“Motivation is fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly”. ~ Stephen R. Covey
One of the most important things to have in the pursuit of your goals is motivation. If you have the right level of motivation, there are huge chances that you are going to hit your goals.
I know what it feels like to sit in front of a laptop with hopes of writing thousands of words, only to realize that after three hours, you have just managed to write five words, not because of a block, but because you lack the required motivation to pull off the task.
Every creative would agree with me that there are times when you are not motivated to do anything. You strive hard to pin the reasons for the feeling, but all efforts come to naught.
And then you go on for days, and sometimes, weeks, not doing anything productive. It is a terrible feeling and I hope that with this article, I will be able to guide you on how you can crush your goals by constantly refueling your goals.
To achieve your goals, you have to learn how to motivate yourself when depressed, in the morning, at night, and as a matter of fact, how to motivate yourself every day.
The simple truth that many people know, but ignore is that nobody can motivate you as much as you can motivate yourself. Of course, you can watch people you admire achieve their dreams while you get inspired but, the real decision to get motivated lies within you.
In other words, like Stephen R. Covey says, “motivation is fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly”. You can only be as motivated as you permit yourself to be.
Source Of Motivation
1. Books
In learning how to motivate yourself, you cannot do without books. You can get motivation from the books you read. Thousands of successful people around the world have written down their success stories as a means of challenging and motivating people.
If you need to get motivated about your job, your goals, your tasks and so on, you can pick up one or two of the books and digest their content. Through these books, you get to access an undiluted part of their journey to success. Their struggles, how they dealt with the subject of motivation and so on.
So, if you are not having that feeling of motivation now, you can get to the next book store around and read up a book on motivation.
If you have a problem reading books, then you could take on the option of reading articles or blog posts. They are way shorter. On my blog, for instance, there are tens of articles with insightful paragraphs that will give you the needed push to go after your goals. You could read them! And yes, as a personal development enthusiast, I am willing to join you in the journey to getting your motivation back.
At the end of this article, I will give you an activity plan that you must carry out every morning. I can guarantee that in the next two weeks, you will get yourself together again.
2. Friends And Family
You can also get motivation from the stories of some of your friends and loved ones. When I was in college, I had a friend who freelanced on Fiverr. He made a huge amount of money just from writing for people at specific rates. I was intrigued by his brilliance and intelligence, so I asked him to guide me.
That single request was what birthed my journey to the online world. Of course, it was not easy but seeing my friend being successful in a business I could also do, gave me a push. I decided to start blogging and today, even I am awed by the success I have achieved so far.
When you see your friends win in their career line, that is not the time to start getting jealous, rather, it is a time to start getting inspired and motivated to do what you have to do to achieve success in your own career line. If you open your mind, your friend’s story might just be another way for you to know how to motivate yourself.
3. Podcasts
The first point dwelled on what you read. The second point dwelled on who you interact with and how you draw inspiration from the success stories of your friends and loved ones. One area is still left untouched: what you hear.
What you take into your mind through hearing is capable of making you motivated or not. There are thousands of podcasts online with highly revered people sharing their success stories while motivating their listeners. You could listen to one.
What you listen to, in several ways, affects how you stay positive and motivated. Here is a link to one of the articles I wrote on some great podcasts you can listen to: Click here.
4. A Change Of Environment /Habit
Personally, this works for me. Whenever I feel less motivated to write, I take a break and sink myself in the serenity of my environment.
I try my best to relax and do something new. This helps my brain get refreshed and in no time, I get back on track. That lack of motivation might be as a result of a habit that you have, which currently needs a change.
Taking walks, taking breaks, seeing an old pal, and so on, can help trigger that creative part of you and in no time, you’ll see yourself being productive again. Changing your environment or habit is another way through which you can know how to motivate yourself.
The simplest definition of motivation boils down to wanting. We want a change in behavior, thoughts, feelings, self-concept, environment, and relationships.
Motivation is what causes you to act, it is what drives you to take that form for a gym class, it is what drives you to start that blog. Motivation is the energy that drives you to accomplish your goals and increase productivity.
Motivation is usually influenced by the satisfaction of needs that are necessary for sustaining life or essential for wellbeing and growth. Motivation is something that people do, not something that is done to them.
