HOW TO FIND MOTIVATION WHEN YOU NEED IT MOST
I’m having trouble being motivated to write right now. Some days I have extreme difficulty getting motivated to workout (and sometimes the lack of motivation wins). There are even times where I have no motivation to do anything other than stay in bed and read a book. And even then, there are moments where I can’t even be motivated to do that much. I think we all have lapses where we feel this way but the question becomes, will you let this brief lack of motivation stay or will you push through?
Let's face it, it is easy to be, for lack of a better word, lazy. And haven’t you earned the right to come home and sit in front of the TV after a long day at work? Sure you have. But don’t you feel more accomplished, like a better version of you, when you push through the dullness and get up to do something? I know that I have lazy days, but it always seems like when I get away with one lazy day, the next day wants to be lazy too. And then I’ve created a pattern of just doing nothing and letting the days slip away. So how can you find motivation when you need it? (Dare I say, when you need it most, on a daily basis?)
Set Your Intentions
Decide ahead of time how you want to feel and decided on the steps to feel that way. This week I laid out four emotions (using the Desire Map Graphic Maker from Danielle Laporte) that I wanted to feel throughout the week and I can’t begin tell you how keeping those in mind has helped me. I had a hard morning waking up and I reminded myself that I wanted to feel determined… so I was determined to not sleep in anymore and I got out of bed. I wanted to feel healthy, so when it came down to deciding to go run or not, I knew that if I wanted to feel healthy, I’d better run. I wanted to feel inspired so I picked up a book on happiness and have been meditating every morning on my ride to work. These are things I would have considered doing anyways, but maybe that lazy streak would have won. Instead, by setting my intentions, I was able to push myself to feel how I wanted to feel by taking the actions necessary to reach those points.
On a side note, I also stated that I wanted to feel love this week. I made an effort to be more loving to my husband but truthfully didn’t think much about this emotion (it's not one I need to push through on a regular basis). However, my husband surprised me with a few gifts this week, which made me feel loved by knowing he was thinking about me throughout his day. So sometimes setting the intention is enough to bring about the feelings you desire.
Get Competitive
While you should follow YOUR dreams and set goals for yourself, sometimes it helps me to have that little extra push of competition. I am not saying to get bitty, catty, or backstab anyone. But healthy competition can drive you to do better, whether it be in business, work, or just daily life. The key is to not let the competition consume you and run your life. What you need is just a little competition, something that in the back of your mind says, while if that person can run their own business, workout, be a mom to four kids and still have time to volunteer… the least I can do is come home from work and clean the house, or go for a walk. Do not compare yourself to that person, you need to still be you and remain realistic about your own life, but a little competition can do wonders to drive you towards your goals.
Get Off Pinterest (For A Few Hours)
So Pinterest totally inspires me. (So many gorgeous photos, wonderful quotes and even articles about anything under the sun!) But what do we do with all this inspiring material? We tend to pin it to a board and keep it to inspire us later. Then we get right back to browsing for more inspirational quotes and images. So if you need some motivation quickly, sure take a look at an inspiring quote from Pinterest and then get off the social site and get out and do something about it! Did a photo inspire you to go hiking in the mountains? While instead of wishing you could go to the mountains and be surrounded by awe-inspiring nature… get off Pinterest and start planning a hiking adventure, or just get outside for a walk around the neighborhood to start. Inspiration can only go so far, you need motivation to transition from dreams to reality.
Think Big Picture
So often we get caught up in the day-to-day details of our lives that we tend to lose site of the big picture, our long-term goals. It's easy to say today was difficult at work so I don’t need to do homework, I don’t need to write that blog post, I don’t need to workout, I don’t need to clean… (the list goes on). But then we are going to feel that way every day and then nothing will ever be accomplished. So when you feel like skipping out on something you know you should be doing or want to do, think of the big picture. Big goals are not met overnight, they are made up of the little day-to-day choices we make. So if you are lacking motivation, think about future you and ask yourself, “Am I holding myself back today or am I moving forward to where I want to be?”
How do you motivate yourself to push through those lazy days? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.