To make changes to your life, you need motivation. Learn why motivation’s important, how to get and stay motivated, and where to get help to achieve your goals. Everyone is motivated by different things. Understanding what motivates you can make the difference between success and failure.
Setting Intrinsic Goals: Set goals that are rewarding in themselves, rather than just focusing on external outcomes. Make them specific, measurable, and achievable to maintain motivation.
Breaking Objectives into Subgoals: Divide larger objectives into smaller, manageable tasks to avoid feeling overwhelmed and maintain momentum.
Social Influence: Surround yourself with high-achievers, seek advice from mentors, and keep role models in mind to boost motivation.
Rewarding Progress: Acknowledge and celebrate small victories along the way to stay motivated and encouraged.
Understanding Motivation: Recognize what drives and inspires you, and use that understanding to find your own ways to get and stay motivated.
Focusing on Important Objectives: Prioritize tasks that are mentally engaging and align with your values, reducing the time spent on rote or mindless activities.
Developing a Support Network: Surround yourself with supportive and inspiring people, including friends, mentors, and role models, to help stay motivated and achieve goals.
Practicing Positive Self-Talk: Use encouraging and compassionate language with yourself, accepting setbacks as temporary and focusing on progress rather than perfection, to maintain motivation and avoid self-criticism.
By incorporating these 8 ways, you can cultivate a sense of inspiration and motivation, helping you stay driven and focused on your goals.
How to Get and Stay Inspired: The majority of people have at least one aspect of their lives that they would like to alter. However, simply finding the drive to get started may be a difficult task in and of itself. To find your own ways to get motivated, it helps to know what you think of as motivation.
Everyone longs for inspiration, which is a state of mind that may provide one with the confidence to pursue an original thought, a new line of work, or the impetus to step outside of their comfort zone and try something altogether different. It’s a circle of creativity that never comes to an end. You will fall in love with the sensation of being inspired, and you will want even more of it.
It may appear that inspiration is what leads to action, but in reality, action is what leads to inspiration. Although this may appear to be the case, it is not always the case. When someone has the goal of going to the gym, they should make it a priority to take some steps toward realizing that goal. They could be motivated by someone they know who has successfully shed some pounds, but if they don’t go to the gym, they won’t see any results. People, daily inspiring quotations online, something you read in a book; it’s practically everywhere – from the minor things in life to the large life-changing events; all you need to do is feel it for it to matter to you. All you need to do is feel it.
Why is motivation important?
Motivation is important because it:
- provides you with goals to work towards
- helps you solve problems
- helps you change old habits
- helps you cope with challenges and opportunities
How to Get and Stay Inspired
Getting inspiration, being inspired, opens up the path to a better life, a happy life. Here are some ways to get an instant shot of inspiration from the world around you:
Being thoughtful
When you find something that inspires you, look for the actual thing that is beyond the obvious. Figure out the real reason that inspired you and make it personal so you can continue to get inspiration from it.
Getting motivated
Most people struggle with motivation, but it is even more challenging if you have mental health issues such as depression or anxiety. Here are some tips:
- Set yourself one specific, achievable goal.
- Think about how to include that goal in your life, what you need to do to make it happen, and then put a timeframe on it (such as a week).
- Break your goal into small, easy tasks and set regular reminders.
- Use your family and friends as support – tell them about your goals and encourage them to help keep you motivated.
ReachOut.com has more tips on getting motivated.
Ways to keep on track
- Make your goal part of your routine by using a diary or app for reminders.
- Positive self-talk is important and effective in managing depression or anxiety. Instead of saying ‘I can’t’, say ‘I can try’.
- Mindfulness helps keep you relaxed and focused.
- Start a class or join a support group. Support groups can be as effective as professional help.
- Reward yourself when you have completed a step or goal.
Being Realistic
When you set goals, you need to be realistic. Just because Steve Jobs created Apple and that was a great source of inspiration to you doesn’t mean you have to achieve the same. You need to realize it was his dream, not yours. Work towards finding your own dream and don’t get sidetracked by going after someone else’s.
Being focused
When you already figure out what’s inspiring you, take a note of it and pursue it further. Do not give up on your dreams easily. When you lose focus on your goal, it is difficult to achieve it. Think about these three steps; go back to the first step and revive your inspiration. The three step process is easy and simple and delivers great results.
Inspiration is all around us, you just have to know where to look. When you’re inspired by your friends or family or an idol you look up to, know that there may be someone out there who might be inspired by you next.
Ways to stay motivated
Here are some tips:
- Regularly review your goals and progress. Seeing progress is a great motivator in itself, and also improves your self-esteem.
- Continue to set new goals. Think about what you want to achieve next week, next month and next year. Tackle one goal at a time so you don’t feel overwhelmed.
- Keep the momentum up. It takes up to 3 months to develop a new habit, so keeping the momentum and routine helps it feel more automatic over time.
- Find mentors – a mentor is someone who is experienced in the habit you want to change. Finding social or support groups with the same interest can help you find a mentor.
- Surround yourself with positive people. Positive friends and family enhance your positive self-talk, which also helps to manage the symptoms of depression and anxiety.
- Use exercise as one of your daily goals to improve your mental health.
What to do if you lose motivation
Setbacks are normal, but developing resilience can help you carry on and pick up where you left off. Here are some tips to help you find your motivation again:
- Review your goals and see if they are realistic in the timeframe you have set. You may need to break your goal down further into smaller and more achievable goals.
- Remember why you wanted to get motivated or reach that goal in the first place.
- Take motivation from others – feel inspired by reading a book, talking to your mentor or friends or family who have reached similar goals to the ones you have set.
- Sometimes you just need to take a break and start afresh.
ReachOut.com has useful information on finding motivation when you are struggling to stay motivated.
Where to get help
- If you are struggling to get motivated, talk to someone you trust, or a counselor who can provide useful strategies.
- If you have a mental illness, you may be eligible for a mental health care plan, which can help with the cost of counseling. Your doctor can help you with this.
- You may want to bookmark and revisit this page when you need help with motivation.