I meet regularly with my personal board of directors (this hand-picked group of awesome give me needed wisdom and advice). With the assistance of my magic makers, I keep motivated and transparent.
5. Plan to achieve; celebrate wins!
Effective people constantly plan and are driven by the increased motivation that they feel when they see progress being made. They create to-do-lists and business plans with one thing in mind – evolution of the document as they see circumstances change. Finding planning irresistible I created a suite of planning tools to help me achieve. Titled Plan to Achieve! Be Awesome, the tools I created were adapted to inspire me to achieve. I always plan blocks of time to celebrate the small wins. I find that rewarding my behaviour, encourages me to do more of the same. Let’s face it; who doesn’t like to be recognised for the efforts they have extended.
6. Plan variety; reenergise
Don’t go stale; reenergise. You’re in charge of your schedule, so plan it! There is no need to schedule boredom, when variety sees you motivated and achieving all that you plan. I always ‘mix things up’ whenever I can, no matter what the schedule dictates, if I see light at the end of the tunnel and the chance of a win; I find myself happily moving forward.
7. Live outside your comfort zone
Be different; live outside your comfort zone. Life fast becomes mundane and predictable if we don’t push ourselves to spend time outside our comfort zone. I always look for opportunities to work on projects and tasks that raise my curiosity and have the potential to see me grow me; I want to engage. I am always amazed at how invigorated I become when I learn something new or find my motivation level at the beginning of my next curve.
8. Understand your why
Simon Sinek famously presented the concept of the golden circle and the importance of understanding your why. If you know why you are doing something and understand the value that it attributes, you are more likely to feel motivated and achieve it. I found that exploring and understanding my why helped me align the tasks I do in my schedule, connecting to my purpose. Watch the short edited version of Simon Sinek’s TED Talk – Start With Why and consider yours.
9. Live a balanced life
Be sure to regenerate. Sleep well, eat well, exercise and grow your mind. When the body, soul and mind are energised and refuelled, our outlook and attitude sky rocket.
How do you keep yourself motivated? We'd really love to hear your strategies, so leave your comments below, hit ❤ and share, so that your friends can enjoy this article.