Are you confused as to how to find your motivation in life? How to get the motivation to be productive? Or how to self-motivate?
Here are some practical steps that you could take in motivating yourself to achieve that goal you really want to achieve.
Grab a bar of chocolate and let’s get started:
1. Start Small
Josh Billings once said that “the greatest thief this world has ever produced is procrastination, and he is still at large”. Sometimes, we create goals but it’s all in our heads, it remains a fantasy because we hope to start tomorrow. You do not have to start big; baby steps would do. You have to realize that at the end of the day, it’s a process.
You plan on getting that hot and yummy body, doing 100 push-ups on your first day seems unrealistic. I get that you might be a little excited to get those abs and all but to keep going, you have to start small.
You want to start writing that book, a chapter a day or even a week will do just fine. When you start small and get accustomed to that particular routine, it would be easier to increase what you have to do.
2. One Goal At A Time
This is almost similar to starting small but there is a little difference. Focus completely on one goal at a time, as too many goals sap energy and motivation. Too many goals can make you feel overwhelmed and you might end up not accomplishing any goal at all.
As said earlier, baby steps: everything has a beginning and a little beginning at that. Adrenaline and excitement would definitely make you feel happy and you convince yourself that you can do it. But it’s best to be realistic and be as practical as possible.
Karen Casey once said “one part at a time, one goal at a time, we can accomplish any goal we set for ourselves”. You find it easier to know how to motivate yourself when you take your goals one step at a time.
3. Examine Your Goal
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves” ~Viktor E. Frankl.
Give your goal some thought, make sure it’s something you are really passionate and excited about. It has to be something you really want and make sure you have the right purpose as this would motivate you to achieve your goal.
If you are a writer, writing a new book would definitely make you excited and you would have little or no problem setting goals to achieve a published book.
When you cannot seem to achieve a goal, you have to examine yourself and see if you are actually excited about accomplishing the goal and how much it means to you.
Sometimes we set goals on what we think we ‘should’ do or what other people are doing and this has pressured us to think that is what we should do. Ensure what you want to do is what you really want and what makes you happy. That is the greatest motivation and it makes all the difference.
4. Know The Benefits Of Achieving The Goal
Something that motivates me a lot is knowing the benefits of achieving a goal. Read as much as you can about it, my favorite is J.K Rowling’s speech at Harvard where she said she got rejected like a thousand times before Harry Porter was published. This would definitely motivate a writer who is worried about his/her works getting noticed or published.
Read success stories, inspiring stories of those who have achieved that same goal, read a book or a blog. Even a YouTube video, a magazine, anything that sparks your excitement. Seeing pictures of these hot models with the abs and almost perfect figure would definitely motivate you to register for the gym.
Knowing the benefits that come with achieving a goal increases your productivity and determination. It really goes a long way.
5. Focus On The Benefits Of Achieving The Goal
“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal” ~Henry Ford.
This is a lot different from knowing the benefits of your goal. It’s is more like getting yourself excited by focusing your mind on the benefits of achieving your goal. Keep your eyes on the ball! What made you decide to embark on the journey of achieving that goal, continue to remind yourself of how good you would feel when you are done.
Sometimes you might think of how hard and it becomes tiring, but instead, think of how fulfilled you would feel when you finally achieve the goal.
The benefits of something would definitely help energize and motivate you. Focusing on the benefits of the goals to be achieved is definitely one of the best ways to learn how to motivate yourself.
6. Stay Accountable
If you are disciplined enough, you can be accountable and answerable to yourself but you have to be completely honest with yourself. And if you cannot be accountable to yourself, you could get an accountability partner. The most important thing is to be brutally honest with yourself and always review how you are doing.
Another way to stay accountable is to celebrate every win, no matter how little. But then, your reward to yourself must be appropriate and by appropriate, I mean you cannot spend hours working out and celebrate with a big bowl of ice cream and doughnuts. Or decide to take a break of a month after only intensively studying for two weeks for that major examination you are about to take.
Your reward must be as appropriate as possible and should not cause a setback in achieving your goal. The most important thing again is to be as honest with yourself as possible. Really want to learn how to motivate yourself? Master the art of staying accountable.
7. Distort Negative Thoughts
Negativity affects our mind more than we even think. Squash that negative thoughts as soon as they creep into your mind.
