How to stay motivated
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How to stay motivated
I get asked a lot about how you can maintain motivation while going after your goals, even through the tough bits.
When you start you get that initial burst of motivation when you get all excited and fired up to achieve what you want and then all of a sudden when you start taking action, the goal can seem bigger and bigger and harder and harder and when all the little things seem to be piling up or going wrong that initial motivation begins to wane.
Basically, It becomes more difficult to keep that motivation going as the excitement lessens and the obstacles and mindset gremlins get in your way.
There isn’t the magic pill everybody seems to want I’m afraid, BUT, there are definitely a few things that will really help you on your way.
The first thing to know really is…
Are you actually excited about what you’re doing?
You ‘ideally’ need to be excited about what you’re doing and to remember WHY you’re doing it because of course those are two pretty big keys to staying in the motivation zone and OUT of the procrastination zone so make sure you’re regularly asking yourself and reminding yourself of those.
Are you really SUPER clear on what you’re actually working towards?
If you can CLEARLY visualise (episode 25) what you’re working towards it will make it so SO much easier to work towards it.
Remember the brain doesn’t distinguish between what’s real and what’s imagined so when you marinate alll up in that vision you will feel all the feelings that you’ll have when you get there.
That’s some serious motivation there.
What will you feel like? What will your life be like? Where will you be? WHO will you be? What will having it bring into your life?
Next…
Do you believe you can actually achieve it?
You need a little confidence that you’re actually going to achieve it.
At the end of the day if it’s possible for someone, anyone, else then it’s possible for you.
We have the same 24 hours in the day and days in the week. Pretty much everything that someone else is doing can be learned….including confidence!(Episode 3)
You have all the resources you need, you were born with them just like everyone else.
You just need to know how to work with what you’ve got.
Look around you for all the evidence that it IS absolutely possible, because it’s there I promise you!
When you REALLY know that and trust that, then the motivation comes.
What actually makes YOU feel motivated?
It’s personal for everyone. Are you intrinsically or extrinsically motivated? Or both?
Intrinsic motivation is all about what drives you from within.
If you’re intrinsically motivated you will be pulled forwards by a higher purpose, a desire to fulfill your potential and a sense of achievement.
Doing something purely for the love of it.
Extrinsic motivation is where you’re driven by things outside of yourself. Recognition from others, numbers or money for example.
There is absolutely no right or wrong here, it just helps to know what drives you because it will help you stay motivated.
It could be one, it could be the other or it could be a mix of both!
If you’re extrinsically motivated it can be REALLY helpful to reward yourself for the little achievements along the way.
I’m both for sure. Put it this way, Alex Monroe has done VERY well out of me and my little milestones over the years and those little lovelies really motivate me to hit my goals and serve as a constant reminder of what I can achieve...so why not?!
If you’re intrinsically motivated it’s really helpful to remind yourself of who and how you can help and stay connected to what that means for your own sense of fulfillment and sense of purpose.
Pain vs pleasure
As humans we tend to move away from pain and towards pleasure.
So you can see that when we get excited about something it’s easy to stay motivated because we’re going towards pleasure.
However, as soon as there’s an obstacle or fork in the road it becomes more difficult and our instincts can be to go back towards our comfort zone away from pain and back to pleasure.
BUT, when you know what staying in your comfort zone (Episode 51) costs you and how we learn and change (Episode 53) it becomes much easier to motivate yourself through the wobbly times because you know what’s on the other side.
What’s your manifesto?
If you don’t have one, create one!
What do you stand for?
What will you and won’t you tolerate?
(Episode 39)
Create it, make it pretty, stick it up on your wall and look at it daily to connect you with your end goal, what you’re creating for yourself and use it to drive you forward.
Are you flexible and adaptable?
Behavioural flexibility and resilience (Episode 5) is something to keep in your back pocket at all times.
It’s one of the keys to success and will mean that when you get stuck down one path you’ll look for another so you won’t have that same demotivated ‘stuckness’ where you’re not sure where to turn.
This is where having a mentor can REALLY help.
For all the wobbly times where motivation seems to have disappeared! What can you do differently?
When you can stop fearing failure (Episode 29) a whole world will open up for you.
If you can look at failure as par for the course and just a way to get feedback and experiment to find what does or doesn’t work for you then you’ll be far more motivated to carry on.
What’s your environment like?
Are you surrounded by mess and disorganisation?
Your environment has a HUGE effect on your motivation...Marie Kondo the heck out of your workspace pronto and make it somewhere you really WANT to be, a space that actually inspires you!
What’s distracting you?
Be really aware of when you may be slipping into procrastination mode and know your way out. I have a tonne of ideas for you right here. (Episode 2)
Make sure you’re eliminating all those oh so enticing things that distract you from the end goal.
What can you outsource?
If you’ve been following me for a while you’ll know I’m a BIG fan of outsourcing.
ESPECIALLY if it’s tasks that aren’t within your zone of genius or you just don’t enjoy doing them.
Guess what happens when that’s the case?!
Yup, you will avoid the tasks and not get anywhere fast other than frustrated with yourself.
Having a little team around you who are bought into your ideas and motivated to help you achieve them can be an amazing way to stay on track too.
Lastly but not leastly!!
Seriously. Get yourself a mentor. You can see just how much easier this can be when you have a personal cheerleader and chief b*tt kicker in your corner.
Whether that’s me, someone else or your mum it doesn’t matter...just find SOMEONE who is going to keep you accountable because you won’t be 100% motivated 100% of the time, and that’s ok.
It’s just about getting you back on track, knowing the strategies to avoid losing your motivation in the first place or to help you get it back when you have lost it. Then you’re good to go!
On that note, my prices are going up considerably at the end of February for my 1:1 services and the Proactive Pants Mastermind so if you’ve been thinking about it at all then book in a call. I’m often asked if I work with men and I know I have a lot of male listeners, the answer is yes, I do for my 1:1 but not in my group programmes.
Fx
