Five Ways to Motivate Yourself
Eventually, I think we reach a point in our life when we are just desperate for change. For some of us, change is forced when we hit rock bottom and there is nowhere else to go. And for others, it's not that dramatic, but nonetheless, we know some things got to give. We end up having to motivate ourselves or we stay stuck.
These are ways in which I motivate myself, but I'm hopeful that at least one of these will help someone who needs it. Check out below, five ways to motivate yourself:
1. Define and get specific about your goal and don't skip this, WRITE IT DOWN. I can't stress that enough. There is scientific evidence showing that by writing down your goals you are more likely to succeed at them. Writing them down forces you to get specific about what it is you want to accomplish. Consider this permission to go get a cute notebook, calendar, or planner and decorate it with colorful ink or stickers! Goal setting doesn't have to be boring.
2. Give yourself a realistic deadline. Let's say your goal is to paint your kitchen. Look at your upcoming calendar and see what makes sense for this season. Painting is going to take time. Drying paint takes time. Painting your kitchen the same week that your kids have dentist appointments and you are scheduled to host dinner for your small group, isn't ideal. If it needs to be pushed back to when you're schedule is less congested, do it.
3. Get others involved. Paint party anyone? Call, don't text, your sister, brother, closest friends, neighbors, or someone of the like, and let them know that you could really use the help. Provide them with snacks or refreshments, fun music, and thank them for showing up. Painting is more fun with friends. But if your goal is a little more private, maybe it's to lose weight, tell someone you trust that you are trying to make changes to better your health. And don't make them do the work, you do it, by texting them, "Today I went overboard with the Oreos and I feel awful about it." That action of being accountable will help motivate you so you can send texts like, "Hey, I really wanted Oreos today but I went for a walk instead and my craving totally passed."
4. Envision the future and your future self with the goal accomplished. Really think about what it will feel like to have accomplished your goal. Will you have more peace? How will you celebrate your accomplishment? Who will be affected negatively if you don't reach your goal? Who will benefit if you do? Asking questions like these can feel like an easy thing to skip, but tying your goal to your feelings and your "why" will help you get back on track when you fall off the wagon.
5. Speaking of wagons, give yourself grace when you fall off track or mess up. We're human. And we aren't supposed to be perfect. Messiness is written into our DNA. If your goal is to cut out alcohol but you end up having two glasses of wine after a long hard day, you can choose to beat yourself up about it and give up or you can celebrate the fact that you went 3 days without your nightly glass of wine prior to that. Maybe your goal is to get up earlier but you got your period and you are feeling fatigued. Let yourself rest. You are not always going to hit your goal perfectly. But progress is just as worthy as celebrating.
I hope that you found this helpful. I also hope that whatever your goal is that you know you are wildly capable of achieving whatever it is you desire. Don't let that thing between your ears talk you out of becoming a better version of yourself.
It always boils down to choices. Make good ones :)
Oh and why the picture of the moon? To remind you to aim for it, if you miss, you'll land among the stars.
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