Motivation is the one thing that you require on every step until you reach your goal. The question is, how many times have you given up on your goal just because you didn’t have enough motivation? Most people have this tendency of putting away their work until they reach a point where they can not anymore. Even before you are aware of it, you become the part of an inextricable circle of self-pity. Whether your goal is to make it to the Forbes list of 30 under 30 or it is just losing weight, motivation is the one thing need to have on your side.
You should know for a fact that it is not easy to pick up the motivation and it is even more difficult to sustain the motivation. The question now becomes- what can you do achieve sustained motivation? For starters, you need to start owning up every action of yours and secondly, you need to consciously make efforts in the right direction.
Kinds of Motivation
In order to completely understand motivation and how to hold on to it. It is important to realize the source of the motivation:
Extrensic Motivation: It is the motivation that drives us to do something in order to earn an external reward or avoid punishment. In such cases you may not be doing what you are doing because you enjoy it or find it satisfying. But, because you want to make something else out of it.
Intrinsic Motivation: It is the motivation because of which you engage in activities that you find rewarding to yourself. You perform the activity just because you want to do it or you feel satisfied and not because you look forward to some external reward. It is the behavior that is rewarding when there is intrinsic motivation.
It is of little significance if your motivation is extrinsic or intrinsic. What matters the most is your self-discipline or what some call “self-motivation”. You should be able to distinguish what you need to do and what you do not. Make sure you follow the things you need to do without falling out, or without being distracted by things or circumstances. Some are just fortunate enough to have it in their personality and with some, it is the part of nurturing that they get from their parents. However, the majority of us have to work on it.
Ask yourself to rate your self motivation on a scale of 1 to 10. You will know if it is strong or you need to work on it. If it is less than 6 or 7 you will know that ypou need to do some work on it. The following are the best practices to stay motivated on your way
Best practices for sustained motivation
1. Write down your goals
This one is a little cliched and something that most of us probably have heard of. The simple physical act of jotting down your goals (preferably on a physical paper) makes the goal tangible. We a lot of times while setting goals do not realize that the goals that we set in our heads, are not rooted in reality and there are parts that are intangible. Our goals have voids that we often fail to see in our heads. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to write your goals down so that you are left with no excuse for not paying due diligence.
2. Make writing journal a habit
You must have heard about what good can writing journal do to you but following are the top 5 points you must consider that can help you sustain your motivation.
- It can help you feel content in life: Research says that people who practice journaling are more ‘mindful’. Being mindful, in turn, helps you stay grounded and feel content.
- Lowers down on Chaos: The more you get acquainted with the entire inner self and your fears. The more you will be able to clutter down your thoughts and bring down the chaos.
- Process your thoughts better: If you choose not to acknowledge feelings that are inside you, they tend to grow, especially if they are negative. Journaling sheds light on your thoughts, making them shrink.
- Good for mental health: There are extensive researches to back this fact that journaling is helpful for your mental well-being. It makes you acknowledge your thoughts as is, enables you to analyze, and then make you informed to take calculated action.
- Great tool for prioritizing: Penning things down, what you want, or need to do ensure that you are not missing on something important. It is a great place to capture and prioritize things.
3. Be more grateful
Gratitude lets you succeed and achieve whatever you want by creating a platform of internal success. It just makes the seemingly terrible path towards success achievable in all possible ways. Just think of it like this, if you are so distracted with the negativities and bad vibrations around you. How can you push yourself relentlessly towards your goal? Interweave this habit of showing gratitude in your daily routine and you will see significant changes in your life. But remember it will not happen overnight, like every other thing in the world.
4. Deploy SMART goals
This one is very popular and there are high chances you have heard about SMART goals already. It stands for
- Specific: Goals with real numbers that you look forward to achieving with the set deadline.
- Measurable: Make sure what you plan to do is trackable.
- Attainable: Your goal should be challenging yet attainable.
- Relevant: It should be improving the function and should align with your broad vision.
- Time-Bound: Be specific with the date and time of completion and make a point that you stick to it.
