When things are going right in your life, it seems easy to maintain your motivation.
Then there are those moments in your life when everything appears to be falling apart. A relationship came to an end. Your business was a flop. You’ve had a health scare. Regrettably, it is a fact of life. It’s important to note that “it ain’t about how hard you hit,” as Rocky Balboa would say. It’s all about how hard you can take a hit and keep going. How much can you take and still keep going forward? That’s how winning is done!”
How to Maintain Your Motivation
Of course, when you’re at your lowest, it’s better said than done. However, here are twelve ways to hold your energy up so you can get out of this rut.
Take a timeout.
This might seem to be counterproductive. However, when you take a break, you’re relaxing and allowing yourself to form a clear picture of the situation. It’s more difficult to reevaluate a situation when you’re in the middle of it.
So take a walk, grab a bite to eat with a friend, or watch your favourite comedy. It won’t solve all of your problems, but you’ll feel better and more energized as a result. Most significantly, it will allow you to re-energize, refocus, and reflect on moving forward.
Try something new.
When things aren’t working, it’s time to do something different to stay motivated. If you’ve been trying to lose weight for a month and have only lost one pound, it’s time to try a different diet or exercise programme.
When we try something different, it turns out, and we stimulate parts of the brain that aren’t usually used. Dopamine and serotonin reactions are released as a result. In the end, your mood will improve, and you’ll be driven to continue trying out new things.
Need some ideas to start? Try out a new restaurant or food. Plan a vacation to somewhere you’ve never been. Join a book club, take a class, or volunteer.
Visualize yourself succeeding.
“Imagining yourself on the other side of a problem, even in the abstract, will trigger a powerful belief in your ability to succeed,” writes Alex Lickerman, M.D. in Psychology Today. “Like a professional skier envisioning every twist and turn of a ski run before making it, imagining yourself on the other side of a problem will activate a powerful belief in your ability to succeed,” writes Alex Lickerman, M.D. in Psychology Today.
“Even though you don’t know how to win right now, believing that you can—even if it’s a ‘blind’ belief be motivational if it’s a belief in yourself.”
Small fixes lead to bigger things.
Consider the bathroom’s leaking faucet. For months, it has been dripping and dripping. Then it bursts one day.
You could have prevented a much bigger problem if you had taken the time to make one minor adjustment.
When it comes to how to stay motivated, the same is true. Consider any fast and simple fixes you need to make. Please make a list of them in order of importance and begin working on them. It’s winning those battles that will lead you to succeed in the war.
Be grateful.
Even if it seems that something is going wrong, there are some positive sides to your situation. To begin with, you are safe and alive. And it is something to be thankful for regularly.
If that doesn’t work for you, try keeping a gratitude journal. This is where you write down the five or so things for which you are thankful. It could be as simple as the meal you had for lunch to something deeper like the birth of your child.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to this, but you should be specific, personal, and optimistic. According to studies, writing in your journal three times a week rather than daily is more effective.
Set intentions every morning.
Great people have a morning routine for several reasons. It allows them to start their day on the right foot rather than jumping out of bed and running out the door. They can meditate, relax, exercise, and schedule their days.
Every morning, they also set intentions.
These are basic principles that will help you live your life the way you want. These, unlike goals, come from your heart. So, when you set intentions, you’re aligning your heart and mind.
When forming an intention, focus on these thoughts:
- What matters most to you?
- What would you like to build, create, or nurture in your life?
- What would you like to let go of?
- Who would you like to forgive in your life?
- How do you feel when you are your happiest self?
- What makes you proud?
- What word(s) would you like to align yourself with?
- What fears would you like to release?
- What are you grateful for?
Best of all? When you feel those negative thoughts creeping in again, revisit your intentions. It’s a simple way to overcome those thoughts.
Reintroduce yourself to your goals.
It isn’t always the situation that problems are all around us. We’ve likely been set up to fail.
That may sound harsh. However, it is the truth.
You’ve taken on too much work, which has harmed both your personal and professional lives. Since you refused to take the online course, you were passed over for a promotion. You’ve never taken the plunge and started your own business.
Please think of how you should navigate the wave instead of swimming against it. Enable yourself to dream and imagine yourself fulfilling your greatest aspirations. Then, based on those feelings, describe your objectives.
The most important thing to note is to set realistic deadlines once you’ve defined a target. It will be easier to keep track of your progress this way.
Get support.
If you need help, don’t be embarrassed or ashamed. This can be as simple as venting to a friend or partner or as complex as reading an inspirational or self-help book. Also, if things are getting out of hand, you may want to seek professional help.
It’s not just about venting or complaining when you surround yourself with an amazing support team. It’s all about capturing their excitement and encouraging them to drive you out of your comfort zone. You may also be motivated to start a healthier diet or come up with a new business idea.
Put, when you’re in a funk, lean on your friends and family for support. It’s helpful to your physical and psychological health.
Share your knowledge.
What better way to boost your self-esteem than to prove that you have something to give others?
Assume you work as a web designer. You may offer your services to a local nonprofit in need of a new website as a volunteer. If you’re an accountant, start a blog that offers small business owners tax advice.
For my part, I’ve written extensively about my business’s failure on my blog. I also worked with the Open to Hope charity. Doing both lifted my spirits and helped me gain a new, positive perspective in life.
Again, it’s a small step that will push you into doing something bigger.
Start cleaning.
Starting to clean is probably the fastest solution. Organize the workplace. From top to bottom, clean your entire home.
“Cleaning your physical environment isn’t a fix-all; however, tackling some housekeeping is a good exercise in conquering tasks and gets a productive energy flowing,” writes life coach Diane Passage for the Huffington Post.
Get started on something.
There’s something called the Zeigarnik Effect. It was developed by Soviet psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik and later verified by two psychologists in 1992.
The jest is that we want to finish a goal once we start it.
Start tiny, such as planning a holiday or practising yoga for five minutes every morning. Eventually, your mood will start to increase so that you’ll be ready to conquer more challenging goals.
Remember, this too shall pass.
Finally, bear in mind that whatever seems to be wrong is just temporary. Things have a funny way of turning around in life. You must be patient and work your way up to the top.
“Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life and repeat to yourself the most comforting words of all; this, too, shall pass,” Ann Landers once said. Although it can seem simple, it can be an effective way to keep your motivation up.
