“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt.
Just as willpower is essential to achieving success, discouragement and a lack of motivation can, at some point, keep you from reaching your objective.
It is entirely up to you to devise techniques and methods that help to keep the fire burning.
Visual goals are very helpful. Whatever you are working toward, make it visual. Write it down, and remind yourself of it every day. This creates an indelible mental picture of what you want to achieve.
It may be something material like a car, or a vacation you have been looking forward to for a long time. Write it down, be specific and not ambiguous.
If possible, take or cut out a picture of it and paste it somewhere conspicuous at work or at home where you can see it often. So when you feel discouraged, it will remind you of your goal and help you stay focused.
Make a contract with yourself. According to motivational researchers, people who write down to-do lists are far more likely to achieve their intended goals than those people who just keep mental lists. Writing down your goals has power.
Putting something in writing can make it psychologically more powerful. This may also explain why most cultures hold such a high regard for honouring contracts.
In the contract, you may also include a reward you will give yourself once you complete the task.
After all, everyone likes to be rewarded for completing a good job. Even a simple pat on the back, “good job”, or “thank you” may do the trick to give someone the push to keep going, but unfortunately, these may not always be readily available.
Since these are also essential for staying motivated, you must learn to find that encouragement on your own by pleasing yourself.
Abusive people lower your self-esteem and bring you down. Get these negative people out of your life. Surround yourself with positive-minded people. Imitate their example. Smile amply and think happy thoughts.
This will give you a brighter outlook, help you see a clearer picture of what you really want, and give you a fresh mind to decide what steps to take to get there.
Rather than wait for things to happen, try to be proactive and MAKE THINGS HAPPEN. Inactivity idles the brain and stagnates your potential to reach your goals. There is a saying: “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.”
Read inspirational books and literature. These can improve your attitude and heal your mind. A book of success stories can also be encouraging.
You will learn from other people’s experiences and gain confidence-boosting insights, and the stories will also motivate you to pursue your goals and move forward with your plans.
Oftentimes, not knowing how or where to start is frustrating. Knowledge is power. Knowing how and where to start is empowering, and it gives you the drive to hit your mark and follow through.
Whatever it is that you have been planning to do, or wanting to achieve, JUST DO IT! Keep on aiming high and go for it!
Actually getting your hands dirty is the best way to solve the problem of motivation. By “forcing” yourself to do it, your momentum will build gradually, and before you know it, you have finished the task or finally achieved your goal.
Divide and conquer is the key. Break down the apparently unattainable activity into small, doable ones. Not only does it become less overwhelming, but seeing the “in the meantime” results will further your confidence that it can indeed be done.
Lack of motivation happens to us all, but if you do not encourage yourself to accept opportunities and be challenged, no one else will. It is most important to keep your eye on the goal, find ways to keep going, and in no time, you shall reap the benefits.
If in the beginning, you were just doing it for the material reward, you will also learn to realise that the fulfilment, satisfaction, and self-achievement you derive from reaching your goal are equally enjoyable and will keep the drive within constantly burning.
Conclusion
There are many other ways to keep yourself motivated. The key is to maintain it at a level that drives you to achieve your intended purpose.
We all need to be motivated to reach our goals, and sometimes that drive burns out and needs to be rekindled. If you want to stay motivated, get the motivation spirit.