5. Visualize your goals
It may sound a little stupid at first, thinking how can merely visualization help you get closer to your goals. There are scientific studies done with the help of brain imaging tools like fMRI. The neurons in the brain, those cells are electrically excitable in nature and transmit the information. This information and imagery solely in your heads are translated into equivalent real-world action. When we visualize something, our brain automatically sends the signal to “perform” the said movement. Basically, that leads to the generation of a neural pathway. This primes in a way that it works together to create memories or learned behavior and act in the way we imagined.
6. Have an accountability partner
A common way that practice this is by recruiting an accountability partner. That partner could be someone who is also on a journey to his goal. You both can appoint a fixed time once a week or a month, where you reflect upon your goals and share your progress. This practice can solve a lot of your problems, it won’t just hold you accountable but also be an insightful experience, that will help you stay inspired throughout the journey. Additionally, it will help you hone your active listening and problem-solving skills.
It is much better to have someone by your side that can help you stay motivated. They won’t just prevent you from being lazy by reminding you of your goals but also be a much-needed source of positive energy. In case, you fail to find an accountability partner to stick along, you may call your friends or family through the challenges you face. Many times just the positive words from someone you care are enough to lift you from laziness and motivate you.
7. Make a list of everything
This is a very common tip yet not followed by many. Try not to rely on your memory too much for all your daily to-dos. Write down all that you have planned through the day in an ongoing running list. You must have a typical running list for all your groceries you need to get, urgent and non-urgent tasks, etc.
I use my mobile phone’s notes application to note of everything that is pending, instead of using the precious brain memory. The idea is to not forget even the smallest of the things that you have thought of!
8. Check off items as you go
You would have noticed that you are made to write and reflect on your goals and actions on more than a couple of occasions. Creating a list of the work or milestones you need to get past is a crucial step. It keeps you aware of what is in your way, what all resources you need to equip yourself with, etc. It also created a sense of urgency and gives you the chance to monitor your progress. The best part about making a list is the fact that you can strike out the task once you are done with it. Striking out any task of the list is an act of pleasure, your brain releases dopamine. Our body perceives this response to be good and look forward to completing another task so that we can strike that off too.
9. Reward yourself
Rewards definitely help if you know they exist at the end of your goal. The mere thought of a reward can fuel the engine through the daunting track. Next time you feel lazy when facing a difficult task, set a reward.
10. Avoid multi-tasking
Human beings are not made for multi-tasking. Even though we comply with doing multiple things together because it gives us the impression of higher productivity. According to neurological and psychological research juggling between tasks is not at all effective. Research showed that multitasking gives the illusion of productivity and makes the person emotionally satisfied. You will do a favor on yourself if you focus on just one thing at a time.
11. Make your work fun
A typical workday of any working professional is spent completing assigned tasks, planning, critically-thinking, and introspecting. There are days when you become cognitively numb. Walking down this road without looking around or taking a break can cause serious burnout. In order to avoid all of it, you can add fun elements to your job. This can prove to reignite your interest in the job and completely haul your routine.
For instance, you can have a dartboard or golf putting equipment. There are many ways to make your workplace interesting. You can have healthy competitions with your colleague like race with them, or organize other sports, etc.
12. Break larger goals into manageable tasks
If you try and look at the entire goal as a monolith in a single glance, it may appear as an intimidating goal to have in the first place. It is essential that you strategically plan and divide your goals into smart and manageable tasks. It lets you have a short goal in your vision that you can achieve and rejoice. Otherwise, also it is a good habit to keep things manageable.
13. Stay as organized as possible
In the absence of an organized plan, there is a possibility that you will never be able to align your skills and actions in one particular direction. You will not have a clear idea of, how to get where you want to? What resources do you need to get there? How do you ensure that you are motivated all the way through the journey towards your goals? Without a plan, you are much likely to get sidetracked or distracted from your path. This is why most of the people fail to reach even the end of February with their “New Year’s Resolution”.
The Conclusion
If you have come to this point, I am sure you or someone you know, rate self-motivation below 7. Just know practicing the above-mentioned tips will not take you anywhere but religiously practicing over a period of time, sure will do it. It definitely won’t happen overnight. Like every new thing, there will be days you will not feel motivated but consciously making efforts in the right direction will help you go a long way. Once it gets imbibed in you, then it will be just a matter of time you will be able to accomplish what you want. Along with that, you will notice a change in your perspective and how you used to respond to things.
Start following these practices right from this point and get ready to see a positive and transformative change in you.