Don’t nurse it for one minute! Don’t brood on it for one second! It’s only a matter of time before it totally consumes you and makes you feel insecure and unsure of the goal you have set, and so as soon as that thought of “what if?” “Can I?” creeps into your mind, immediately remind yourself of why you can and would achieve that goal and how it would make you feel.
Besides, if others can do it, why can’t you? Surround yourself with like-minded and positive thinkers who emit positive energy.
Make sure you are receiving as much energy, positivity and inspiration as possible. You need constant reminders telling you how capable you are of your achievement. You will never know how to motivate yourself if you do not learn to distort negative thoughts.
8. Overcome The Quitting Urge
“Never, never, never, never give up” ~Winston Churchill.
No matter what, you should never quit, it is not even an option. You shouldn’t regulate your mind to think that if you cannot do it you would quit. If you have conditioned your mind to know that you cannot quit, you would be surprised at how confident and productive you would be.
Our mind has so much power and control over virtually every decision we take and how we would implement such a decision. Before you even set that goal, before you start that diet, before you take that gym form, before you change that habit, before you start that project, remind yourself that you cannot afford to quit.
Make sure you always remind yourself to a point that before you quit, it would be that you were yanked out of the room and thrown out (literarily) and you might as well just land in another room full of more productivity and opportunity. Don’t forget, keep trying.
Quitting is not even an option. Nothing can stop you if you believe you can do it, only you should be able to stop you. If quit easily, you will never master how to motivate yourself.
9. Continue To Find Pleasure In Your Goal
“You can never achieve success unless you like what you are doing” ~Dale Carnegie.
There has to be fun in achieving your goal, find pleasurable things you always look forward to when achieving your goal.
When it gets boring, discover and start new routines. If uploading your gym progress on Snapchat keeps you motivated you should keep doing it. Talking about the progress you have made on a book with a member of your book club could also keep you going.
When you find pleasure in achieving your goal, it makes you eager to complete it. Finding a new partner who wants the same result as you could also go a long way. If you do not find pleasure in your goals, knowing how to motivate yourself will definitely not be easy.
10. Visualize Your Success
It is important to visualize the end result of your goals, what it would feel like, that feeling of total excitement and fulfillment. Always focus on the bigger picture, do not limit your thoughts and mind to the obstacles you might face or the discomfort the achievement of the goals might bring.
Before you begin that routine, close your eyes and imagine how you would feel after you accomplish that goal. “Envision, create, and believe in your own universe, and the universe will form around you” ~Tony Heish.
Finding the right motivation to achieve a goal is as important as the goal itself because without motivation, your goals remain fantasies you hope to achieve someday and chances are they may keep being a fantasy.
Document every little progress, as it is very motivating looking at where you started and how much progress you have made.
Don’t be too hard on yourself, just keep making progress and stay positive and it’s only a matter of time before you achieve your goal.
Theodore Roosevelt said “Believe you can and you’re halfway there”. You’re doing just fine with the little progress you are already making and you would achieve that dream so long as you stick to it and work hard. Learning how to motivate yourself is something that requires effort.
So, there you have it! 10 great tips on how you can motivate yourself to achieve your goals. Remember, these tips are solely hinged on your dedication and discipline, and that means you have a role to play too!
I would like to read your motivation stories. Have you ever been completely numb and unmotivated to achieve your goals? How did you scale through the scary phase?
Do you think there are certain things that should be on the list? Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comment section.
ACTIVITY PLAN
Go to the pages 44 to 46 of The AfamUche Self-development Planner (Here: Goal Chaser). Fill in the blank pages. Be as honest as you can.
Remember, motivation is fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly. You are completely in charge of your own actions, and decisions.
So, for your sake, please take the exercises seriously. And of course, do let me know the feedback. If you are serious about learning how to motivate yourself, please do take this activity plan seriously.
FOR YOU:
Hey there! Thank you for reading this article. I sincerely hope that you have learned a thing or two. Remember, your journey to rejuvenating that motivation spirit is not just hinged on reading an article, it lies more on how willing you are to take an action.
Do not just read, take visible steps. You can get my personal development books to guide you properly on how to go about taking the right steps at the right time. Get motivated for success!
Save this for later!
